Wanderlust: The One Where I'm in Lyon

I am really behind my blog posts. I don’t think I will go back to my Paris trip. Too much stuff to blog about everyday!! I will just post a link on where you can find my photos. As much as I would love to post my photos on Flickr, I never post the complete set there as I reserve my Flickr account for my “best” photos. So, if you would like to see my photos, you probably have to be my friend on Facebook.

Anyway, it’s my third day in Lyon already, it’ll be my fourth in 15 minutes actually (as I am typing this blog post). I toured the city of Lyon yesterday and went to some of their famous tourist spots like Parc de la Tete d’Or, Notre Dame de Fourviere, Theatres Romains de Fourviere, and Place Bellecour. It was very nice to walk around Lyon too as you will always find yourself walking by the beautiful rivers of Saône and Rhône. It is absolutely beautiful at night too as you can see the buildings that are lit up by the water. It’s nice to bike around the area and take a nice stroll, or even just sit by the steps. So romantic… yes, I am a lovesick puppy (sadly).

By the Rhône River

As for today, I met up with my friend, Diana, who is staying at the same apartment building as I am. We went to school to do some errands. The system was quite disorganized and the International Office staff seemed overly flustered and frustrated all the time. I guess there were just too many international students she had to handle and the other staff member said she was new too. Anyway, we didn’t get much done because we were lacking some important documents. So we just went back to the hotel to get things done and checked out our apartment at Le Moliere as well.

My very empty room.

Our apartment building was okay. My room was actually pretty spacious, I expected something smaller. However, my place was empty so I had to buy a lot of stuff, which is what we did. We went to La Part Dieu Mall again and bought a bunch of stuff at Carrefour. The mall is seriously amazing. It has EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING!!!! I would love to just stay there forever and just shop and eat… and use their wi-fi. I am moving in tomorrow with all my stuff just because my dad’s leaving early morning on the 29th. I am excited to fill my room up with my stuff. WOOHOO!

Last but not least, Lyon’s very unique BOUCHON CUISINE!!! My friend suggested that I should try some dishes like the Salade Lyonnaise, Quenelle de Brochet, and Andouillette. Last night (August 26th), I had the salad and quenelle from a restaurant called Les Pampres-Rouges and they were both good. I loved the idea of having poached eggs on the salad. The quenelle was something different. Oh, we sat outside along the street just because it was a nice sunny day and we enjoyed the fresh air. 

Salade Lyonnaise, Quenelle de brochet sauce crustaces et aux écrevisses, and Ile flottante

For dinner tonight, we also tried the same cuisine at a bouchon restaurant called Les Ventres Jaunes. I had saucisson for my appetizer and poulet with cream sauce and mushrooms for my plat or main course (? :D). Their servings were actually pretty good and you even get dessert and this all cost 19euros. Way cheaper than in Paris and I like the food here more too! PLUS, their red wine is trés magnifique! I was never really a fan of drinking wine, I just do because my dad loves to drink wine. But the wine they served us was very light and you could just drink it easily. As a matter of fact, I had a little too much to drink tonight… it served as a good nightcap though (sort of contradicting myself as I am still awake typing this post).

Saucisson de Lyon chaud cuit dans sa brioche and Poulet fermier à la crème

In case you didn’t know:

1) Bouchon – a type of cuisine unique only to Lyon. Bouchon in French just means “traffic jam” though.

2) Quenelle – is a mixture of creamed fish, chicken, or meat, sometimes combined with breadcrumbs, with a light egg binding.

3) Andouilette – chitterling (small intestines of pig)

4) Saucisson – Lyon sausage (tastes like chorizo)