France Again: Exploring Lyon

The drive back to Torino was nice and peaceful until we got into Torino. TomTom continued her aberrant behaviour, ignoring the Torino signs and sending us up over the twisty, windy hilly bits, but I’m pretty sure we joined the same road we would have been on had we ignored her and followed the Torino direction signs.

The city traffic was pretty crowded as we arrived in Torino, but seemingly well behaved. We found the Servizio a few km from destination so were able to fill up and avoid the 60 Euro charge for bringing the car back unfilled!! The credit card was already charged the 155 Euro (not the (95 Euro estimate on my Avis booking sheet). However we established at the desk the price that would be charged was the amount on the reservation. Monsieur will receive a credit in 5-10 days! Very strange way for Avis to do business.

The only exciting bit was the local who cut in front of us to occupy our lane as a traffic light turned red in front of us, don’t understand how I didn’t hit him. I resisted the urge to get out and remonstrate with him and the two policeman over on the other side of the intersection didn’t really appear too interested, although I’m sure they were impressed by my ability to stop on a eurocent.

The train was pretty easy, a bit more crowded this time. So westward we headed. No wifi this time so not possible to follow our track or work out what we were passing along the way. But I did write down names to understand later what we’d seen. The Alps are certainly impressive, fantastically steep bluffs and mountains disappearing into the clouds. Surprising amount of industry in quite remote places as we travelled through. Like a Rio Tinto (Trimet) aluminium plant at St Jean de Maurienne. Quite a few cattle grazing in Alpine pastures, and grapes growing around Mont Melian, at a height of 300-400 m. The grape is also grown in Italy and is known there as Dolcetto.

Lyon is an interesting city. It has Vieux Lyon (old Lyon, some 500 yrs old) then Presqu’Ile, the area between the Saone and the Rhone River, and then the business area which is where we arrived.  See below a view from the top of Vieux Lyon across the city and then the reverse, and a typical piece of Lyon architecture.

Arrived at Lyon Part-Dieu, and then struggled a bit with the metro system, which is a mix of Metro, trams, buses and light rail. We got a bus sorted, having missed the entrance to the Metro. The accommodation at Citadines is good, and the basins do have plugs. We got sorted after working out which power points actually worked, and using the hotel laundry to catch up on washing the clothes.

 We are located just outside the old city on the right bank of the Saone (which is in flood) and all the river cruises have stopped as the boats can’t fit under the bridges. Looks to me like it is 2-3m above normal height, and running very swiftly. The area has lots of restaurants and bars and there is plenty of shopping nearby. The main square Place Bellecour is a short walk away, so we went there to the i  to buy our Lyon pass for transport and access to museums etc. It is reputedly the largest square in Europe.

At 32 Euro each the Lyon Pass works out as a pretty good deal and gives good flexibility for using public transport. Public transport is very good, services seem to be every 10-15 minutes and it’s all pretty clean, unlike the city streets which are carpeted by cigarette butts and dogshit. The French love their dogs but not enough to clean up after them. I’ve been a bit horrified by the dogs at the next table sitting gazing at you at breakfast, and the people exiting lifts, with a multitude of miniature schnauzers on leashes, or a darling handbag model  cradled in the arms (hard to step on them up there!)

Intrigued by the number of electric car charging places. Here's one for the total environmentalist.

We felt like a break from local food and decided that a steak and chips night would be a pretty good thing for tonight. Just around the corner from the hotel at Le Bouchon Lustre the board had Black Angus steak and pomme de terre 21 Euro, and that with the Cotes Du Rhone red was a nice change from more local fare. The body clock is pretty well trained now and it’s a nice change to be waking at around 7 00 am.

First full day in Lyon and after the complimentary breakfast (courtesy of aforementioned non-working power points) it’s off to the Croix Rousse district to look at the canuts' (silk makers) museum. Struggling a little with the bus system, however Ann approached the ticket inspector hit squad (four looking at every passenger alighting from bus) and they put us right. While we waited for the bus the inspector queried “Londres?” "non, Nouvelle Zelande", immediate bright smile “All Blacks”. And when the bus arrived the inspector hopped on board and briefed the driver on what we  needed to achieve. So next stop the driver poked his head around the corner. “You get off here, take the bus behind me, same number”. That’s the tricky bit of the system, some No 13s stop at Hotel de Ville, and some continue on to Croix-Rousse. Hard to pick the difference.

