About a month ago, this would have been a gorgeous field of sunflowers.
Puy de Dome at sunset.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Rugby, Blackberries, Wheat Fields, and Sunsets
Rugby has started for Matthew again. This year he is playing for a much better team, and it is much closer to Clermont. The team has practice on Tuesday and Friday nights. This past Tuesday I drove with him and walked while the team practiced. While I was walking, I found a ton of blackberry bushes growing on the fences that ran beside the road. Friday, while he practiced, I picked blackberries. There was an awesome wheat field beside the road, and the sunset was gorgeous. Here are some photos from Friday night.
About a month ago, this would have been a gorgeous field of sunflowers.
Puy de Dome at sunset.
About a month ago, this would have been a gorgeous field of sunflowers.
Puy de Dome at sunset.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Heat Is ON!
I really cannot complain about the weather this summer. This spring, as the weather started heating up, I was really worried about what it would be like to live without air conditioning all summer long. We have had some warm days, but compared to the heat wave our families have endured this summer, Matthew and I felt very blessed. This did not stop us from installing ceiling fans in the living room and both bedrooms in our apartment, as well as purchasing 2 oscillating fans. This summer has been downright pleasant. Even when we had company, our apartment never felt hot. Throughout June and July we had many days that stayed in the 70's, sometimes even dipping into the upper 60's. Coming from the deep south, this is unheard of during the summer!
That all has changed this week. The worst part is at night trying to fall asleep in this heat. Last night, Matthew and I had our bedroom ceiling fan on high, an oscillating fan on his side of the bed (on high), and an oscillating fan on my side of the bed (on high). And by the way, our bedroom is really small, there is only about 2 feet of room on each side of the bed...just enough room for our fans! Even with three fans, it was still uncomfortable.
Poor Matthew has it the worst at work. He has to go to work in his normal khakis and polo shirt (although he has given up wearing an undershirt, which has been pointed out as soooo American by his French colleagues). Today, his office reached the mid 90's! Our thermometer on our deck read 102 at one point!
This afternoon I met Matthew, Bertrand, Claire, and a few others for lunch. When I got on the bus to ride to Jaude, the heat was stifling. It was impossible to hold on to the metal handrails because they were so hot. I will blame the heat for the "blessing out" I received by a woman today while waiting for the bus. She was probably in her 80's, and walked with a cane. I was already at the bus stop and watched her make her way down the street. She walked very slowly and every few steps would stop and rest. She also would hold the cane out in front of her, moving it back and forth to see if she was about to run into anything. As she got closer to the bus stop she started waving the cane again and I moved out of her way. She felt her way around the bus stop enclosure and found the bench. I saw the bus coming down the street, worked up the courage to speak to her in French and said, "Pardon Madame, le bus arrive." She glares at me, whacks her cane against the sidewalk and yells, "Je sais!" ("I know") and then continues to yell at me (although I have no idea what she said, but believe me her tone told me everything I needed to know). I think my jaw hit the pavement. I was just trying to help! Then the doors open and I was going to let her go first, but she started waving her stick again at me and yelling "Allez! Allez!" (go! go!). Geez! I know the French get a bad rap, but she is honestly the first rude person I have encountered (okay, well there was also the guy at a little kebab place in Delille that literally rolled his eyes at me when I didn't understand what he was asking me).
So, back to lunch. By the time we all walked to the restaurant everyone was sweating. I opened the restaurant door with the American expectation of being greeted by a blast of icy air conditioned air, but no- just hot, stale air. Throughout lunch we were all sweating. Our waiter must have brought us 10 pitchers of water. Everyone was wiping sweat off their faces throughout lunch, it was lovely. And poor Claire, who is 5 months pregnant! When Amy visited in July she brought a little battery powered fan Mom had sent with her. I pulled it out for Claire at lunch, so thanks Mom!
Luckily the forecast is only calling for this heat for a few more days. Until it cools off though, those of you who live in Clermont: beware of the little old lady that waves her cane in front of her!
That all has changed this week. The worst part is at night trying to fall asleep in this heat. Last night, Matthew and I had our bedroom ceiling fan on high, an oscillating fan on his side of the bed (on high), and an oscillating fan on my side of the bed (on high). And by the way, our bedroom is really small, there is only about 2 feet of room on each side of the bed...just enough room for our fans! Even with three fans, it was still uncomfortable.
