Bourg En Bresse

This was a day we had been anticipating with a mixture of excitement and sadness. Bourg-en-Bresse is the town that Christine grew up in, and our journey there was certainly bittersweet.

We met up with Gérard, Christine’s older brother, who led us to the market, which was one of, if not the largest of our adventure. It went on and on and on, and included the expected fresh produce, meat and cheeses as well as clothing, crafts and trinkets.

It also included the future producers of much of what would land on our tables – chicks, ducklings, hens, bunnies. Of course the kids wanted to take them home. Others among us contemplated vegetarianism – momentarily.

After the market, we walked to Le Français, the town’s best known restaurant, where we were joined by Yolande, one of Chrstine’s oldest friends. Le Français is known for its two specialties – Bresse chicken and grenouille – frogs’ legs. Another feature is the tin ceiling which has a very nice yellow-brownish patina ... resulting from years of grease and cigarette smoke. Because of its historical and cultural importance, the ceiling is protected, and therefore can't ever be cleaned. Only in France!

This is where Christine celebrated her 50^thbirthday, and it was due to her encouragement that we all found ourselves there that day.

The frogs’ legs are served in a delicious buttery parsley and garlic sauce.

Bresse chicken is known for its distinctive flavour and dense texture, and it’s traditionally prepared with a creamy, slightly lemony sauce.

Everything was delicious, especially when accompanied by Christine’s favourite wine. If any one of us had been counting calories, we stopped for that day. It was special and we all savoured it.
 
As we said, bittersweet.

After lunch, we went for coffee at a little bistro that Christine frequented as a student. The owner, locally known as La Jeanne, liked Christine a lot. Her daughter was one of Christine's closest friends. Jeanne was instrumental in getting Christine her first job in Montreal at the botanical gardens because of her friendship with the former mayor of Montreal and at the time, director of the gardens.

The town is very nice with interesting architecture typical of the region.

And as this shows, the kids were very good little children.

Afterwards, the Gagnons went back to Gérard’s home for dinner, a swim in his pool and some family time.

Lyon

A visit to this area wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Lyon. Along with being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its outstanding architecture, Lyon is also famous for its silk production and its gastronomical delights. We were all looking forward to experiencing everything Lyon was famous for!

Its architectural beauty was immediately obvious. The old part of the city is on a peninsula formed by the junction of the Soane and the Rhone rivers that is overlooked by the impressive basilica up on the hill. The buildings, with their distinctive red tiled roofs, wind along a maze of narrow streets that were used by the Resistance during WWII to evade the Germans.

Mario found a little clockmaker shop known from one of those French movies that he likes to watch so much. There were also hidden courtyards with small architectural treasures, and one that smelled deliciously of boeuf bourguignon!

And we could not resist looking at a few gorgeous churches with stunning stained glass windows and sculptures that offered a bit of quiet and cool respite.

We ran into some interesting sights, like this man paddleboarding on the Rhone...

... and this impressive mural of famous Lyonnais, covering the entire side of a building. Kate and Michael felt inspired to try to get into the picture.

  

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Kate and Vicki were on the hunt for some authentic silk scarves, and we happened upon the perfect place – a shop that’s been in business for literally hundreds of years. The man in the window is the latest in a lineage of silk craftsmen going back five hundred years. He works with the same looms and materials that his predecessors used. We watched him demonstrate how to make real silk velour and he even gave Joy a little thread of gold silk. Lyon was once the home of 30000 silk craftsmen. Now there are five. So we felt quite privileged to meet him and of course, we had to buy some of his fine products.

As for the food … one of the most famous restaurants in Lyon is Paul Bocuse's and although we would love to have eaten there, our budgets didn’t allow it. However, we discovered that the same proprietor ran another less expensive restaurant called Le Sud, and we happily “slummed it” there for lunch. The  food and the ambiance were wonderful.

On the advice of a friendly and helpful tour guide, we found ourselves at an off-the-beaten-track restaurant row around dinnertime and took a chance on a bistro called simply La Cuisine. We all agreed our meal there surpassed our lunchtime meal - in every category except the price!

Even the kids gave Lyon two thumbs up for having the best playgrounds in France (something never mentioned in the tour books!).

However, they were not allowed to bring back tattoos, no matter how much they begged...

It was late when we left Lyon, which meant we also had the opportunity to see its active nightlife along the beautiful square and wide boulevard surrounding the opera.

As we’ve said so many times on this trip, Lyon is a place we could see spending much more time exploring.

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