So Fred will be fine in his travels in Lyon. In his preferred AB’s garb, he’d get anywhere he wanted to go. If he threw in the odd Dan Carter or Richie McCaw they’d probably elect him mayor. All Black is very useful currency!!

A bit rainy this morning, and cool but not cold. We passed the longest market ever on Rue St Sebastian as we got to our stop at Place de la Croix-Rousse. Just a short walk to Maison des Canuts for our 11 00 am tour in English.

Very good tour, first one for the young lass who took just the two of us, hardly a baptism by fire for her! There used to be 8000 weavers who were the tradespeople, living on the job with their family and employees. There was an agent who dealt with the customer, and the canuts soon set price levels per metre for their product. Even when it was mechanised, with a paper pattern system similar to a pianola scroll, they were still able to make only about a metre per day. They could weave silk, gold, or velvet into all manner of curtains, wall panels, and even photographs. She showed us a piece of silk costs 20,000 Euro per metre. Lots of gold in it. It was woven for some restoration at Versailles. It was interesting to learn more about the weavers (canuts.) There was an image of a typical canut's home/workplace. They lived on the job and did 10-15 hrs a day, family working too.

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An economic depression around 1831 dropped demand for the product and the ensuing drop in prices for their work, caused the common French approach, protests on the street, leading eventually to armed revolution. More than 800 people died in the ensuing disorder. The industry eventually declined, as French silk was replaced by Chinese and Brazilian material. At one point a kg of silk was paid for with a kg of gold, so its use wasn’t common outside of royalty, the aristocracy and the church.

Outside into the showery rain and into the market. Stumbled across a local chardonnay that we sampled and bought, and also a Pinot Noir-Grenache blend that was also quite palatable.

The local patisserie provided a jambon and fromage roll and a chicken and salad number that worked nicely for lunch. The queue was sufficient recommendation.

Next stop was the tour of old Lyon. This is the bit at the foot of the hill below the cathedral that dominates the skyline here. The locals were commemorating the visit of the French queen around 500 years ago. There were lots of people in period costume, with dancing, jousting and other entertainment all around.

Our tour was very good and we now have a good appreciation of this old city and its network of traboules. The houses are all built of local stone and they are around 500 years old, and still in use. They have been progressively renovated over the last 20 years, and when renovated they are available to rent. Again in a very French way, there is an allocation of properties to low income tenants so that all don’t get gobbled up by the wealthy. The traboules are the entry passages to the building which can be 5 or 6 storeys high, and often go through to the next street. By tradition they have been available to the public to walk through, but with many buildings now in private hands there are fewer available for public access. The passages were used in the Croix Rousse for transporting silk in the dry, and in the Nazi Occupation in WWII were a great way for those evading the German forces to get around. The entry doorways are quite unremarkable. And here too dogs are well-loved with their own drinking fountains!

Dinner tonight was in the old town at Daniel and Denise. This is a Bouchon Lyonnais experience. We selected the “Menu des Canuts" and our choices were the pastry wrapped duck and veal sweetbread pate, followed by the tripe and chitterling prepared three ways for me (crumbed, au gratin, and sausage), and chitterling BTW is the small intestine of the pig. Ann chose the slow-cooked beef cheek.

We then had a soft cheese served with cream and we were both delighted that the canuts enjoyed crème brulee and chocolate, so neither of us missed out! The canuts apparently had quite expensive taste in wine, but we did enjoy the 48 Euro bottle of Crozes Hermitage 2010 Nouvelere. A lovely meal all in a very good atmosphere and great service. This was Megan’s shout, and we have despatched pictures which Scott and Mel will deliver when they visit Napier later this week. It’s nice to have a story to relate.

Sunday we broke out the Lyon card again and trained down to visit the Museum of Resistance and Deportation. This tells the WWII story of France and Germany, of the repression of the French population and the deportation and murder of the Jews.

We’ve seen several of these museums now in our visits to France, and they tell horrific stories, (especially here the role of Klaus Barbie, the butcher of Lyons,) and one which bears multiple viewing. The museum highlights both the horrors of the war and the heroism of the many who resisted in sometimes small and often very significant ways. Later, in Place Bellecour we found a memorial to five men executed by the Germans for sabotage.

Their story was told in an eye witness account at the museum. We were doing this as NZ was waking up to ANZAC day, so I think we keep up the remembrance part of the day.