Poor Matthew has it the worst at work. He has to go to work in his normal khakis and polo shirt (although he has given up wearing an undershirt, which has been pointed out as soooo American by his French colleagues). Today, his office reached the mid 90's! Our thermometer on our deck read 102 at one point!
This afternoon I met Matthew, Bertrand, Claire, and a few others for lunch. When I got on the bus to ride to Jaude, the heat was stifling. It was impossible to hold on to the metal handrails because they were so hot. I will blame the heat for the "blessing out" I received by a woman today while waiting for the bus. She was probably in her 80's, and walked with a cane. I was already at the bus stop and watched her make her way down the street. She walked very slowly and every few steps would stop and rest. She also would hold the cane out in front of her, moving it back and forth to see if she was about to run into anything. As she got closer to the bus stop she started waving the cane again and I moved out of her way. She felt her way around the bus stop enclosure and found the bench. I saw the bus coming down the street, worked up the courage to speak to her in French and said, "Pardon Madame, le bus arrive." She glares at me, whacks her cane against the sidewalk and yells, "Je sais!" ("I know") and then continues to yell at me (although I have no idea what she said, but believe me her tone told me everything I needed to know). I think my jaw hit the pavement. I was just trying to help! Then the doors open and I was going to let her go first, but she started waving her stick again at me and yelling "Allez! Allez!" (go! go!). Geez! I know the French get a bad rap, but she is honestly the first rude person I have encountered (okay, well there was also the guy at a little kebab place in Delille that literally rolled his eyes at me when I didn't understand what he was asking me).
So, back to lunch. By the time we all walked to the restaurant everyone was sweating. I opened the restaurant door with the American expectation of being greeted by a blast of icy air conditioned air, but no- just hot, stale air. Throughout lunch we were all sweating. Our waiter must have brought us 10 pitchers of water. Everyone was wiping sweat off their faces throughout lunch, it was lovely. And poor Claire, who is 5 months pregnant! When Amy visited in July she brought a little battery powered fan Mom had sent with her. I pulled it out for Claire at lunch, so thanks Mom!
Luckily the forecast is only calling for this heat for a few more days. Until it cools off though, those of you who live in Clermont: beware of the little old lady that waves her cane in front of her!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The French and Their Speedos
Since living in France, Matthew and I have seen our fair share of speedos on French, Spanish, and Italian beaches. The idea that these men consciously choose to wear such little pieces of fabric (when there are many, many other bathing suit options in the stores) boggles the mind. There is a blog I enjoy reading that is written by a British mum living in France. Unfortunately her family is moving back to the UK, and I will miss her tales of life here in France. Yesterday, she posted a blog about speedos. Anyone who has spent time on a French beach or pool (or in her case, a water park) can relate. Her blog definitely had me laughing, so I thought I would share. Enjoy!
http://whatfrenchdream.blogspot.com/2009/08/in-which-my-equilibrium-was-unbalanced.html
http://whatfrenchdream.blogspot.com/2009/08/in-which-my-equilibrium-was-unbalanced.html
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Corsica
Prepare yourself, this is going to be a long one...
One of the best things about living in France is the vacation! This year, Michelin required employees to take a minimum of 3 weeks off, in a row. For the first week of vacation, we decided to go to the French island of Corsica. I should probably not have referred to it as French, even though it is. Corsicans like to consider themselves independent of France. They refer to France as the "continent". They are extremely protective of their land, and we have heard more than one story about houses built by foreigners (whether they really are from another country, or if they are just from the continent) being destroyed. Foreign investors are strongly, shall we say, discouraged by Corsicans (a big part played by the Corsican mafia). More than one chain, high-rise hotel has been bombed before completion. Mafia or no mafia, we had heard amazing things about the island and couldn't wait for a relaxing beach vacation.
