Falling in love with France

We are four months into our adventure and have now visited four countries in Europe and over 21 cities. There has been so much to love about all of them, the gorgeous white architecture in Greece, the endless blue Sea in Croatia and the incredible food in Italy, but as Tim and I inevitably compare notes on what has been our favorite so far we both surprisingly come to the same conclusion…France.

We spent 2.5 weeks in France in October between the city of Lyon and the wine regions of the Cote du Rhone and Burgundy and each place exceeded our expectations. When pressed on why exactly France stood out as our favorite, we do have to admit that the time of year might have a lot to do with it. By October the high tourist season had died down in most European cities, and in France the weather was changing to Fall, giving us the opportunity to break out the (embarrassingly matching) Patagonia’s that we’ve been lugging around for 12 weeks. There is a certain luxury of exploring a city without fighting through massive crowds and sweating profusely through shorts and a tank top. But weather and time of year aside, France gave us the perfect combination of history, charm, incredible (well-priced) food and of course delicious wine.

Lyon in particular stands out as the best European city yet. Lyon is the 2nd largest city in France but is much more approachable and easy to navigate then its larger sister, Paris. The city sits on two rivers, the Rhône and the Saône, and has both car and pedestrian bridges up and down the embankment connecting both sides. It’s very easy to navigate by foot but you can also rent Velo’v city bikes to make the commute from place to place easier (and more fun). It is also home to 10 Universities which gives the city a young and energetic feel, something that we love as we’re walking through neighborhoods and experiencing life as a Lyonian.

Although Paris is lauded for its food, Lyon is actually where a lot of French cooking gets its roots. It is largely considered the gastronomic capital of France and was home to Paul Bocuse, one of France’s most prominent chefs known for innovative cuisine. As previously mentioned, it’s not an overly large city but has 21 restaurants with Michelin stars and many more on the Michelin guide. In short: it’s basically impossible to get a bad meal here. And the best part: it’s actually affordable. For $30 per person you can expect a 3-course lunch with a starter, main and dessert and if you’re feeling fancy throw on a $30 bottle of wine that would cost over $200 in the States. One thing that you have to try if you make it to Lyon is a Quenelles, which is a sausage shaped dough of fish covered in a delicious creamy red sauce. It sounds weird but trust me, it’s delicious. In no particular order, here are are some delicious suggestions for eating in Lyon:

• Bouchon des Cordeliers - classic Bouchon with an upscale twist

• Sapna - Asian fusion

• Café du Soleil - bouchon with delicious quenelles and lyon salad

• Odessa Comptoir - modern natural wine bar with delicious food

• Restaurant Le Cambodia - random? Yes but so good
  

We stayed in Vieux (Old) Lyon which is a typical Old city where the streets are too small for cars and the architecture dates back to medieval times and the Renaissance. One particular architectural feat this area is famous for are traboules, or covered passageways, that connect buildings throughout the town. From our understanding, this was a way for textile workers to move throughout the city without having to expose their garments to the elements. The city is still well known for making beautiful silks and other fabrics. One thing that we loved was learning that these passageways were actually used for secret meetings during WWII which helped prevent the Nazis from occupying all of Lyon. This website shows you an interactive map where you can find these passageways, which is a great way to spend an afternoon.

Another great way to spend a few hours is at one of Lyon’s famous markets. For farmers market fair, we loved the Marché Alimentaire Victor Augagneur on the bank of the Saone. Strolling through we shopped for fresh produce, artisanal cheese, flowers, olives and admired the meat stalls and rotisserie chicken spits. It’s the perfect activity for Sunday morning because most restaurants are closed in the afternoon / evening so we got supplies to make a veggie stew at home. For a more upscale experience, Les Halles de Lyon - Paul Bocuse, is a covered market and has incredible goods and food stalls / restaurants. We bought insanely delicious cheese, meats and pates for a cheese board, sampled praline pastries which Lyon is famous for and made a second stop here for oysters and white wine. When we were there Sunday the oyster restaurants were packed so we came back Monday at 11 am and had the place to ourselves. Never too early for oysters!

