Lyon

St-Paul.  St-Jean.  St-Georges.

We found a good deal on train fare and went over to Lyon for a one-night getaway last weekend.  The temperatures have dropped and we definitely felt the chill in the air, especially on Saturday.  And it was really *windy* to boot.  Our puffy/winter jackets we purchased this season kept us (for the most part) warm though!  We arrived at lunchtime so our first order of business was to find a place to eat, and we were looking forward to our first meal as the guide book raved the city is the gastronomic capital of France.  Hello, what about Paris??  

 

On our way to lunch in the Presqu'ile area, the peninsula between the Rhône and Saône rivers, we wandered through the shopping streets and found a bunch of little chalets touting ski vacations in the French Alps, a small sledding hill, and a ski jump.  Very festive! 

Ski jumper !!

After indulging in a little shopping we walked by L'Entrecote, a restaurant we saw in Bordeaux that always had a long line.  We had no idea it was a chain and were pleasantly surprised to find it in Lyon!  It's a simple approach, the restaurant offers a set menu of walnut salad, thinly sliced steak in "secret sauce" and a pile of small, skinny fries.  The"secret sauce" we believe, was butter, more butter, garlic and shallots (did I mention butter??).  Pure deliciousness although unhealthy in every way possible!  I think I felt my arteries clogging with every bite, but it was worth it.  There  was a good mix of tourists and locals as well -- we actually sat next to 3 French men who were dining solo (shout out to the one guy who ordered an entire bottle of red wine for himself), meanwhile we split a half bottle ourselves!  The only thing they really ask is "how do you want your meat cooked"?  We left stuffed, warm and very happy.  It was a great deal.

Matt in his happy place!

 
We continued to the hilltop quarter of Croix Rousse, which provided panoramic views of the city.  It's supposedly the bohemian quarter but felt a bit sleepy and washed-out, with a backdrop of gray/white skies and brown rivers.  The city's probably more lush and "vibrant" during the spring and summer months.

 

This may look like a normal building, but it's actually a mural - the entire thing!  No, those aren't windows but rather paint.

La Fresque des Lyonnais

Next up was Vieux Lyon, the medieval old town on the west bank of the Saône.  It's divided into 3 quarters - with St-Paul covering the northern end, St-Jean in the middle and St. Georges in the south.  Here, the cobblestone streets and "traboules", covered passageways going from one street to the next via corridors through houses hiding inner courtyards and spiral staircases, are quite charming.  There were also a lot of old-fashioned candy stores that looked really fun as well as quirky boutiques. 

Lyon's Christmas Market actually started this same weekend so we were definitely going to get in the holiday spirit and enjoy some vin chaud!  On our way to the "Marché de Noël " at Place Carnot we walked through the huge 17th century Place Bellecour, which is actually empty save for a statue of Louis XIV and a ferris wheel that had been temporarily set up.  I imagine in summer there are lots of tables set up to enjoy outdoor drinks/dining. 

 

Finally, the Christmas Market!  Not one of the best Markets as it didn't have an "authentic" feel, but the vin chaud was spicy and tasty!

On Sunday there was a food market near our hotel along the Saône, what a nice surprise.  We were impressed with the display of the produce - everything was placed in metal bowls, which looked very neat and organized!  It all looked so fresh and colorful, we were tempted to bring something home with us but didn't think it would fare well sitting in our luggage all day.

Afterwards we took a funicular from the old town up to Fourvière, the "hill of prayer."  The terrace of the Basilica at the top offers amazing views of the city.  On a clear day, you can see across the Rhône Valley.  Nearby is the Tour Metallique, which looks like a mini-Eiffel tower!

 A short walk away we visited some ruins, including a big theater that held 13,000 people when Lyon was the Roman capital of Gaul.

Our last stop was the Musée  de Beaux-Arts, which showcases France's finest collection of sculptures and paintings outside Paris.  It was impressive and pretty extensive but we only had an hour to take it all in.  Definitely worth the short visit though.

Before heading to the train station, we stumbled upon Best Bagels, a fast-food eatery offering bagel sandwiches, NY hot dogs and selling Aunt Jemima pancake mix, kool-aid, Heinz baked beans and sugary American cereals.  There were even chips with the fake yellow melty cheese like you get at sports events or the movies.  Very "American" but it hit the spot for our last meal in Lyon!

Alsace & Vitra

Wine & Design weekend.

For our last full weekend of the year "in Basel" we decided to head up to Alsace for the day on Saturday.  It only takes a little less than an hour to reach by car, so it reminds us a bit of our day trips to Sonoma back in San Francisco (it feels much more like Sonoma than Napa).  Unlike our last visit which was during the middle of summer and super hot, this time it was cold and overcast -- very gray.  And being November, the towns were much quieter - in one place we felt like the only people in town.  We started our afternoon in Riquewihr, a popular town we visited last year, and it was just as cute as we remembered it (only a bit quieter).  And with the Christmas holiday just around the corner the decorations were starting to go up.  Unfortunately most of the wine tasting places looked closed, so we settled for coffee (plus, coffee is warmer), and it was too early in the day for vin chaud!  After toodling around for a while and hitting the big Marché de Noel store, we were ready to head to our next destination.