In order to get to the island, we first had to drive the 6 hours to Nice, then take a 3 hour ferry ride to the port of Ile Rousse, then a 20 minute drive to our rental. In the days leading up to our departure day, Matthew got a little worried about traffic after talking to guys at work. Our ferry was leaving from Nice at 5:00pm. The guys at work told Matthew the normal 6 hour drive would take us at least 10! We decided at the last minute to leave Friday night and drive as far as we could, spend the night in a hotel, and drive the rest Saturday morning. Except for a few spots, traffic wasn't too bad. After about 5 hours (at 1:00am in the morning) we decided to stop and find a hotel. I used the GPS to find a little town that seemed to have several hotel options. We stopped at 4 different hotels and they were all full! So, we got back on the road and drove another 30 minutes to Cannes (which is only 30 minutes from Nice). While driving, I was again using the GPS to find hotels, but this time, I called the hotels first. Finally, the 4th hotel I called had rooms available. At 2:00am we finally checked into our hotel. The good news was, we got to sleep-in Saturday morning and we only had a 30 minutes drive to Nice. We parked the car at the port, ate lunch, and wandered around Nice just long enough to fall in love with the city. It has the most amazing color of blue water, great architecture, a port full of colorful wooden boats (and some ridiculously expensive yachts), and these charming narrow streets packed with great shops. About 3:30 we drove to the opposite end of the port and got in line for the ferry. Unfortunately, our ferry was delayed and didn't leave until 7:00. After our 3 hour ferry ride, we finally arrived at our rental around 10:30pm.
Most of our week was spent on the little beach just down from our rental. We also ventured into Calvi, the village closest to our rental. It had tons of restaurants along the water at the port, and lots of stores along small pedestrian streets. Corsica is known for its wine, and being an island, there is always really fresh seafood on the menus. Since our rental also had a full kitchen, Matthew and I stayed in and cooked several nights and enjoyed the sunset from our patio.
Bertrand comes to Corsica every year with his family. He and Claire came for 2 weeks, and luckily their time overlapped with ours. Matthew and I drove the 2 hours Saint Florent to visit them one day. Bertrand and Claire were camping in Corsica on land owned by a family friend. The family that owned the land built a building in the middle that contains showers, bathrooms, several refrigerators, and storage space. Families that stayed there chose a spot on the land and set up their tents, tables, chairs, and various cooking apparatuses. Claire and I spent the morning swimming and on the beach with Lisa and the family friends that were still on the island. Matthew and Bertrand spent the morning snorkeling. For lunch, Claire cooked an awesome Vietmanese pork dish, and then while Lisa (and Bertrand) napped, Matthew and I went into the village of Saint Florent to explore.
On our way back to Bertrand's something kind of funny happened to us. We were driving through the little village, which was very crowded, when this little, old lady stepped into the road and started waving frantically at us. Matthew slowed down, and she stepped almost in front of our car and started motioning for us to roll down the window. She stood in the middle of the street with her little bag of tomatoes, and asked us to give her a ride home. Before we could even react, she was walking around the car to get into the back seat. She looked like someone's grandma, so we weren't too afraid... She actually turned out to be very sweet. She told us that up until a few weeks ago, she had her son with her to drive her around. Now, every time she needs to get into or out of town, she waves down a young couple (always a young couple, because old people "don't want to help me"). What spunk! We drove her about a mile down the road, dropped her and her tomatoes off, and continued on our way.
The afternoon was spent rock jumping and swimming some more. Remember the Corsican mafia I told you about? One of the "houses" we passed while walking back from the beach, is owned by a French family from the "continent". Bertrand told us that every year his house is basically taken apart, so each year when he returns he has to replace doors, windows, etc. It is all because he is not Corsican! Matthew and I stopped in Saint Florent for dinner before driving back to Calvi.
One of my favorite things about going to the beach are the sunsets. Corsica didn't disappoint.
On our last full day on the island, Matthew and I went on a boating excursion with a local sailing company. We rode on a catamaran with about 15 other people along the coast of Corsica. We sailed all the way to the Grotte des Veaux Marins (a natural sea cave). Here, we were supposed to snorkel and/or use their sea kayaks to explore. Unfortunately, the ocean was really rough that day, and the captain was worried about our safety. So we sailed back to another cove, with breathtaking blue water, and swam, snorkeled, and kayaked there.
Saturday, we packed up our rental and had to check out at 10:00am. Our ferry didn't leave until 8:30pm, so we headed to the beach one last time. After taking the ferry back to Nice, we checked into our hotel about 1:30am. We spent Sunday exploring Nice some more, and about 4:00pm we started driving home. Since traffic was supposed to be really bad again, we stayed off the main highway and let the GPS pick another route for us. We ended up on some very small roads, driving through the middle of nowhere. The drive was breathtaking though, and we were treated to an amazing sunset during our drive home.
