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

It's Qu'est-ce que c'est Friday and so here is our What Is It? for this week:

This is a shop called Germain as you have no doubt guessed and it sells silk fabric and in particular, silk for home furnishings. This is a family with a long history in the silk trade and when I say long, I mean long. That 1660 on the window isn't an address, it's the year the House of Germain began working in the silk trade. Lyon dominated the silk industry in Europe for about 200 years starting in the 16th century and it is still a major silk producing city. Silk workers, called "canuts" have become a large part of the history of Lyon. There is a museum called the Maison des Canuts which I have been wanting to visit to see manual looms and all of the historic items used in silk weaving. It's in Croix Rousse which is the historic neighborhood where all the silk workshops were. The Croix Rousse is one of the two large hills that loom over the west side of the city and because of the silk workshops, it was nicknamed "the hill that works".  The city offers a guided tour called "The Silk Trail" that helps to underscore just how important silk is to its' history. On the silk trail you visit the Maison des Canuts, the Textile Museum, the Silk Weavers' Mural (see the last few photos), the House of Silk Weavers, tour traboules more.

The Silk Weaver's Mural (La Mur des Canuts)

Here's another view of the mural from a little bit farther back so you can see just how big this is and how real it looks.

The Animals

I was back in the park today and thought about how cool it is to go out for a run in a place where you can see animals like these. "The African Plain" is located more or less in the middle of the park and here are a few of its inhabitants.

The obligatory Do Not Feed The Animals sign

This little spitfire was not part of The African Plain, but he was very excited to see all of the other animals. As a related side note, Jack Russell Terriers and French Bulldogs are overwhelmingly the most popular dogs here. They're everywhere.

A reminder of home

Photo Post

A photo post for today bookended by photos from the Parc de la Tête d'Or. Above, a walking path in the park.

Vieux Lyon (the Old City)

Be sure to click on this: Cour des Loges on Rue de Boeuf. This five-star hotel occupies a group of historic and architecturally interesting buildings.

As you would expect Lyon is filled with images of lions.

This is Quai Saint Vincent along the Saône river where the animated and huge Sunday farmers market sets up. 

  The Saône River and the Passarelle du Palais de Justice

"All home-made" says a heart-shaped sign in a pastry shop window.

Pear and apples trees growing on a trellis in a side garden at Saint Bonaventure Church; and below a rose window inside the church:

And finally, back at the park in the rosarie.



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

 

When you see the Les Toques Blanches Lyonnaises plaque displayed on a restaurant, this is a sure sign the establishment puts emphasis on quality, creativity and pays homage to the culinary heritage of Rhône-Alpes region by using regional products. In other words, you can get a really nice meal there. This one is on the La Terrasse Saint Clair in our neighborhood. Lyon is considered to be the food capital of the world and the epicenter of French cuisine. See THIS ARTICLE, one of many articles on the topic, to discover why.

Coke Light & French Advertising

A Coke Light (Diet Coke) ad at the bus stop. What say you? Discuss amongst yourselves while I try to find a qu'est-ce que c'est for tomorrow. I will say this, the JPG Coke Light cans look fantastic.

Le Parking aka Do Whatever You Want

Today I offer up a study in parking. It's not like I had to scour the city all day looking for these examples. I passed all of these during my 10 minute walk to the bus stop. It looks like there are several schools of thought when it comes to parking. Here we have the tiny Smart car owners perpendicular arrangement. It works, right? And I believe, since these cars were designed for small European streets and parking spaces, it's a legal and acceptable form of parking but it's still funny to see.

Then there are the sidewalk parkers: never legal but I respect their panache. But within this group there are three sub groups: #1: two wheels on the sidewalk:

 #2: Entire car on the sidewalk (gets lots of points for moxie):

 And #3: the timid sidewalk parkers who just get one wheel on the sidewalk. I think they need to be more committed and get at least two wheels up there.

There is also a hybrid breed of parkers: the crosswalk/corner parkers. I can see their point of view, I mean crosswalks and corners are just wasted space and should be better utilized.

If you are a corner/crosswalk parker you have lots of options. You can park parallel or perpendicular to the crosswalk or you can park directly on the corner and lop off a bit of two crosswalks in the process. Just depends on your particular preference I guess.

 

The display at the BMW Mini shop:

Don't Know What You've Got 'til It's Gone

Well, look what I found!  Little Britain, the small market that sells British and American foods, has returned from their vacation and I had a chance to stop in today. I never thought I'd be so happy to see these items. Since it's a specialty market, the prices are high. I paid the equivalent of $25 for these four things. Don't care, had to have them.

Impromptu Dinner

We had some errands to run late in the afternoon today and ended up in the Brotteaux area where that beautiful old train station is. We wanted to grab a quick drink somewhere and we ended up having drinks and dinner in one of Paul Bocuse's restaurants L'Est, which is in the old train station.

I counted at least 8 toques in that kitchen.

I had the tomato salad with feta, onion and avocado in a tangy dressing. Great.

Also great: rotisserie chicken in a succulent sauce and sides of Italian green beans and pasta. The pasta was really a baked macaroni and cheese that was fantastic. This is one of five of Bocuse's brasseries located in Lyon, the other four are l'Ouest, le Sud, le Nord and Argenson. I will probably never darken the doors of the Bocuse restaurant l'Auberge du Pont de Collognes, so it's nice that the brasseries are an option as they are more accessible and affordable. The service in l'Est brasserie was attentive and friendly, the atmosphere was casual and inviting and, most importantly, the food was exceptional.

Dessert: fresh white cheese (fromage blanc) with apple compote and raspberry coulis.

Since l'Est is in the old Brotteaux train station, the walls are decorated with clocks that show the times in places all around the world, there is an electric train that circles a track around the restaurant and there are signs hanging from the track noting milestones and important lines in train transportation.