France

A Brief Layover in Lyon

Lyon, France is part culinary destination, part university town, and part scenic get-away in the Southeast portion of the French countryside, complete with an “Old Town” and a bustling city center between two rivers.  I’ll go ahead and admit, however, that I didn’t spend nearly enough time here — and thus, my short stay will also only necessitate a short post.  Hopefully, things will work out such that I’ll be able to return and give this great little gem of a city the time it deserves.
On my constantly changing mental itinerary, I’ve had Lyon penciled in as a place to visit 2-3 weeks down the road.  However, I found myself staring at a map of Europe a few days ago in the tickets office of a train station, looking for a way to break up the 3-solid-days of transit that would be necessary to get transport myself by train from Madrid, Spain (where I flew back into after Morroco) to Prague, Czech Republic (where I needed to rendezvous with my brother, who was coming to join in on the fun of my little adventure for a few weeks).  And wouldn’t you know, Lyon happens to be right smack in the middle of the two.  Thus, after a day-and-a-half of travel and night train, Lyon is my destination, right before I embark on another day-and-a-half of travels, again, with a night train involved.

The weather was pretty much perfect during my stay

The weathered facades of Old Lyon

Rue Victor Hugo, the main shopping drag

The remains of an old amphitheatre

The Catedral de Saint Jean in the mid-group, with the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere and the Tour Mettalique up the hill

If you’re willing to climb a few stairs (or brave a funicilar)…

…you can get one of the best views in town from up the hill

The back-side of Notre Dame de Fourviere (on the right) and the Tour Metallique (the Eiffel-tower-looking object on the left)

Being a foodie town — and only having about a day to check it out — I made a beeline for what is supposedly one of the foodiest places in one of the foodiest towns in one of the foodiest countries: Les Halles de Lyon.  Essentially a collection of high-end restaurants, culinary shops, and a few markets all enclosed in one indoor space.

Though these market shots may seem similar to what I’ve posted in other cities, the quality of the food being shown was out-of-this-world (and unfortunately, had the price tag to match)

Chocolate on display behind glass cases as if in a museum

Various anti-pasta-like veggies and cheeses, many cured in oil

Though the budget traveler side of my personality didn’t allow me to take seat next to the business men in designer suits and blow an week’s salary stuffing seafood into my face, I did manage to come away with a few sweet treats in the form of macarons, so all was not lost:

Pistacchio, Lavender, Apricot, Creme Brulee, Bitter Chocolate, and even a White Truffle flavored macaron

Besides being home to some of the best cuisine in the world, France also happens to be one of the best wine destinations in the world.  Though, if you’re anything like me and have just come off of an airplane from the continent of Africa, several metro lines, 3 day trains, another metro line to switch stations, and then an overnight train to get here, nothing sounds better than a nice, refreshing pint of ale.
Luckily, however, through a feat that I can attribute to nothing other than my ninja-like stealth and fox-like cunning (with a little help from my guidebook, too), I was able to locate the one micro-brewery that exists here:

Woo hoo!

And eventhough I had to skip lunch at Les Halles, I couldn’t leave Lyon without indulging in at least one great meal.  So after a recommendation from a few folks in my hotel, I headed towards a restaurant that serves typical Lyonnaise food (or that which hails from Lyon), and ordered what the waiter recommended as his favorite.  Though they used a bit more of the animals than we may be used to in the USA, this was still a great meal that I enjoyed quite a bit:

Even the bread came out with a sampling of olives, cornichons, and pickled onions

The appetizer: Pig’s Trotters Terrine (the meat from the feet of the pigs chopped up and then suspended in a loaf-form with a tranparent gelatin, wrapped in pastry dough, then cooked and sliced up)

The main course: Pig’s Head Meat Sausages with a Split Pea Mash, all covered in a rich gravy

And we can’t forget the cheese course with a nice glass of Rose to finish

As mentioned above, I’m hoping I’ll be able to swing back for another pass through Lyon, as my time spent here was both on very short notice and all-too-brief.  But for now, I’m continuing my journey traversing half of Europe to meet up with my brother for a few days, with Prague being the first destination, and Vienna, Austria on deck.  A votre sante, from Lyon!

France

Socca and Canyoning in the Cote d’Azur

October 10, 2011 by andrewamiet 14 Comments

Nice, France:
Ah yes, the French Riviera.  Just the mention of the name conjures up images of sun-washed beaches framed by gorgeous mountains, thoroughly-tanned locals, vacationing celebrities and high-rollers, and a seemingly endless supply of sunshine.  All of these stereotypes are, in fact, quite true, but alas, my intention of spending 5 days lying on the beach like a sack of potatoes was foiled by the lack of sandy beaches where I was staying (see pictures below) — though they are available if you don’t mind a short train ride.  Regardless, the Cote d’Azur region of France is still one of the most beautiful places that I’ve had the pleasure of visiting, and given the relative proximity to a plethora of sites, towns, and points of interest, it is also a day-trippers dream.  I made Nice my home base for exploring the region, so we’ll go ahead and start there:

The coastline in Nice (and yes, the airplanes landing nearby really do fly right overhead)

A sculpture in a park just west of Place Massena

The sun setting over the port of Nice

The Monument aux Morts, wedged into a hillsides (at the top of which is Place du Chateau) dividing the main beaches from the port