For the afternoon, we gave public transport a fair sort of workout, up again to the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourviere, but not the rooftops tour as planned. It was cold and windy and we hadn’t booked - not conducive conditions to stand in the queue for half an hour. The basilica was built in the aftermath of the 1871 commune to celebrate the defeat of the godless socialists and is very ornate in the main church dedicated to Mary.

 You go downstairs then to another church of the same dimension dedicated to St Joseph. This is a much less ornate affair due to a lack of funds to do the finishing. Unusual to have two floors of identical sized churches. The six large frescos in the top church celebrate among other events, Joan of Arc, (took a picture for Mum) and the 1571 battle of Lepanto where a Christian coalition fleet of 212 galleys from Venice, Spain, Naples, the Papal States, Sicily, Genoa, Tuscany, Savoy, Urbino and the Order of St John prevailed over the 251 galleys of the Ottoman empire, and stopped the Ottomans spread along the Mediterranean coast. This was the last battle fought by galleys in the Med. Pity it wasn’t the last battle between Christians and Muslims in the area.

We then took to the trains and headed to the confluence, not the avant garde history of mankind museum, just to look at where the Rhone and the Soane join. While both rivers are in flood, they don’t appear to be seriously flooded. Just one large Rhone riverboat style ship on the river heading south.

We walked back along the Saone, with lots of canal boats tied up alongside, obviously still not recommissioned after being stored for the winter.

Dinner tonight el cheapo (or the French equivalent) some veal patties from the Casino supermarche accompanied by fresh tomato. Nice simple light meal and a 10 Euro offset for some of the 120 Euro excesses of the last ten days. However we need to keep in practice. When Choco and Vikki arrive for canal boating next week we have a couple of Michelin star degustations to get through.

Our final full day in Lyon has been pretty casual. An SNCF train strike beginning tonight (for the rest of the week, vive la France) occasioned a train ride down to the SNCF office at Perrache Station to sort our travel booked for tomorrow with SNCF. Fortunately we have an easy solution, our ticket can be used on a different train departing an hour earlier, it's a 'classic train' lord only knows what that means (probably no wifi, but we will, as you do, cope).

We know exactly how to get from here to Gare Part-Dieu, so it should, touch wood be an easy-peasy departure for Dijon.

Final night dinner was again focused on Lyonnaise cuisine. Comptoir Abel is  an easy walk south from the hotel, past Bellacour and near the river. The decor is authentic or quirky, take your pick, but this is a very popular spot.

The menu is really different from what we are used to. Ann had a Salad Lyonnaise which looked pretty good, I had the lentils and hot sausage.

The next course required a bit of deliberation, but I did in the end go with Tete de Veau and Sauce Gribiche. Yes the calf head it was. So I've experienced that , but it doesn't reach my 10 all time greats list, it's really on the 'regional foods I've tried' list.

Ann's Rognon de Veau with Sauce Madere, veal kidney, was very nice, and she was the winner on the day.

They call Lyon the City of Lights and it is indeed very beautiful. Off to Dijon we go.

Piemonte: the home of Slow Food and great wine

Alba and Piemonte

Milan departure was pretty easy. Short walk to the Metro with bags in tow, fortunately a bit after peak, but only about a 20 minute commute through to Statione Centrale and our Rail Italia train to Torino. The train station was crowded but easy to manage the systems and our carriage was not at all crowded. Wifi available on the train so the phone was quite a good travel guide.

Countryside very flat, lots of areas planted or being prepared for rice crops and other cereals as well. The weather was fantastic and clear and it’s a bit weird to be virtually surrounded by snow-covered mountains in the distance on both sides of the train. We hopped off a station early to take advantage of the short 60m walk to Avis, saving quite a long walk from Torino Centrale. The advantages of having a well-prepared tour leader.

Time for TomTom to get in on the act after a long time in hibernation since the last trip to Europe a few months ago. Takes a few minutes to get used to sitting on the wrong side of the car, but we programmed in Piazza Savona, 60 km away in Alba and we were under way again in our little VW Polo. When you are visiting old towns, small is an advantage; the towns were built for pedestrians and maybe the odd horse and carriage. We thought we were heading into the hills but it took quite a long time for that to become apparent. TomTom behaved well and although she didn’t send us down any small country lanes this trip, she has definite ideas on how to get places, so you get used to ignoring the signs pointing towards your destination, and go where TomTom tells you. The relationship with TomTom has progressed to just testy now, I don’t swear at her and she gets us to where we want to go. The drive was interesting, lots of small plantings of trees initially. Couldn’t identify them, but found out later they are hazelnut trees. Just one of the region's specialities. Lots of grapes, wonder what they do with those? A lovely drive down to the hills and not a lot of traffic. Starting to feel pretty relaxed. The photo opposite is of Alba with snow in the Alps beyond.

