A Day Trip to Beaujolais

The weather was perfect today for a day trip to the Beaujolais wine region. Beaujolais is just a short drive north of Lyon and as my French classes don't resume until Wednesday, I took this opportunity. I had never visited any wine region anywhere so this was really interesting for me. We ended up buying 12 bottles in Saint-Véran at the Jean Curial vineyard, which is right on the borderline of Beaujolais and the Bourgogne region.

Grocery Shopping: Scales, Bags, Coins, Carts and the Segregation of Frozen Food

Here's some information about grocery shopping in France for your Sunday. When you go to the supermarché, in the produce section there are scales there for the customer to use. You bag your fruits and veggies, then put them on the scale and choose what it is on the touch screen and a barcode with the price prints out and you stick it on the outside of the bag. See my carottes above and the barcode sticker that printed out? The touch screen is the same kind that we have in the U.S. at the self service checkout but the idea of doing all that in the produce section and sticking the price sticker on the bag was new for me.

You also have to buy bags at the checkout which is why you see people bringing bags into the store to avoid having to buy new ones. There are no baggers so you have to bag your groceries yourself, which suits me fine because I prefer that and half the time in the U.S. you end up doing it yourself anyway.

Ok, I understand all of that but here's where I get a little lost. My friend gave me a little plastic "coin" which you put into a locking device which unlocks a shopping cart. You're obliged to take the basket back to the basket area because the only way to get the "coin" back is to lock the basket back. If you don't have one of these plastic "coins" or you lose yours then you have to put a Euro into the locking device instead. So how did he get the plastic "coin" to begin with, I asked. He said the store will sometimes give it to you as a matter of convenience so you don't have to put a Euro in the slot. BUT they don't always have the plastic "coins" so they may or may not be able to give you one which means you may or may not have to use a Euro to unlock a cart. My note-to-self: "Do Not Lose Your Plastic Coin."  I think keeping up with my little plastic coin will make my life a lot easier. 

Also, in the U.S. shopping carts have two wheels that swivel while in Europe all four wheels swivel. What's the big deal with that? It means that the cart, for me anyway, it extremely hard to control because it moves from side to side as easily as moving forward and backward. You just have to experience this to get it.

Also, in France there are frozen food grocery stores that carry only frozen foods. Picard and Thiriet are two of the big frozen food chains. It's funny to me but they are very popular. They have special insulated bags, which you have to buy of course unless you bring your own. My friend truly believes these bags are absolutely necessary to use to put the frozen food in because he thinks they keep the frozen food more frozen on our 10 to 15 minute drive back home. It cracks me up. The grocery stores all have frozen food departments but Picard and Thiriet offer a larger variety and better quality, I am told. I am doubtful. I will check.

So, what have I learned?

*Grocery stores in France do not hire baggers or people to go around the parking lot collecting stray shopping carts (one in the same job, really) so the customer is obliged to do those tasks. 

*The grocery store is encouraging recycling by making you buy bags; therefore people re-use plastic shopping bags instead of having to buy new bags every time they go shopping.

*Shopping carts are to be placed back in their shopping cart pen by the customer and this is ensured by the weird plastic coin and/or Euro with locking mechanism system.

*By making people weigh and print out the prices of their own produce they leave the door open for some unscrupulous people to weigh for example, three apples and print the price sticker out for them, then go back and put three more apples in the bag. Would the cashier notice? Maybe, maybe not.

*Frozen food is some how so special that it deserves its own store.

Qu'est-ce que c'est / What Is It? Friday

This is a very obscure item for this week's Qu'est-ce que c'est /What Is It? Try to figure it out:

It's called the "lièvre-escargot" (hare-snail) and it's one of the many mysterious symbols carved into the stone of the exterior of the Saint-Jean Cathedral in the old city. This non-exisitent creature may be related to the story of the tortoise and the hare but I'm not sure. If you were facing the cathedral you would find the funny little lièvre-escargot to the right of the third set of doors at eye level.