And of course, the wine has to be mentioned. Each region of France is typically characterized by two wine varieties. Cote des Rhones does mostly Syrah and Burgundy is only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. To put it into perspective, Burgundy is 12,194 square miles compared to Napa’s 789. In a place that is over 15x the size of Napa, this one region only produces two types of grapes and makes each bottle taste incredibly different. The reason that a wine is not just called “Pinot Noir” from Burgundy is that what goes in the bottle is defined down to the plot of land that this particular grape comes from, which is typically the bottle's namesake. So you can be tasting Chardonnay grapes from the same vineyard but one bottle comes from a plot that gets more sun exposure than the other, giving it a characteristically different taste. To say that the French take wine making seriously is an understatement. There is so much care and precision and honestly pride that goes into producing these wines that it’s hard not to become a bit of a wine snob as you’re tasting their masterpieces. We were lucky enough to explore the wine regions with our good friend, Jordan (AKA “boy Jordan”), who happens to be a sommelier and beverage director at a restaurant in San Francisco. This opened a lot of doors for us to meet winemakers and really get a deep understanding of the regions and their wines.

Cotes du Rhones

Cornas - I know I’ll start to sound like a broken record, but Cornas is an adorable town in the North of the Cotes du Rhones. About an hour and a half drive from Lyon, this region is known for its delicious and round Syrahs. We tasted at two places, and Guillaume Gilles, the second of which was our favorite wine of the trip. We were practically begging the winemaker to buy a bottle or two or ten at the end, which we found out is apparently next to impossible at the wineries in October since everything is already sold or promised to distributors. AKA - you need to be “somebody” in the wine world to get your hands on these bottles. Alas, we were not.

Burgundy

We spent a little under a week in Burgundy and explored the four towns below. We stayed 3 nights in Beaune and 2 in Auxerre which I might switch if we did it over again. The drive over from Lyon was absolutely stunning as you’re winding through vineyards that have turned from green to ruby red and burnt orange. I can’t overstate how magical fall in France is, and these colors are a major reason for that.

Beaune - among the smallest towns in Burgundy, Beaune is an adorable little village with excellent dining and shopping. We especially enjoyed having a glass of wine at the trendy and modern L'Arche Des Vins and our meal at Le Relais de Saulx. Another highlight is the Saturday farmers market which is both indoors and outdoors right in the center of town. They have wine shops all over the town but you can also taste a little outside the town in plenty of villages like Mersault where we had an incredible lunch at Restaurant Le Soufflot de Meursault.

Dijon - the capital of Burgundy. Dijon is a really cool city with a central area that they’ve closed to cars making it very accessible by foot to explore. It was my first foray into the traditional, what I would consider German, architecture characterized by houses criss-crossed with wood beams in different colors. Personally I think charming is an understatement. We only spent an afternoon here but it’s definitely worth a trip to explore and shop!

Auxerre - to be honest I knew nothing about this town but picked it since it was a good stopping point between Beaune and Paris where we were catching a flight. And I’m so glad we did! A bit bigger than Beaune, Auxerre is a great mix of traditional quant and modern. It’s situated on the Yonne river and has a large park perfect for exploring. You can also rent little paddle boats to navigate the city on the river. We spent a lovely afternoon sitting on the embankment, sipping wine and playing cards, just watching the daily life go by. Soccer fans were walking back from a game, parents were trying to tire out their kids and many were doing the same as us, just enjoying a crisp day and watching the swans meander over the river. The bell tower in town looks like it’s straight out of a Harry Potter movie and chimes out the time, not that you need to pay attention to it in this relaxed environment.

Chablis - a very short drive from Auxerre Chablis is a seriously adorable town flanked by two turrets at the entrance known for well…Chablis! To say that we weren’t fans of Chardonnay before this trip is an understatement, but Chalis has completely changed our minds. In contrast to California’s buttery white wine, Chablis is crisp and minerly and oh so good. Honestly we absolutely loved this stopover town. The streets were littered with fallen leaves so red and orange they looked fake. Coffee is sipped at the embankment of the river and you can hear wine corks being popped at all hours of the morning, no shame to enjoy at 10 am! We had an incredible lunch at Le Maufoux Chablis and sipped wine by William Fevre whose winery sits just next door. I wish we had more time!

Which honestly is the perfect way to sum up this post. We were very sad when our time in France was over. Which just means, we will be back :)