One of the best things about living in France is the vacation! This year, Michelin required employees to take a minimum of 3 weeks off, in a row. For the first week of vacation, we decided to go to the French island of Corsica. I should probably not have referred to it as French, even though it is. Corsicans like to consider themselves independent of France. They refer to France as the "continent". They are extremely protective of their land, and we have heard more than one story about houses built by foreigners (whether they really are from another country, or if they are just from the continent) being destroyed. Foreign investors are strongly, shall we say, discouraged by Corsicans (a big part played by the Corsican mafia). More than one chain, high-rise hotel has been bombed before completion. Mafia or no mafia, we had heard amazing things about the island and couldn't wait for a relaxing beach vacation.
In order to get to the island, we first had to drive the 6 hours to Nice, then take a 3 hour ferry ride to the port of Ile Rousse, then a 20 minute drive to our rental. In the days leading up to our departure day, Matthew got a little worried about traffic after talking to guys at work. Our ferry was leaving from Nice at 5:00pm. The guys at work told Matthew the normal 6 hour drive would take us at least 10! We decided at the last minute to leave Friday night and drive as far as we could, spend the night in a hotel, and drive the rest Saturday morning. Except for a few spots, traffic wasn't too bad. After about 5 hours (at 1:00am in the morning) we decided to stop and find a hotel. I used the GPS to find a little town that seemed to have several hotel options. We stopped at 4 different hotels and they were all full! So, we got back on the road and drove another 30 minutes to Cannes (which is only 30 minutes from Nice). While driving, I was again using the GPS to find hotels, but this time, I called the hotels first. Finally, the 4th hotel I called had rooms available. At 2:00am we finally checked into our hotel. The good news was, we got to sleep-in Saturday morning and we only had a 30 minutes drive to Nice. We parked the car at the port, ate lunch, and wandered around Nice just long enough to fall in love with the city. It has the most amazing color of blue water, great architecture, a port full of colorful wooden boats (and some ridiculously expensive yachts), and these charming narrow streets packed with great shops. About 3:30 we drove to the opposite end of the port and got in line for the ferry. Unfortunately, our ferry was delayed and didn't leave until 7:00. After our 3 hour ferry ride, we finally arrived at our rental around 10:30pm.
Most of our week was spent on the little beach just down from our rental. We also ventured into Calvi, the village closest to our rental. It had tons of restaurants along the water at the port, and lots of stores along small pedestrian streets. Corsica is known for its wine, and being an island, there is always really fresh seafood on the menus. Since our rental also had a full kitchen, Matthew and I stayed in and cooked several nights and enjoyed the sunset from our patio.
Bertrand comes to Corsica every year with his family. He and Claire came for 2 weeks, and luckily their time overlapped with ours. Matthew and I drove the 2 hours Saint Florent to visit them one day. Bertrand and Claire were camping in Corsica on land owned by a family friend. The family that owned the land built a building in the middle that contains showers, bathrooms, several refrigerators, and storage space. Families that stayed there chose a spot on the land and set up their tents, tables, chairs, and various cooking apparatuses. Claire and I spent the morning swimming and on the beach with Lisa and the family friends that were still on the island. Matthew and Bertrand spent the morning snorkeling. For lunch, Claire cooked an awesome Vietmanese pork dish, and then while Lisa (and Bertrand) napped, Matthew and I went into the village of Saint Florent to explore.
On our way back to Bertrand's something kind of funny happened to us. We were driving through the little village, which was very crowded, when this little, old lady stepped into the road and started waving frantically at us. Matthew slowed down, and she stepped almost in front of our car and started motioning for us to roll down the window. She stood in the middle of the street with her little bag of tomatoes, and asked us to give her a ride home. Before we could even react, she was walking around the car to get into the back seat. She looked like someone's grandma, so we weren't too afraid... She actually turned out to be very sweet. She told us that up until a few weeks ago, she had her son with her to drive her around. Now, every time she needs to get into or out of town, she waves down a young couple (always a young couple, because old people "don't want to help me"). What spunk! We drove her about a mile down the road, dropped her and her tomatoes off, and continued on our way.
