This day, Friday, began with Starbucks, of course, and I took my grande Cafe Americano back to my hotel room to drink while creating my post about what I did on Thursday. The text was fairly long, but I only had a few photos, so I was finished and out the door by 10:30 a.m. I headed for the Saone River so that I could walk through the farmers market again. Now that I have some familiarity with the market, with Lyon, even with hearing the language (still not speaking it so much), I found myself wanting to buy things – mostly all the delicious fruits, and also the cheeses and breads. Since I have no cooking facilities, I don’t pay much attention to the meats or fish, and only longed for the veggies that can be eaten raw. Hey, I forgot to mention last time, they also sell mattresses at this market! Well, I bought nothing. I had promised myself that I would go out for a big lunch today to a nice restaurant, rather than grabbing quiches and sandwiches to go. So I simply enjoyed the visual treat of the market.

Last Monday I had read about a restaurant on rue du Palais Grillet called Palegrie and tried to go there for dinner, but they were completely booked. My plan was to go there for lunch today, so, from the outdoor market, I headed over to that neighborhood, taking my time and going in and out of places that appealed to me. I also had gardening shoes in mind. I went into one shoe store to take a look and the woman who waited on me not only spoke English but loves the US, having been there 3 times and to more major cities than I have been in. We had a fun chat and I liked her, so I bought a pair of 15 euro sneakers – I liked her more than the sneakers, but I figured they would do until I found something better and, at only 15 euro, I could just toss them out without a second thought. Take a look at the photo – and also the photo of the shoe shop.

While wandering from shoe shop to restaurant, I encountered the Lyon Opera House and lots of interesting sculptures, fountains, and pavement. I had some fun with composition, feet, circles, triangles, letter forms and other “found” art. Hope you enjoy them and, perhaps, find some inspiration.

Finally, by lunch time, I reached Palegrie. I couldn’t get in, they were all booked up for lunch! I asked about dinner, and they are booked up for dinner tonight, too! Boy oh boy, have I ever got good instincts about restaurants! Next time I am in Lyon I will make a reservation for this place. Now, where to go for lunch? I had also read about two restaurants on rue Merciere, a pedestrian street that is one restaurant after another (like the street I was on with Madeleine last night): # 52, Le Layon and #55, Le Muranie. I tried to fix those two names in my mind so that I wouldn’t need to pull out a guide book or a map and look like a tourist (as if I was fooling anybody!) and off I went to rue Merciere. I saw what I thought was Le Muranie and asked for a table outside. The place was very busy and she sat me at a table squished between two men, each eating alone (and a woman eating alone at one end). All four tables were placed one inch apart. The waitress had to pull my table entirely out to let me in, then push it back, trapping me completely after I had sat down. It felt very strange at first, but it didn’t take long before I relaxed and got used to it. I ordered a simple salad of greens, fish with some sort of vegetable terrine, and some good bread came with it. I enjoyed a glass of Macon with it and finished the meal off with an espresso and 4 tiny sweets, a brownie, a fruit tart, and two cakes that I didn’t recognize – just a one inch square of each. Everything was good – take a look at the photos. Service is always slow at the restaurants here – at least according to American standards, so I had to allow myself to consider it an experience in itself, rather than quick nourishment between experiences as I usually consider my meals. The people watching couldn’t be beat and I had a wonderful time. Oh, and I later discovered that I wasn’t at the restaurant I thought I was at – I was at Le Merciere, #56. No matter, it was good.

I took my time wandering around while walking back to the hotel and went to my room and rested by working on this blog post. At 4:30 I headed out again. A day or two ago when I visited the silk painting workshop, the young art student I talked with had given me a postcard for an art exhibit by someone who had used their printing facility for some of the work. I decided to find the gallery and was hoping I would also find other galleries around it. I had searched all over Lyon and had so far only found the very commercial, slick kind of galleries. Well, I am so excited – I found the gallery street!! It is rue Burdeau, which is all the way at the top of rue Romarin (the street the silk workshop is on), north of place des Terreaux and the Musee des Beaux-Arts. I went into several galleries and talked with people – most people around here speak at least some English, and often more than they initially claim they can (I think their standard for “good” English is way too high). The galleries are preparing exhibits today because tomorrow is a vernissage (opening reception) for the entire street. Sadly, I will be leaving on a 1:45 train for Bormes les Mimosas and I will miss it. But I took a lot of photos and will post a few of them below. I also discovered more interesting streets in this neighborhood and will include a couple of shots of those, too.

On the way back to the hotel, I had a very small sandwich and one little scoop of ice cream, so I am all set for the night. It’s about 7:30 now and I will finish this blog post and then start packing my bags again – wish I could just beam my stuff from place to place. That is the one part about traveling that I don’t like – hauling my luggage around. And it is growing, even thought I’m trying not to let that happen. It’s been a great stay here in Lyon and I would love to come back again sometime. It feels like a very livable city. Of course, my French would need just a tiny bit of improvement.

The next time I write I will be in Bormes les Mimosas, and I might miss a day or two, so don’t worry about me. And keep sending comments!!!