Wheels and Arches

A lot of adults get around town on razor scooters, which are called les trottinettes in French. It was really funny the first few times I saw this because before coming here I've only seen kids use these. I've seen chic ladies in dresses and men in suits on them scooting hither and tither doing their errands and getting from place to place.



Above - an arch made of books at the entrance of the bookshop Le Bal des Ardents which I think means something like fireball.

Below - a more serious arch:
The Passerelle Du College, one of the footbridges, has the inscription "destroyed by the Germans in 1944, reconstructed in 1945." This footbridge was originally built in 1844 and after it was partially destroyed in 1944 it was reconstructed in 1945 exactly like the original. Twenty six of twenty eight bridges in Lyon were destroyed by the retreating Germans in 1944.

At. The. Bank.

I opened a bank account here a couple of weeks ago and I found that banking is different here. Here are a few fun facts:

A week after opening the account I had to go back to the branch where I opened the account to pick up my ATM card. I had to go back again to the branch to pick up my checks. No one tells you to do this, you just have to figure it out. The bank has no tellers, just a receptionist and you use the ATM inside the bank to do your transactions. The receptionist is there to say "bonjour" and such I suppose. Though I did have to deposit a check one day and she ran off to some office and came back with a letter size sheet of paper in QUADRUPLICATE so that I could leave three of these giant deposit slips with them and one was for me.

One day I went to a branch and asked if I could get change. They told me they didn't have money at that particular branch. No money. At. The. Bank. But they cheerfully directed me to the nearest branch that actually has money.

They have sent me three or four letters so far and I have received all of them with no problem. But today I received this email from my "Relationship Manager" aka my banker.

"We have sent you a letter, but it seems that there is a mistake on the address we have registered, because the letter came back to our branch. Or perhaps your name was not on the mailbox ?  Could you call me to tell me what happened ?"

I would like to send this response:
 
Dear Relationship Manager,
So, if I understand your questions, although I have no idea how the letter was addressed, I am supposed to somehow divine what happened? Did you know it's the end of July which around here effectively means it's August and therefore everyone is on vacation?  I don't know, this is just a guess, but maybe your letter didn't get here because the Shake & Bake post office is closed for a few weeks. That's right the post office is closed. I'm sure this does not shock a bank that closes from noon to 2 pm every day and doesn't have money at all its' branches, but trust me honey, this is insane. So here's what I'm getting at, it's your problem and you should figure out why your letter didn't get here. Or, if you really want to be consistent why don't you just keep the letter and I'll come pick it up in September when I'm open again.
 
Love You,
Memphistanista

P.S. - For those who mail things to Shake & Bake, don't worry I take liberties with my blogging. Our local post office in Shake & Bake is closed but we still get mail from the mothership Shake & Bake post office. My friend said maybe the mailman who's substituting for the regular mailman, who is on vacation of course, just doesn't know how to deliver the mail. I don't know what to say any more.

Mike, The Man Under the Bridge

 I arrived in Lyon a little over a month ago and since day one I had noticed a man living under a bridge. I am in no way making light of whatever situation brought him to this arrangement but I have to hand it to him, he has a sense of style and order. There's the "garden" in the front with potted plants, then the "living room" with plenty of seating, and the "bedroom" with a tent, a dresser and a bookcase.  The name Mike is spray painted there as well; his name maybe?

After about two weeks, I asked my friend one day what the deal was with the man and his "house" under the bridge. Since he was set up downtown and on one of the busiest streets, I assumed everyone knew about this. My friend thought I was crazy and said he had never seen such a thing. The next time we drove past I pointed it out and he said something to the effect of "I'll be damned, there's a whole house under that bridge.", but in French. I felt somewhat vindicated, a tad smug even. Believe me from now on when I tell you Mike is living under the bridge!

