Lyon and Chambery updates!

Lyon

Two weekends ago Renee and I made a day trip to Lyon on Sunday. We didn’t really know what to expect and just had some sightseeing and eating that we wanted to do, so the day was pretty relaxed to start with. We started off with a beautiful train ride from Chambery around the lake (http://www.cafchambery.com/IMG/jpg/img_0200.jpg !). We didn’t realize that when we got to Lyon the train station would be a) huge and b) packed. Wow! So far the biggest train station that I have been in. After buying a map (which proved to be extremely helpful), we decided to visit the old town part of the city first. On our way we stopped at “Les Halles,” a huge indoor market of all sorts of incredible food. Oh my goodness! It was overwhelming and amazing to see so much fresh and delicious food all around. Everything was set out so well and presented beautiful. Awesome! We could only afford some of the patisseries, however, so Renee and I split a baklava-type dessert. Yum!

We soon made our way through town across the Rhone and Saone rivers to the other side of town. Although everything was closed because it was Sunday, we got to experience the beautiful architecture of the town and the outside plazas. Pretty! We passed one church along the way that had just got done with a service so we go to peek inside. I am forgetting the name of this church right now, but it was beautiful.

It was getting pretty warm out at this time so we decided it would be a good idea to head over to the Musee des Beaux-Arts – the fine arts museum. Wonderful! The museum had some beautiful paintings and sculptures (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42534138&l=4235a6a58b&id=6234577 ). They had a flower collection of paintings that I found particularly beautiful (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42564451&id=6234577#/photo.php?pid=42534142&id=6234577 ). The detail in those kind of paintings is just unreal and so fascinating to see in person. After we saw the main parts of the museum we went and saw an exposition that was going on about Juliette Recamier, a “muse and patron of the arts” from the 19th century. The exposition talked mainly about how all sorts of artists loved painting her and doing art about her, but how she was never satisfied with it. It was very humorous to read the articles about her and to see all the beautiful art dedicated to her! The expo had some dresses and beautiful furniture from the same time period which was also really cool to see (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42564451&id=6234577#/photo.php?pid=42534145&id=6234577).

After the museum and a little more walking around Renee and I decided it was high time for lunch and headed to the old town restaurants to find a bouchon, one of the types of restaurants that Lyon is known for. We found several and settled on one where we got a 3 course meal for only 15 euro. Excellent decision. This was easily the best meal of my life!! The dishes were so, so incredible, and I couldn’t believe that we were getting such good food for what seemed like a very reasonable price. I had a salade Lyonnaise to start off with, which was perfect. It had the most amazing bacon (I am told that they use a special kind of French pig ?), a wonderful poached egg and a light, yummy dressing on top (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42488535&l=91b4d3653f&id=6234577 ). Ah! This delicious entrée was followed up with a main course of quenelles, a type of bread dumpling in a special fish sauce. I had no idea what this was to start with and was apprehensive about ordering it, but it turned out to be delicious (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42488537&l=8e488cc1db&id=6234577 ). This too is a regional specialty. For dessert I had the most perfect crème brulee. Awesome.

Feeling very full and very satisfied, Renee and I decided to venture out and up to find Fourviere, a church with a panoramic view of Lyon. It was definitely a hike up to this place – not easy. They have a lift that goes up there (a funicular) but we decided after our decadent meal that taking the stairs would probably be better. Although the stairs seemed to go on forever, we were rewarded with a great view on top (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42488539&l=9e0abe1ce1&id=6234577 ). We weren’t sure if we could actually go into the church there, Fourviere, but after a little exploring we realized that we could. Oh, my, gosh. This place was the most beautiful church I have ever seen (and I am counting Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame!). There were so many brilliant colors and the architecture was really incredible. There were also two levels, which was really impressive. I took a picture (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42534154&l=12296edb8a&id=6234577 ) but it hardly does it justice! This other picture gives a bit of a better view: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/fr/3/34/Lyon_Notre_Dame_Fourviere_Interieur_01.jpg Oh my gosh! So incredible. I’m so glad we got to see this – it made the trip. I can’t believe that humans actually built these places, much less hundreds of years ago.