Our next stop was the small town of Kientzheim.  It was really tiny with absolutely nothing open and no people.  Huh.  The town was quaint with the typical picturesque Alsatian half-timbered buildings, but we were glad we were just passing through on our way to the next town.

For lunch we stopped at Kayserberg, just a few kilometers down the road from Kientzheim.  It was bigger and more bustling than Kientzheim, but the bar was set pretty low.  Not a lot of people out and about but the handful of restaurants seemed pretty full.  The town is really charming, with a river running through the middle and an old castle on the hill right above the town center.  We found a small bistro for lunch, taking the last two available seats.  We ordered the local flatbread specialty (flammekuchen) which is like a really thin crust pizza, and cordon bleu - a very French (and tasty) and filling lunch.  On the way home we tried to stop by a "chestnut festival" in a neighboring town, but after failing to find it on our first try and seeing on attempt #2 that it was held in the equivalent of a school gym, which didn't excite us, we decided to forgo the festival and head home.

On Sunday we went just across the German border to the Vitra design museum and flagship store.  Vitra is a fancy furniture store that manufacturers the works of many renowned designers.  It's also famous for the architecture of its campus buildings and its design museum.  The museum holds a few design-related installations per year, and the current exhibit is on "lighting".  In addition to the museum there is a large (very cool) store showcasing the furniture they manufacture - which is basically a really expensive IKEA (think €7,000 Eames chairs in a Herzog and de Meuron designed store).  We were surprised by how crowded both the museum and store were - I guess it is what people do on a Sunday since there isn't much open (the restaurant was really popular - no Swedish meatballs here though)!  





Venice

Canals.  Bridges. Doges.

We took a short hop over the Alps to Venice this past weekend.  The last time we were in Venice was during our honeymoon circa 2006, and it was a day trip via boat from Croatia.  Not surprisingly, the city looks pretty much the same as it did back then (no new skyscrapers or condo developments), ha!  We landed at Marco Polo airport Friday evening and walked straight to the pier to take a boat into town.  This is the first time we've taken a boat directly from an airport - now we've covered all forms of major transport, yippee!  Unfortunately it was dark so there wasn't much to see on the ride into Venice.  After checking in to the hotel we ventured in to the city to hit a few wine bars we read about before finding somewhere suitable for dinner.  The weather was surprisingly mild and there were big groups of people hanging out in front of most bars (some bars were only take-away windows).  It made for a festive feel, but we decided to find a place with indoor seating (how do you eat bruschetta if you're holding a glass in one hand?!).

After a few drinks and cicchetti (bar snacks of mini bread topped with different types of meat) we wandered the streets heading away from the main tourist center looking for a good restaurant for dinner.  After wandering for a while (and on streets ending in canals) we found a cute place for some authentic Italian fare (pasta for Kate and a cheese & potato tart with prosciutto for Matt), with a huge "fresh" cheese platter to start with.  Good, but it was a lot of cheese!  Needless to say, were sufficiently stuffed at the end with no room for dessert.

Saturday morning we headed to piazza San Marco via the city's fish market.  At the piazza we went into Saint Mark's basilica.  We've seen lots of old churches on our various trips, but we have not seen anything like St Mark's.  The entire ceiling is gilded in gold and mosaics.  Quite the sight (and very sparkly)!

From St. Mark's we wandered through different neighborhoods towards the main train station, near where our walking tour started.  The streets are very narrow and you're constantly crossing over canals via small bridges.  Not so friendly for wheelchairs or prams, although we saw both?  And it was still surprisingly touristy, thus quite crowded.  It's a wonder that a city was ever built here, or that it has remained populated for 1600 years.

The walking tour led us through each of Venice's six districts, and while nice it was unfortunately not one of the best tours we've taken (lots of walking but not much talking).  We walked back through piazza San Marco, but this time it was reaching high tide and there were small pools of water starting to form.  Luckily it didn't completely fill the square (although there were stacks of planks that are used as catwalks during a real high tide).  The tour ended in the student section of town with lots of restaurants (more pasta!).  We spent the rest of the day enjoying the sights and aimlessly walking the narrow corridors while window shopping.

On Sunday we had tickets for the "Secret Itineraries" tour at the Doges Palace.  Before heading to the Palace we ventured over to Santa Maria Della Salute church, across the grand canal from piazza San Marco.  It's quite majestic, we're glad we visited.  And it was fun to see  the city from a different vantage point.  To get back across the water we took a traghetto (a gondola "taxi" that runs back and forth across the canal).  Although the ride itself was short, it was fun to experience being in a gondola on the famous grand canal.

The Secret Itineraries tour took us through the prisons and administrative offices of the Doges Palace.  The highlight was the cell where Casanova was imprisoned (and from which he escaped).  Afterwards we walked through the rest of the Palace on our own - it was pretty amazing, with a few grand rooms filled with large scale artwork on both the walls and ceiling.  Unfortunately no pictures were allowed.  Afterwards we took a vaporetti ("water bus") up the grand canal.  Quite picturesque.  Then it was back on board another vaporetti to the airport (but not before more Italian food - pizza this time).  We were lucky with the weather, which was surprisingly nice all weekend - the rain started while were were heading out of town, so we feel fortunate to have missed it!