We left from Zurich and were in Lyon within 4 hours. The hotel was right in the heart of the old city amongst the beautiful architecture, delicious bakeries, and tempting shops. That night for dinner we headed to rue des Marronniers which is a one block street with nothing but restaurants. Dinner was great. (Although it took 20 minutes of staring at the menu before we decided, and the menu was even in English!) Here is where I realized that while French desserts are my absolute favorites and impossible for me to resist, the French savory dishes scare me. How can they be so good with desserts and so weird with the rest? Anyway I found a non-scary scallop risotto which was heaven, and so far Lyon held up to it's reputation for being a food capital of the world.
The next morning I had a chocolat au pain and a cappuccino for breakfast (except the cappuccino was an espresso topped with whipped cream, not technically correct, but actually really good). We then went to the top of the hill to see the Fourviere. It was beautiful. Then we walked to the Roman ruins. It was so amazing. These structures were built in 15 B.C. and they are still around! The rest of the day was spent walking in and out of bakeries, patisseries, and chocolate shops. And if that wasn't enough we walked to the Halles de Lyon which is a massive indoor food hall. All the meats, cheeses, seafood, baked goods, and desserts you could dream of. Basically this was my heaven.
That night we went to dinner at the restaurant that my colleague, who is from Lyon, recommended. I got the Lyon speciality: quenelle de brochet, which is a pike dumpling. It was one of the best dinners I have ever had. It was a small dish but I was full half way through. Amazing. Plus the atmosphere in the restaurant was perfect. A small room with wood beamed ceiling and low lighting. (Aside from the worst behaved French child I have seen who had useless parents, it was a great experience. The 3 or 4 year old kid was sitting by himself on one side of the table with both parents sitting on the other. He was off his chair and all over the place, bumping into everyone the whole time. The parents never said a thing or corrected him once. In fact at one point the waitress came over, picked him up off the floor, sat him in his chair, and scooted it to the table. Even after this the parents made no effort to keep him in line. I'll stop there, but it goes on.)
The net day we went to Geneva. We hadn't booked a hotel but lucked out on a nice one which wasn't too expensive. Then was walked around the city. It was beautiful. Although I have noticed that almost any city is beautiful when it is on a lake or river. Dinner that night was fantastic. (I promise I have had a bad meal, just not on this trip!) I tried beef tartar for the first time. Oh and the local wine (a pinot blanc) was perfect.
The next day on the train ride home was the most beautiful train ride I have ever been on. The snow capped mountains, the lakes, the hills covered in wineries. Why is it that when you are in France and you see a building which is old, run down, in need of paint, and an eye-sore you think of it as rustic, beautiful, and picture worthy? France is just magic like that I guess.
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