Anyway, he asked around and no one else seemed to have noticed this guy either. I even got up the nerve to ask my teacher in my broken baby French if she knew about the guy and she said no. I'm still not sure she knew exactly what I was asking as I'm positive I sounded like this: "Hello. Question, I have. Bridge, a man with house near river. See him or know man?" I love the look the teacher gives me when I try to have an actual conversation. It's like when you see a baby bird that has fallen out of the nest and you smile because you think it's cute. Then you try to help it but you realize there's nothing you can do because you have no idea how to keep a baby bird alive. So, in the end you keep smiling at it as you slowly walk away, telling yourself that its mother will eventually come along and put it back in the nest. Ok, whatever, so she didn't know about Mike either.

One day I managed to get a picture, just so I would have proof the man and his stuff existed. A couple of days ago I was walking past and the police were moving him out and all of his things were moved neatly into one spot. Now everything is gone and I wondered how he had been able to stay there for at least a month. I guess I'll never know the whole story.

The Toilet Store

There are shops here that specialize in toilet related items including decorator toilet paper and toilet seats with a wild variety of patterns. The display above gives new meaning to the phrase "rolling a tree" and it's so helpful that the word "toilet" is printed in several languages on the glass, lest anyone be confused by the toilet paper tree. Need bright yellow or orange toilet paper? This is the place to go. And it doesn't stop with solids..they have toilet paper with stripes, polka dots and checkerboard patterns. I should have gone inside to check out everything but I kind of made a spectacle out of myself by taking these pictures. I was obnoxious, not the toilet seat made to look like a jungle.

This trend helps to explain my friend's choice of a toilet seat with the world's capitals printed on it in black, sage green and white. I was speechless when I saw it for the first time and I continue to be speechless every time I see it. I would post a photo of it for you but I just can't bring myself to do it. I feel like I'm in an airport every time I go in his bathroom: Milan, Rome, London, Porto, Berlin; flight to Paris boarding now...

Another Parking Sign and August aka The Month That Isn't

Continuing the sign post from earlier... this one reads "Paid parking, from 9 am to noon, from 2 pm to 7 pm except Saturday afternoons, Sundays, holidays and the month of August." 

This begs the question what happens between noon and 2 pm Monday through Friday as well as Saturday mornings and Saturday nights in any month that isn't August?

That's right, the sign means the whole month of August because that's when everybody closes up shop and goes on vacation. For a month. The baker on our street in Shake & Bake (the irony) will be closed from August 1st to August something. The POST OFFICE in Shake & Bake will also be closed for two or three weeks. I'm not kidding. Restaurants have started posting little notes on their doors saying things like, "Hey customers, we'll be closed for the "fermature annuelle" (the annual closing). What's that? You get hungry in August too? Too bad!"

I've just started to get used to the sporadic hours in general around here. The post office is usually open from 9 am to noon and then again from 2:30 pm to 5pm. The little grocery is open from 8 am to noon and then again from 2:30 pm to 7 pm. The BANK is open from 9 am to noon and then again from 2 pm to 5 pm, for God's sake. The main bus office in the center of downtown is closed already for a few weeks, though other bus office locations are open, just to keep everyone on their toes. And so August is upon us and I'm already looking forward to September.

Le Parking

Know what is Le Crazy here? Parking signs. It seems as though the French are loathe to make absolute statements therefore you see the word "sauf", which means "except" on most signs. They also like to use as many words as possible and I don't think I have to point out why that's a bad idea. This example is not the best one I've seen but it is the only one I could find today.

Parking space reserved working days from 8 am to 7 pm for loading and unloading merchandise, delivery and handling of luggage and picking up and dropping off people. By the by, this wasn't in front of a bunch of shops or a hotel. 

Ok, working days means week days. In addition to having to translate, I also have to do some quick math as time here is military, therefore afternoon and evening times throw me for a loop. Ex: 19h is 7 p.m.

I will have to get a photo of the best example of this and revisit this subject. It's stunning, trust me.

