This Is It: J'aime la France

Right now I’m sitting inside Thevenin, our Parisian neighborhood patisserie/boulangerie, marveling at the complexity of a macaron. I truly had no concept of what a macaron was before I came to Europe this year; I just assumed that it was not worth my time. Erroneous! Little did I know that they are not at all the fluffy air-texture of a meringue, rather they are both light and dense at the same time, folding instead of brittlely breaking under my teeth. The inside is like soft taffy no matter what flavor I choose: salted caramel, chocolate, fig, pistachio… They each make a wonderful friend for my coffee and myself.

An example of the delicious things you can get here: Gros Macaron au Caramel, un pain viennois, caffe, caffe au lait!

The inside of the caramel macaron. Yes, please!

My French entries are going to comprise a sort of food blog, with some beautiful buildings thrown in the mix. Each day, my friend Jane and I make a plan of attack that usually goes something like this:

“I need to eat cassoulet.”

Google search.

“There’s a good place in the 3^rd arrondissement.”

“Perfect, let’s see Notre Dame while we’re at it.”
"Parfait."

Chocolate and Fig macarons with coffee. My kind of Ménage à Trois.

Lyon

Let's rewind a bit before Paris and talk about our entrance into France. Jane and I started out doing some end-of-season-monotony work at our company's warehouse in Provence (near Avignon). The weather, if not fully summer-like, was certainly pleasant. We decided to see the city of Lyon on our way to Paris, as it is widely recognized as the gastronomic epicenter of France (big words have to be proven...) We booked a pull-out couch in an AirBnB apartment and hopped on the train.

It immediately became clear that we were heading north to greet winter. Lyon was consistently gray, and chilly enough to send us on a Zara survival-shopping mission for a coat and a sweater. I bought a thick button-up sweater with elbow pads that makes me look like my dad. Don't worry, Dad, I decided to take that as a compliment ;)

We found these wall murals with the help of the guy at the information desk (see more info below). Then we made it our mission to eat everything depicted here.

Lyon has some serious personality! Jane had the brilliant idea to hit up the information center for a map, where we also received dining recommendations, viewpoint locations, giant wall mural areas (see two photos above) and info on how to find secret medieval passages sprinkled throughout the city. Our 48 hours were planned in less than five minutes!

By this time it had been at least three hours since our last meal, and we were huuuuungry. ("Teacher, I'm soo hungryyyyy") We wandered into a cozy little restaurant with a funky atmosphere; there were different styles of clocks ALL over the place. Our favorite was a seal dressed as Michael Jackson (what? why?). Unfortunately I did not take a photo. However, I did document our delicious meal:

At this point I spoke and understood zero French, so I had a good ole time ordering blind. At this restaurant I chose "les pieds et paquets", or the packets of feet. Sounds good, right? I did know that it was sheep tripe going into it; I'd never eaten a whole meal of tripe so I decided to give it a go. I am so glad I did.

I admit, I was a little scared seeing the cellular structure of the sheep intestine, but gosh darn they were good!

I really thought the texture was going to break me, but each bite was pleasantly firm and tender. The sauce was delicious; made partly from a stock of slow-roasted sheep's feet (hence "les pieds"). The flavor was reminiscent of a red curry, but more subtle with the spices. The steamed carrots were tender, but not mushy, and the rice was the glue that held the whole dish together. A bit of sheep tripe stuffed with pork + saucy rice = miam miam! Even though "meat-on-meat" is not Jane's thing, she was brave and gave this dish a try. It even made her thumb raise!

The "pieds"/feet part of the dish is a stock of sheep feet in which the packets are simmered. Apparently when slow-roasted, the feet of sheep could melt in your mouth. If that don't make you hungry I don't know what will!

We confirmed that French people eat lunch at 1:00 PM, as the entire restaurant was clear (except for us) by 2:15. We realized we were overstaying our keep, so we paid "l'addition" and headed out for a stroll through Lyon. Upon the recommendation of the young man at the information desk, we found a GREAT overlook of the town:

Jane (right) and I at Place Rouville, overlooking the Saone river into downtown Lyon.

In between the two rivers (Rhone and Saone), just past the Opera House and the Hotel de Ville, the streets open up into a lovely plaza lined with cafes. In the center of the Place de Terreaux is an impressive statue-fountain. I felt similar urges to stay here all day, like I feel in front of the Trevi Fountain, but we had secret passageways to find...

Place de Terreaux

According to our Info-desk friend, the secret passageways of Lyon were originally built starting in the 4th century as more direct routes to fresh water and safe transport routes to market. There are over 100 of them marked on the tourist map, along with the street address of where they begin and end. We found our first one directly behind the fountain on the Place de Terreaux, but for the life of us we couldn't figure out how to open the door. That is, until someone came and pushed the unlocked door open for us... Oops.

But HOW do we get in???

A locked gate to the entrance of the passage tunnel kept us from completing this first mission. In fact, the other doors and archways we wandered into while following our numbered tunnels on the map were so sketchy that we always ended up walking rapidly away hand-in-hand. Sometimes it's fun to maintain a bit of mystery...

Lyon has some amazing wall murals. To be honest, I didn't comprehend their full significance until I checked out the group's website. Apparently CiteCreation is a group founded in the 1970's, which took on city mural-painting projects after studying Diego Rivera's work on the streets of Mexico. The murals of Lyon intend to remind/teach residents of local history and identity, as well as bring free art to everyone. Cool!

This mural (yep, none of those windows are real) depicts famous Lyonnaise citizens throughout the centuries.

I took my first funicular, an inclined cable car, up to the Roman Theater of Lyon. Originally built in the latest years B.C., this UNESCO World Heritage Site is now the host of some legit outdoor concerts. Look at the view in the background!

Just down the way from the Roman Theater is the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvier. You can see this grand structure from almost every angle in lower Lyon (at the base of the funicular). I was surprised to find out it was built as recently as the 1870's. We snuck inside and listened to some of mass. There are beautiful mosaics and paintings inside.

All that funicular riding really worked up our appetites, so we searched for some typical Lyonnaise fare. We found a free table in the upper deck of a cozy restaurant in the 5th arrondissement of Lyon. And the food was good: