Walls in France: A Day in Lyon

We started today with a plan...go into the city, find the apartment that we will be renting in about a week and a half, have lunch, go to the Old Town, see some sites and enjoy some ice cream. I am happy to report that we accomplished everything plus more!

We took the bus and a few metros to get to the neighborhood, Croix Rousse, where the apartment we will be renting is located. It is a really cool area up on a hill in Lyon. The neighborhood or quarter is referred to as “the village” and has outdoor markets daily. Our apartment building (we couldn’t go inside) isn’t the cutest in the area, but it looks like it will be fine. Plus, the boulangerie is just a few feet away from our door, so that will make life easy (and enjoyable)! Bucky had read about a good family restaurant in the area, aptly named La Famille, in one of his guide books, so we went there for lunch. They had a steak special for the girls that included ratatouille (which mommy ate!), Bucky had a fish dish and I enjoyed a cold chicken salad. The guy who was running the place was very nice and we really enjoyed our lunch there.

Then, we headed to Vieux Lyon via the metro to see the sites. We decided to take the funiculare up the hill to the Basilica and to see the view of Lyon. It was really spectacular! We then took another hint from Bucky’s guide book and searched for an ice cream place, Nardone, that supposedly has the best ice cream in Lyon. We were not disappointed. Of course, I had to taste the girls’ dishes and sure enough, the Nutella ice cream tastes just like Nutella, the chocolate is to die for and the caramel delicious. About half way through the treat, we started talking about what we would order next time! Ooo la la.

Bucky and the girls then went to the Miniature Museum, but I already had the pleasure of seeing that museum the last time we were here, so I suggested we save the 7 Euros for another ice cream delight, and I not go. So, I people-watched, checked email and read Bucky’s guidebook. At about 5pm, we headed to the metro for the trip home. We had to be back in Couzon au Mt. d’Or around 6pm because we had to go to the community center to pick up our “panier” of vegetables…

Emmanuelle and Gilles wanted to surprise us with a treat so when we arrived last week they said that the Wednesdays we were staying at their house, we would need to go to the community center between 6 and 7:30 to pick up our vegetables. They explained to us that they had joined a co-op for the summer and got fresh vegetables that farmers brought in every week. They wanted us to enjoy this bonus, so Emmanuelle gave me instructions for what to do…Say “Je viens chercher le panier pour la famille Defaix,” and I was supposed to give them the basket that they would fill up. Of course, I have been worrying about this transaction for the past 5 days, but we did it this evening and it was a cinch. I said exactly what I was told to say and nothing more (Lea didn’t want me to babble on!). The women who were distributing the veggies were lovely and they filled the basket so full that I could barely carry it. We enjoyed some of the carrots, tomatoes and peppers for dinner this evening (that we began at 8:30 or so – we are getting to be so French!) and we have many many many more to eat! Merci encore Famille Defaix!