I Wish It Was Sunday 'Cause That's My Fun-Day

These two pictures are bookend accessories to this post. The only possible link to anything relevant is that the symbol of Lyon is a lion and there are many large scale murals around the city, hence the lion above depicted in a much larger mural in the old city.

Today was my first "real" Sunday since I arrived a month ago. I woke up late, studied French for several hours, went to the park and lounged in the sun while studying yet more French, came home and read a book then went to dinner at a sushi place. Around 3pm my downstairs neighbors were busily preparing for a party in the courtyard garden. They fired up their grill for a cookout and the smokiness drifted into our windows. By about 7pm and, after a few bottles of wine I imagine, they and their friends were singing along to Blondie's "Heart of Glass" (Skateland anyone?) and every few moments there were bursts of laughter. 

The weather is perfect tonight, clear and about 70 degrees.

We still have all the windows open and the neighbors' Sunday soirée continues but now the music has changed to something more Alicia Keys-esque. As I look down at the garden I see the candlelight of the gathering flickering through the trees and they are all chattering away in French which I still have yet to have an ear for, but it's nice.

Qu'est-ce que c'est? / What Is It? Friday

The weeks are flying by, aren't they? Here we are for another Qu'est-ce que ce'st / What Is It Friday. Have a look and tell me qu'est-ce que c'est?:

This is a traboule or a hidden passage way that links buildings together in the old city of Lyon. If you remember well you are already aware that historically Lyon was know for it's silk trade. These traboules provided covered passages in which to transport silk and other textiles to keep them from safe from bad weather. There are many of these throughout the old city and finding them is quite a challenge even though the ones that are open to the public are supposedly marked. Maybe I just haven't run across the Traboule Map yet. We entered this traboule from the courtyard of a restaurant, walked up some stairs into an interior courtyard between buildings, then walked down a set of stairs an into another passageway and exited out of this nondescript wooden door on a street running parallel to the Saône:

Breakfast of Champions

Macarons are not for breakfast here but I honestly don't see the difference between these and a chocolate croissant or bread with Nutella unashamedly slathered on it. I bought six of these yesterday and managed to save three for today, such is the awesomeness of my willpower. You see here Mesdemoiselles Pistache, Chocolate and Coco. The coconut one was covered in very intriguing luminescent icing. I think icing is not the right word but that's all I can think to call it right now. These are from Sève, which is as of this moment, my favorite place for macarons.

The Luminescent Glaze* and the marks from all my toothez.

*A friend alerted me to the correct word. I am noticing that I'm having a hard time recalling English words from time to time. Vexing.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

On my first couple of visits to Lyon, my friend drove me around the city to see various places and sites. A couple of times we zipped past this site and I asked what it was and he replied that it was the Roman theater, casually like it's not that big of a deal. I guess being from the New World makes this a big deal to me, so as soon as I had the opportunity I made my way there.

This is the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière which was built into the Fourvière hill around 15 B.C. by the Romans. The bulk of these ruins were excavated in the early 20th century and excavation lasted 46 years. The steep seating you see here was all reconstructed of course but you can see the ancient ruins encircling the site. This theater originally held two tiers with each tier seating 4,500 people. Later, upper and lower walkways were converted to create a third and a fourth tier of seats, bringing the capacity to 10,000. The Romans named Lyon "Lugdunum" and it was the capital of Gaul for hundreds of years. Gaul included present day France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerland and parts of Northern Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. There are other Roman ruins in Lyon: another smaller theater called The Odeon and an amphitheater called the Amphitheater of the Three Gauls.

Every summer the city hosts a program called Nights of the Fourvière which is a series of concerts, plays and other events held here. To be able to get from the up to the minute, state of the art neighborhood of Confluence to 2,000 year old ruins in 20 minutes is an amazing thing!