The apartment in Alba is good and very spacious and we took the secure parking inside the buildings courtyard at 8 Euro/day rather than have the hassle of leaving the car in a non-secure public parking lot a short distance away. After the usual familiarisation walk we had an early (for here) dinner at a restaurant with a very minimalistic menu. You rock up to Osteria dei Sognatori and, in effect, eat what they have available for the day. It worked really well for us, Ann had the asparagus and mushroom pasta and I had a lovely tagliarini (very fine egg based noodles) ragu as premi and for secondi, Ann had slices of a yet unidentified slow cooked animal and I had a Brasato al Barolo, a beef and mushroom concoction. This is meat slow cooked in Barolo wine and was all delicious. Nebbiolo is one of the grapes of the region, so we had a bottle of that. The whole event….just 60 Euros. We walked home and were tucked up in bed when the skies opening up and we had some pretty heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Day 1 here was to be a walk in the vineyards, so we drove to the village of Barbaresco and decided to do a loop walk to the hamlet of Neive which we could see across the valley.

This was supposedly a structured walk, a sentiero tracciato according to the map. It took us through the vines and past plantings of hazelnuts (Alba makes Ferrero Rocher chocolates and Nuttelo).

The marking was totally inadequate, but we got to Neive after studiously avoiding a few of the Properte Privata signs that appeared on the 'track'. The rain from last night had turned the earthen walking tracks into gooey sticky mud as well, making the climbs up and down through the vines treacherous and claggy.

But great views and we duly arrived in Neive and completed the return loop. The weather was lovely and sunny and about 22 degrees so warm walking.

We’d been to the supermercato so had a picnic lunch, then visited the local Enotica which has all of the Barbaresco DOCG wines for tasting and display.

The tasting lady was a local, and the tasting was very informative. You pay for the tasting 12 Euro pp and we sampled three of the locals. There is about 750 ha of this DOCG, producing about 4.5 million bottles pa. The usual funny rules regarding yield of grapes, pruning to four bunches of grapes per vine and of course the wine aging on Slovenian oak and then in the bottle. Very long keeping wines, like 10-20 years, they must be patient people these Italians. The Nuova Zelanda connection brought up a “there is a Kiwi working here, been here about 25 years, and he makes this wine………..”

Ross and Michelle had been here on a holiday while they were in London and had told us the story of their lunch at the aforementioned Osteria dei Signatori, where the owner, on finding they were Kiwis introduced them to a local kiwi winemaker Geoff. Same guy, now viewed as a local, and we bought a 2011 bottle of his Barbaresco wine, hopefully to take home, unless the bag gets too heavy for Ann!

The rest of the afternoon we spent wandering in Alba on a lovely warm day. Our meal for the evening was at La Piola in the main Piazza of Alba. The place was obviously popular with the locals and the staff seemed to know each person/group that came in. Lovely food again. Premis of Antipasti Piemonte for Ann, gnocchi for me and secondi of veal, like a backstrap and salad accompanied by a Barolo wine, about 40 Euro range. The guy at the table next to us selected 2006 Barolo at about 120 Euro. It was brought out with a bit of ceremony and the uncorking ritual involved much smelling of the cork by all concerned. Good news, it was all OK.

Ann had commented during the meal that there was an “old guy” sitting in the corner behind me who seemed to have the absolute run of the house, the staff were very attentive and spent time chatting to him. When I went up to settle il conto, he was standing just in front of me and we had a bit of a chat, his English was very good. Nuova Zelanda, boating, Italy, and his daughter is just in the process of moving to work in Christchurch etc. Ann had joined us at this stage, and he made a comment, “You are still young and handsome so you can etc etc’’ My response was, I’m 66 and slowing down a bit” His eyes lit up and his hand shot out to shake mine:  “my age also” he said, and we then continued our chat over a a glass of Barolo Chinato courtesy of our host. He is about to buy a 12m Benneton and go sailing solo, initially to Belize. He was absolutely convinced you are super safe in a little yacht, as you just bob around the ocean like a cork! I’ve read that book to Georgia and Abi and to Sam and Fred!! However we chuckled about "the old man in the corner" all the way home. I feel totally redefined. Funny things happen when you are travelling (for us anyway). It does help if you are prepared to talk to the locals.