The afternoon was spent rock jumping and swimming some more. Remember the Corsican mafia I told you about? One of the "houses" we passed while walking back from the beach, is owned by a French family from the "continent". Bertrand told us that every year his house is basically taken apart, so each year when he returns he has to replace doors, windows, etc. It is all because he is not Corsican! Matthew and I stopped in Saint Florent for dinner before driving back to Calvi.
One of my favorite things about going to the beach are the sunsets. Corsica didn't disappoint.
On our last full day on the island, Matthew and I went on a boating excursion with a local sailing company. We rode on a catamaran with about 15 other people along the coast of Corsica. We sailed all the way to the Grotte des Veaux Marins (a natural sea cave). Here, we were supposed to snorkel and/or use their sea kayaks to explore. Unfortunately, the ocean was really rough that day, and the captain was worried about our safety. So we sailed back to another cove, with breathtaking blue water, and swam, snorkeled, and kayaked there.
Saturday, we packed up our rental and had to check out at 10:00am. Our ferry didn't leave until 8:30pm, so we headed to the beach one last time. After taking the ferry back to Nice, we checked into our hotel about 1:30am. We spent Sunday exploring Nice some more, and about 4:00pm we started driving home. Since traffic was supposed to be really bad again, we stayed off the main highway and let the GPS pick another route for us. We ended up on some very small roads, driving through the middle of nowhere. The drive was breathtaking though, and we were treated to an amazing sunset during our drive home.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Blog Comments
I have had several people tell me that they want to comment on the blog, but don't have a gmail account. I have changed a setting, so that if you want to leave a comment, you can choose "anonymous" in the comment section. You can choose to write your name at the bottom of your comment, or not. I love to hear your feedback!
Keep checking back this week. We just got back from a week in Corsica and I have lots of blogging to do. And of course, lots of pictures to post!
Keep checking back this week. We just got back from a week in Corsica and I have lots of blogging to do. And of course, lots of pictures to post!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Lyon with Amy and Trey
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!) :)
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!) :)
Puy de Sancy, Round 2
After touring Barcelona, Sete, and Nimes, we were finally back in Clermont!. Unfortunately, Matthew had to go back to work. Trey, Amy, and I were ready for some much needed down-time. I gave them a tour of downtown Clermont, and Wednesday night the Pages invited us over for dinner. Bertrand was in Romania for work, but Claire came so that Amy and Trey could meet her. The Pages had just purchased Guitar Hero, complete with the guitar, drums, and microphone. Much of the night was spent rocking out (or trying to). We even had a sing-off...which Matthew won...and I came in dead last (in fact, I was the only one that didn't even get to finish the song because it cut me off- shameful!).
Thursday, Amy, Trey, and I headed to Puy de Sancy. Matthew and his family had enjoyed hiking to the top so much, and the pictures were so gorgeous, that we decided to give it a try. The drive there is beautiful, exactly what you would imagine when you think of a French countryside. After arriving at the base of the volcano, we took a cable car to the hiking starting point. From there, it was up, up, up! Even though it was July, it was freezing! People all around us were dressed in parkas, scarves, and hats. We rolled out in shorts and t-shirts. We had thought to bring some long-sleeve t-shirts with us- which didn't do a lot of good against the hurricane force winds that were whipping around us. Even the few dogs that were along for the hike were more properly dressed than us in their little doggy sweaters. I am sure the French people were just shaking their heads at us and muttering under their breaths, "stupid Americans".
Thursday, Amy, Trey, and I headed to Puy de Sancy. Matthew and his family had enjoyed hiking to the top so much, and the pictures were so gorgeous, that we decided to give it a try. The drive there is beautiful, exactly what you would imagine when you think of a French countryside. After arriving at the base of the volcano, we took a cable car to the hiking starting point. From there, it was up, up, up! Even though it was July, it was freezing! People all around us were dressed in parkas, scarves, and hats. We rolled out in shorts and t-shirts. We had thought to bring some long-sleeve t-shirts with us- which didn't do a lot of good against the hurricane force winds that were whipping around us. Even the few dogs that were along for the hike were more properly dressed than us in their little doggy sweaters. I am sure the French people were just shaking their heads at us and muttering under their breaths, "stupid Americans".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)