As soon as Matthew got off work on Friday we loaded into the car once more and headed to Lyon. If you remember from waaaaayyy back in October when we first moved here, Matthew and I went to Lyon for my uncle's wedding.
For those of you who missed that post, here is a little refresher: one of my mom's brothers (Bob) lives in Lyon with his wife, Colette (see wedding post in October 2008). Bob has 2 children, Christopher and Sophie, who also live in Lyon. Growing up, Amy and I didn't get to see a lot of our French cousins. But we always enjoyed our visits when we did. Okay, maybe that is a little bit of "rose colored glasses" syndrome. I distinctly remember a horrible road trip from South Carolina to New Jersey to visit our Grandmother with Mom, Bob, Christopher, Sophie, Amy, and me all in my mom's Mazda MPV van. Sophie was in the front seat, slightly green from being car sick, Amy and Chris were annoying one another, while Chris sat in the far back corner muttering french cuss words. Merde was the first French word I ever learned. Needless to say, it was a very long 12+ hour drive. All in all though, we always have a lot of fun with them. Amy and Sophie always were especially close, so it was a must to get to Lyon during her visit to France.
Friday night our first stop was Bob and Colette's apartment for dinner with them and a couple that lives next door, whom we had met at the wedding. After dinner we caught a taxi and headed to the downtown area of Lyon to meet up with Sophie and her husband Yan for drinks. The place we met them was right on one of the two rivers that runs through Lyon. When that place stopped serving drinks, we walked to another pub and closed that one down too. By that time, we were starving. If we had been in Clemson we would have headed straight for Todaro's, but being in Lyon, apparently the thing to do is go get kebabs. As we passed one kebab place, they looked as if they were closing down. Sophie asked one of the guys and he said he would make us sandwiches but we had to get inside- quick! We were ushered into the tiny restaurant, and the metal bars and doors were shut behinds us and all the lights, but one, were turned out. As we stood huddled in the dark, locked up kebab joint with 4 Middle Eastern men, I felt like we were about to complete a black market trade. They explained that a new law had been passed in June that they were not allowed to serve food after 2:30am. Based on the secrecy of our kebab transaction, I am guessing the fines and/or penalties were pretty stiff for unlawful kebab distribution. We were given our food in plain white plastic bags and told to walk away from their restaurant before we started eating. Let me tell you, I don't know if it was the fact that it was almost 3 in the morning and I was really hungry, or the fact that I felt like I was living dangerously eating an illegal kebab, but it was the best kebab sandwich I have ever eaten! Matthew and I have been craving them ever since
Saturday morning, we met up with Bob, Colette, Gile, and Cecilia (Bob and Colette's neighbors). We took a metro and then a funicular (basically a train that goes up hill) to Fourvière, a district of Lyon located on a hill overlooking the city. The view was really superb. We headed to lunch at a restaurant Colette had chosen. From the front, the restaurant did not look like much, no, I take that back. It looked, well, run-down. One of those places that you wouldn't set foot in, unless you were sure your tetanus shots were up-to-date. However, once you step through the door, the restaurant is unbelievable. After walking through a little lobby, you walk up a few stairs. Straight ahead is a sun-room type area with tables. Our reservation was for the patio/deck area. The deck is large, with lots of trees that offer shade. A bar has been built around a huge tree. We sat down at our large round table for 8, and had a great lunch. After lunch we took the funicular back down to Vieux (old) Lyon. We wandered through the streets before heading back to our hotel to get ready for dinner with Chris. We met Chris and two of his friends in downtown Lyon. Chris took us to one of his favorite restaurants, a funky, trendy little joint with lots of style. We headed up the tiny, spiral staircase to our table on the 2nd floor. We ordered our aperitif and it was brought to us in baby bottles! That is right, we drank our wine through baby bottles (Trey wisely had opted for a beer, which he got to drink out of the bottle- a beer bottle that is). Matthew and Chris chose to order the "menu surprise", which meant that the chef chose what they would eat for their 3 course meal. This was a real gamble since Lyon is known for their use of the, um, unusual parts of animals. Luckily no cow brains or tongues were put on his plate!
Sunday was a sad day when we had to drop Amy and Trey off at the train station. They were taking a train back to Barcelona, and would then fly out Monday morning. We had a great visit with them. Lots of laughs, lots of good food and good wine, and way too many inside jokes! If you happen to be around the four of us in the near future, I am going to go ahead and apologize for the stupid things we will say that will have us all laughing, and everyone else clueless. I am berry, berry sorry! (That's for you, Trey!) :)
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