Wednesday it’s off to Asti, yes the home of the world famous Asti Spumate, well known even in NZ!

However the target was the local market. TomTom took us initially to the right Piazza but in the wrong town, but San Matteo was a nice place, and we ended up travelling most of the distance on a quiet country road. They plant some very steep slopes here and a lot of the work that is not done by hand is done by little crawler tractors. We saw many being towed around on trailers by large wheeled tractors. Again lots of hazelnuts and lots of vineyards. We passed a large Ferrero Rocher chocolate factory on our travels but didn’t stop in for a taste.

Found a very crowded market and tried to visit, but left after causing a bit of elevated blood pressure (not ours) in the equally crowded car park. Short fuses some of these Italian drivers, and the two handed gesticulation must be quite tiring! On to the market we were looking for, bought some provender and had a wander around and then drove south to visit the Barolo wine district.

We stopped for a peruse of the castle at Grinzane Cavour then across the valley to La Morra, the largest village in this DOCG. That provided great views of the region and we then drove on to Barolo, a little hamlet with a museum on the history of wine which finishes with a wine tasting at the attached enotica.

The wine museum I thought initially was a little fanciful, but it was well done and in fact, it did aim to focus on the culture of wine, its place in history and society and its development over thousands of years. So nothing really about wine production, and unfortunately the enotica was closed on Wednesdays. Fortunately there was a winery just up the road:  Marchesi Di Barolo who do a very good tasting. We purchased again for the international night on our canal boat trip starting May 2. The Nebbiolo grape makes Barbaresco, Barolo and its own namesake, very nice reds, quite tanniny and without a lot of in-your-face fruit. We enjoyed the style.

So we then completed the loop around the area, through steep vineyards and picturesque hamlets, and arrived home late in the afternoon.

Another night eating out again to try the local specialities. The restaurant was very good and we were well-waited on at Locanda Corteletto D’Alba in an old but renovated cellar. My premi was a local form of ravioli called Plin stuffed with ricotta and spinach and with a gorgonzola sauce. Ann’s was Plin stuffed with rabbit, veal and chicken sautéed in butter and sage. Secondi roast pork with hazelnut for Ann and a sausage from Bra with a salad. We tried another local wine Barbera D’Alba, different grape, lighter style but again very good. Most produce came direct from the Langhe hinterland. The rabbit comes from a local grower who butchers to order and delivers, a very traditional food supply chain. Mine host provided a short grappa to help keep us warm on the walk home. It’s all very hospitable dining.

For our last day, we headed to the town of Bra (control yourself please) via Cherasco, another hilltop village with a market to visit to get tonight’s dinner. Close the door, light the lights as the song says we're stayin’ home tonight. Cooking in what’s more. Very simple, fresh asparagus and poached eggs assisted by a Piemonte Chardonnay of uncertain origin. Probably about a 10 Euro event all up tonight. Fragola (strawberries) for dessert.

As we wandered back to the car we noticed hangings on a couple of the doors, announcing new arrivals. Not so relevant in New Zealand where the door isn't at the street but a lovely idea. Bra is distinctive for its architecture, shown especially in its churches. Baroque, Romanesque, Roccoco, with stunning interiors. All very elaborate.

But Bra's second claim to fame is its sausage. Salciccia di Bra. It’s made of veal rather than pork and initially was created for the Jews who lived in the neighbouring Cherasco and wanted a pork free sausage. Google had told us that it is eaten both raw and cooked. Hmmm Anyway the local Tourist Office  girl pointed us to a good traditional bar where we’d have a good experience of it. We duly rocked up and had a fairly confusing discussion in fast Italian where Ann understood just enough to get even more bewildered. In the end we threw our hands in the air and left the host to sort it. We ended up with a huge plate of food, the sausage “star of the dish”, both cruda (raw) and cotta (cooked), Bra cheese and heaps of cooked vegetables. Delicious. With a beer and glass of white wine it all cost 24 Euro. Raw sausage!! When in Rome! It was very tasty.

Tomorrow we depart for Lyon relatively early, driving back to Torino and then by train through the Alps to France. Looking forward to the experience. Italy has been warmer than expected with highs up to 24C but we are about to get cold in Lyon according to the forecast.

Second lot of postcards sent off today, hopefully they arrive before we get back to NZ