This is our last day in Lyon, so we had to make good use of our time and do all the good stuff that's left on our agenda. We passed by Pains Des Jacobin on Saturday and noticed the long line out the door, so we vowed to return when it opens. Mr. Kimchi nicely offered to get breakfast there this morning...I think he got the afternoon's pastry quota filled too.
On the agenda for this morning is the Croix-Rousse region in the northern part of the peninsula. This is the stronghold of Lyon's silk industry, so naturally the silk worker's museum (Maison Des Canuts) is located here. Honestly, it's not much of museum as it is tiny, but at least it's free. There's also a silk weaving demo offered only in French.
Special device for weighing silk. Since silk can absorb moisture from air and increase its sale weight, sellers are required to put their silk in one of the big cylinders for a couple of hours so nobody can cheat by adding moisture to the silk and selling it for more than it's worth.
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| Miniature model of a weaving machine for metallic threads. |
Since the maison des Canuts wasn't too exciting, I decided to continue my quest for the famous murals of Lyon. This is the silk worker's wall, pretty realistic if you ask me! At the Maison des canuts, I noticed they sell a special map with the location of all the murals for 4euros, so if you didn't plan ahead, you can easily buy that at gift shops or visitor's center.
The cool thing about this mural is it actually shows how it changed over the years. Whoever came up with the mural idea was a genius...the wall without the mural was hideous!
After the mural of silk workers, we took the metro back to the hotel de ville area and walked to the bank of the Saone to find the other mural: mural of the Lyonnais, which offers a glimpse of the Lyonnais everyday life.
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| Fountain in front of the Hotel De Ville |
I didn't have a restaurant in mind for lunch today, mostly because I'm worried Mr. Kimchi can't handle the kind of tight eating schedule I usually design for my foodie trips. So we walked into this Cafe Chenavard just because it's close to where we were. It's a tiny restaurant where the menu is written on a blackboard that the waitress carries to each table to take orders. The most amazing thing about France: even the free break basket tastes heavenly.
I totally forgot to take a picture of this terrine until half way through because we were absolutely starving. This has gotta be one of our favorite appetizers in France. Terrines are usually make with ground meats and veggies and served cold. Very refreshing!
This dish piqued my interest. On the menu this is called chicken millefeuille with vegetables under the sun. How could I NOT order this? It turned out to be a chicken breast roll with veggies inside, served on top of a tomato-based sauce. Very light and healthy and delicious! Can't wait to try this at home~
Mr. Kimchi ordered a seemingly ordinary roasted chicken, which was excellently flavored and juicy. I didn't find out until after I got back to the airBnB that Southern France is know for its chicken, especially an area called Bresse. Later in Paris, I found a restaurant that serves chicken from Bresse for 90 Euros! This is no chicken from Bresse but good enough for me.
Apricot tart. Mr. Kimchi liked it, I thought the crust was heavy and underbaked, but they did put a lot of fresh apricots and it wasn't crazy sweet.
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| Passed by this very cool doorway to a bookstore. Too bad I can't read French books, or I'd happily while away a few hours browsing in here. |
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| Status we pass everyday |
Place Bellecour, third largest square in France.
We saw a big group of kids covered in shaving cream. Seems to be for charity. Unfortunately only the young lady above agreed to slam this kid's face with a plate of shaving cream.
Fire hydrants in Lyon look surprisingly modern!
After a full day of walking, we got hungry again pretty quickly. I was excited to try one of the Lyonnais restaurants I'd studied up on before the trip, until Mr. Kimchi said something that made my eyes so big they almost fell out: I want to eat Chinese food. umm....ok. We spent the next 30 minutes looking for this Chinese place we passed by earlier in the day. Luckily we found it, because it looks much better than some of the others we passed.
We ordered szechuan chicken, mushroom & cucumber salad, sauteed pork and fried green beans. Surprisingly, everything tasted great (easily tops many restaurants in Chicago Chinatown). My only quibble was with the fried green beans, which used the skinny haricot verts instead of the fatter variety we're accustomed to in the US. These were so skinny they ended up bitter and dry.
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| Walked past this place after dinner...o.O |
I love evening views in Europe, they have a way with lighting that makes everything look gorgeous!
After dinner, we still need to end with something sweet, so we walked into Amorino, a Parisian gelato place that also has an outpost in Chicago, but I've yet to visit. I got mango, red cherry vanilla and pistachio, they all had lovely flavor and texture.
Mr. Kimchi stayed faithful to his love: coconut, which was also very good.
Tomorrow morning, we're off to the airport Paris-bound. Until next time, Lyon! I'll miss you in the meantime~xoxo
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