Day 2 in Lyon: Sunday, May 18

My first French macaron, pistachio flavored 

Bonsoir! Today was such a relaxing Sunday in Lyon. The French truly abide by the Christian habit of keeping Sunday as a day of rest. Many stores and restaurants were closed, so my group and I had a little bit of difficulty looking for places to eat or buy groceries. Luckily, the fabulous farmers market was open until the early afternoon. The produce, cooked food, flowers, everything, was so fresh and delicious! I ordered a rotisserie chicken and potatoes for a total of 3.50 euro. That was by far the cheapest, yet one of the most delectable meals, that I have had in Europe in the last week. I also bought some fresh cherries to snack on throughout the week and successfully bartered with the vendor to get 2 kilos for 3 euros instead of 4 euros, which was the original price. Part of my luck may have been because the farmers market was closing soon and he was trying to sell the rest of his inventory.

My lazy afternoon was spent in the hotel courtyard as we enjoyed the beautiful weather and munched on our farmers market purchases. In the evening, some of us went across the river to Vieux Lyon for dinner. An unpleasant experience occurred. We walked by a restaurant whose host excitedly encouraged us to have a seat on the patio and take advantage of the 30% off deal that would end at 7:30pm. She told us that if we were not hungry yet, that we can just order drinks and order food when we were ready. "Take it easy," she said. Since it was already 7:00pm, we figured we'd give the restaurant a shot. Shortly after sitting down, Lisa found terrible reviews on Yelp about the restaurant; poor service, tasteless food, and comments about it being a tourist trap. We decided that we would just order a couple of drinks and then move on to a different restaurant later.

The waitress took our orders, went over to the host, and clearly told her that we will not be eating there. The host's expression took a 180 - her smile faded and she scowled at us. "You all are not eating? Why not? There is 30% off! If you are not eating, please move inside to our indoor tables." We were stunned. Her attitude towards us completely changed, so we decided that it was not worth our time to be there at all; we apologized and left as quickly as we could, hoping we didn't just give all Americans a bad rep.

Though we had a little bit of a hiccup with that restaurant, we have been completely delighted with all the other French men and women we have met thus far. Everybody has been so kind and respectful, and we haven't felt like we were falling into a "trap" anywhere else. We ended up eating at a cute crepe restaurant and had a very pleasant dinner!

Day 1 in Lyon: Saturday, May 17

I'm in France! I can barely put into words how incredibly excited I am to be in this fantastic country. This is a particularly special trip for me because I've been wanting to visit France ever since I started taking French in middle school 13 years ago. I fell in love with it and making began planning to visit France, goal never had the time opportune. I'm so happy that my dreams have finally come true!

During my first day in Lyon, some of the Cohorts and I went to Monoprix to stock up on snacks and drinks. The first thing I noticed is how the supermarket here is much more compact than those back in Texas. Like most European cities, Lyon is old and space is limited, so there are multiple levels in the store. Wide-eyed and slightly overwhelmed, I navigated my way through the aisles to find "water" and "milk." To my surprise, the milk is NOT in the refrigerated section ... It was next to the bottled water in a regular aisle on a shelf.  I have never seen before unrefrigerated milk, and was very skeptical about the quality and whether or not I shoulds try drinking it. Well, I bought one and am happy to say that it doesn't taste different. 

Another strange aspect of is that you can tear apart a package of 6 bottled water if you only want one or two bottles. Back in America, individual bottles are sold separately and you would be responsible for paying for the entire package if you damage it before it leaves the store. I'm not quite sure why the French supermarkets do not just sell individual bottled water, but I'm glad I could just buy one or two bottles instead of lugging an entire 6 pack back to the hotel.

The welcome dinner was amazing. I can definitely imagine myself gaining a couple pounds before I go back to the States because the food is SO good. I love that ordering wine is basically the norm for every meal, and I can already tell I've become a bit of a wine snob. Last week, before arriving in Lyon, Julia and I went on a wine tour through Chateauneuf du Pape and tasted some of the most amazing wines. Needless to say, I can definitely tell that there is a clear difference between $7 and a $70 bottle of wine! 

 

I can not wait to see what the rest of the week brings. Let the cohort adventures begin!