Place Gautier

The tangled streets of the Old Town section of Nice, just off of the coastline

The grains of sand on the beaches in Nice were a little larger than I had expected, making it a bit uncomfortable to simply throw a towel down and lay out. If you were willing to spend a few euro’s, there are private beaches alternating with the public sections in which you could rent a chair, otherwise, you’ll best bet is to take a train to the Cap d’Ail beach just southeast of Nice

And while we’re still on Nice, there are a few dishes that are specific to this area that you must sample if you’re spending any amount of time here.  The first is a beach-snack called Socca.  Essentially, it is just a chickpea-and-olive-oil batter that is then baked in the oven in a large, flat disc about the thickness of an avergae crepe.  And at a little over $2 per order, it makes for a great between-meal nosh.

Socca being portioned out – each large disc can serve roughly 5-6 people

A finished portion of Socca can be seen on the bottom right, alongside a few other tasty treats I had to try. After putting in this order, however, the server brought out two plates, two sets of silverware, and two wine glasses, assuming that there must be a second person waiting to help me out based on the amount of food ordered. Apparently he hasn’t been keeping up with my blog…

Another specialty specific to Nice itself is the Salad Nicoise.  Essentially a green salad with tomatoes, olives, and a hard-boiled egg, then topped with a sizable portion of tuna (and sometimes anchioves, too).  Though this creation isn’t the most inspired or creative offering ever put together, something about the balance of vegetables and protein makes for a satisfying meal:

Though not specific to Nice, I can’t get enough of these mini-croissants stuffed with a variety of flavors. Seen here, a chocolate, pistachio, and lemon croissant

Another attraction in the Old Town section of Nice is the Flower Market that takes place every morning aside from Mondays.  Though there were flowers present, it seemed to me to be more of fruit and vegetable market than a flower market, but then again, I’m also much more biased to the edible side of life:

The Flower Market in action

Various flavors and blends of salt

Varieties of cauliflower up for sale, including the fractal-patterned Romanesco Broccoli

Dried Mushrooms

Various dried and ground spices and herbs (including, of course, the still omni-present Herbs de Provence)

With the plentiful sunshine in the area, citrus fruits look absolutely amazing

Eze and Monaco:
As mentioned above, when exploring the Cote d’Azur, there are quite a few options in front of you as far as day trips.  When I was growing tired of Nice after a few days, the first trip I put together was a dual trip to the medieval hillside village of Eze, followed up by a quick jaunt over to Monaco (the uber-rich sovereignty that is technically the 2nd smallest conutry in the world by population).  And considering that the bus rides only cost 1 euro per leg and last only 20 minutes, there is plenty of time left for exploring and plenty of money left for food and drinks.

The town of Eze as seen from across the valley

The tangle of streets within the walls can be a bit confusing, but the scenary is nice regardless

If you can find your way to the top (hint: always take whatever path heads uphill), you’ll first have to wander through a garden of cactii and aloe plants (which, unfortunately cost 5 euro)…

…but you’ll be treated to a great view out over the Mediterranean

Before heading out of town, I had to try another regional specialty: Stuffed Vegetables

Then it was on to the stylish city/country of Monaco

If you happen to have a multi-million dollar yacht sitting around, the Monaco harbor seems to be THE place to park it

No visit to Monaco would be complete without swinging by the world-famous Monte Carlo casino, seen at the end of the lane over the fountains

I ran out of time (as usual) before I was able to explore a few of the other cities in the area, but a few other great day trips include Cannes (where they hold the film festival each year), Antibes, St Paul de Vence, and St. Tropez.  Instead of these, however, I took the opportunity to knock off another extreme sport from my “to-do” list: that of canyoning — as, much to my mother’s dismay, I’ve previously checked off sky-diving, bungee-jumping, white water rafting, motorcylces, etc.
The sport of canyoning has been described as white water rafting without the raft, though from my recent experience, it involves quite a bit more rappelling down waterfalls, sliding down blind chutes within the river, and cliff diving into fast-moving pools of water — so all in all, a great time was had.  I wasn’t able to bring my non-waterproof and non-shockproof camera, so all I have at the moment to show you is the opening picture of our group decked out in our wetsuits, but I’m hoping that a few of the others who bought special cameras will forward along a few more pictures, of which I’ll subsequently post:

This was our group shortly before sustaining massive, life-threatening injuries (just kidding, we all made it out alive – ha ha)

And as a final activity before heading across the border to Italy, with all of the recent talk about Macarons, I simply had to jump on the opportunity to take a Macaron cooking class — so hopefully I’ll be able to produce some Pistachio-Vera-quality treats myself when I return.  Here are a few of the highlights:

Our chef/instructor showing us some initial basics. And as you can see, I was the only guy in the class, but that is a situation that I’m certainly not going to complain about

Me piping some of the almond meal and egg white batter onto the cookie sheet — though I promise that the uneven dollops already on the tray were there before I started…honest…

Macarons drying before going into the oven — this is a necessary step to create the outer skin on the top of the macaron

The finished product — not half-bad, if I do say so myself

Post-Nice, I’m off to get some fresh air and to clear my city-clogged head while hiking in the Cinque Terre National Park just southeast across the border into Italy.