A Closer Look at Confluence

The Confluence area of Lyon was once the unsavory industrial quarter, full of slaughterhouses, wholesale markets and shady characters. It is located where the Saône flows into the Rhône at the southern end of the Presqu'île. In otherwords, it is 370 acres of very desirable real estate. Development of this new district began in 2003 and the first phase is complete. It includes a huge shopping mall, restaurants, a movie theatre, a harbor, a footbridge, and apartments. These structures surround the Place Nautique, a large public square with a small interior harbor in the center of this phase. The cost for the first phase was 1.16 billion euros. That's billion with a B and euros with an E. 

The second phase, called the Market Quarter, is underway and it will be a mix of homes, shops and offices connected by streets and courtyards. The Confluence is the biggest urban development in France and is slated to be complete in 2020.

Just how much would an apartment here set you back? According to one article, in 2006 when sales began, the price per square meter was €4,500 ( 1 square meter = 11 square feet). I'm talking in euros and square meters here so you do the math. I don't have to, I already know I can't afford a swanky flat here.

As you'll see from the photos, Confluence looks like another city entirely when compared to the rest of Lyon. It's nice to be able to come here as it has a totally different identity and feel. Everything is ultra modern, super clean and brand new.

Behind each one of those open panels is a juliette balcony.

This footbridge gives and undulates a little as people walk on it. Couples have started attaching padlocks with their initials carved into them to the fencing on the bridge.

The huge three story shopping mall

Gardens in the courtyard of some of the apartment buildings.

Hailing a Bus and Jazz Radio

In Memphis I think I rode a bus twice in my life and that's been the extent of my public transportation experience. Now I find myself  becoming a regular bus rider in Lyon and it has been easy and reliable. However, there are a couple of things that I did not know that maybe I would have known had I not been so dependent on my car. The phrase "faire signe au conducteur" is printed on the bus stop itself. Lots of other things are displayed at the bus stop too; a map of the city, a map of the bus routes, rolling advertisements, notifications, etc. All of that is to say you wouldn't necessarily notice that little phrase at the top on the side of the bus shelter. And even if you did, if you don't speak French you would not know that that means "signal the conductor, thanks". That's polite. You have to hail the bus to the stop if you want the bus to stop, otherwise they assume you're waiting for the next bus and they'll blow past you. Am I a country mouse or is this weird? At any rate, I feel weird hailing a bus.

And just FYI, across from this stop is my favorite radio station in Lyon, Jazz Radio. It's not what I would call jazz, it's more like R&B, soul, funk and a little gospel with some jazz thrown in here and there. I used to stream it at home. Check it out at www.jazzradio.fr

Fireworks

Look! A short video of the Fête Nationale/Bastille Day fireworks tonight from Fourvière, one of two big hills in Lyon. You can see the Fourvière Cathedral to the left on the other hill, Croix-Rousse waaaay off in the distance. We were on the banks of the Rhône, pretty far away.

Interesting aside; Croix-Rousse is the oldest part of Lyon and it's where all the silk weaving was done. Its nickname is the "hill that works". The Fourvière Cathedral is on the other hill which is nicknamed the "hill that prays".

La Fête Nationale aka Bastille Day

It's the 14th of July which is France's National Celebration day or Bastille Day. It celebrates the storming of the Bastille in Paris in 1789 and the start of the French Revolution. I expected to see French flags decorating the city today but nothing looks any different and lots of people are already gone on their annual month- long vacations (!) so the city is pretty quiet. There was a large military parade last night and many main streets were blocked off as we found out by getting stuck in traffic for about an hour. There will also be a huge fireworks show tonight downtown. Today we celebrated in our own way by taking a boat ride on the Saône that goes from the old city to the small harbor in the sleek, super-modern quarter called Confluence. :

I continued to celebrate France's ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity by poking around one of the farmer's markets and the book market:

Saint Marcellin: A truly stinky, creamy and delicious French cheese, and the most ubiquitous one of this region of France. It's on nearly every menu.

Fresh eggs with bright orange yolks - nothing is better