After the church we strolled down the street (!) to see some ancient Roman theater ruins – very cool! We were trying to figure out what all the ruins corresponded to originally, but that proved to be a little tough. The Romans were excellent architects and engineers, I will leave it at that!!
We didn’t have much time left but we explored the downtown area on our way back to the train station. There were so many restaurants and cute boutiques that I wanted to check out, but of course they were all closed! It was beautiful anyway. We got to see this life sized mural on the back of a building which was really cool: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42534158&l=67a5731ae4&id=6234577 .

Our wonderful day came to a nice end with a relaxing train ride back home...whew!

Later that week..........

Chateau des Ducs de Savoie

Seeing this castle at last was so much fun! Last Thursday we had a guided tour of the castle that is here in Chambery. As the title indicates, it was home to the Dukes of Savoy centuries ago. Chambery, as I think I have mentioned in previous posts, was a significant stopping point between the mountains north of here and Italy, so this was the original reason that the area was populated. The castle was really cool! We got to go down to the lowest floor (below ground) that is the oldest part of the castle. There was only a small little window on one end of the room, in a shape that looked like a stained glass window you would see in a small church. It is believed that this area was the original chapel before a big fire burned the above ground area and they rebuilt the chapel. The new chapel was pretty incredible (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42564450&l=c357b840dc&id=6234577 and http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/photo.php?pid=42564451&id=6234577 ). Our tour guide was telling us how they used to roll out these HUGE tapestries on the floor for weddings and such. The detail and intricacy of all this history amazes me all the time! The other parts of the inside of the castle had a lot of really cool things, too. They have turned it into a museum and have on display lots of old paintings of the dukes and some of the very large, very old accounting books from the 1700s and 1800s. So cool! I can’t even read their writing because it is so script and elaborate, but it was very interesting to see.

Inside the castle walls there is also a newer building which houses the Prefecture of Savoie. We got to go inside and see where all the city representatives meet (see pictures) – nice! It was like a very, very miniature version of one of the congressional rooms at the Capitol. The walls all had tapestries on them that had symbols alluding to the different valleys and regions of the area –something of which everyone is very proud. The ancestry and heritage is something that they take seriously! There was a huge genealogy tree on display in the castle that was centuries old – beautiful.

It was finally nice to see the inside of the castle that we pass several times every week! The national “fete de musique” (Music festival) officially kicked off yesterday (making for much excitement in Paris) and so we will be returning to the castle for the concerts that the town is putting on for the rest of the summer. Last week they had a jazz concert, but I didn’t quite make it there due to an unexpected torrential downpour that my friend Dana and I were caught in. They have all sorts of music so it should be really fun.

Stade de Natation et la cuisine à Chambéry

Even though it sounds like I am doing so much traveling, I have actually had some down time to explore the town and do some relaxing things ! Down the street from our apartments is a pool, or stade de notation. It’s not just any pool, but actually about 4 different pools in one. My roommate and I went last week one afternoon and it was PACKED with little French kids and their parents running around and enjoying the beautiful weather. It’s a really nice pool so we are hoping to go back later this week.

Another thing I want to do is go for a hike in the mountains around Chambery. There are lots of hiking trails but I haven’t made it to any of them yet! It’s pretty much a 30 minute uphill hike to class every day so it’s a little hard to get inspired to venture out farther than that, but I am looking forward to it :o). On one of the nearby mountains there is a 50 meter metal cross that was put up about 200 years ago. When one of the churches in the area was being torn down during the French revolution, the church declared that their buildings could be destroyed but their faith could not, and as a symbol of this, they saved the cross from the church and somehow?? brought it up to the top of this (very high) mountain. I think the original one was wood and it has been amended over time to be more durable, but it is really incredible! You can see it all the way down here in the valley. Anyway, hopefully I will make it up there at some point to see it!

We have been cooking pretty simple things for most of our meals but everything is just soo much better here because it is so fresh all the time. It’s amazing what a big difference this makes! We have been trying lots of different cheeses which is fun. My favorite so far is called Tome des Bauges, though I always have some Brie around, too. Yum! A typical lunch: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42564445&l=1773a417df&id=6234577 Bon Appetit for sure! (the French really do say this before every meal!)