Découverte de la France

We have been going to AVF Découverte de la France classes led by Andrée-Anne for years now.  We’ve learned quite a bit about the history, geography, architecture, and culture of France and especially Lyon.  (Andrée-Anne is a great teacher!)  Our final Découverte de la France class for this year was June 14, and the subject was Art Nouveau.  Andrée-Anne led us into several buildings in Lyon to show us Art Nouveau stained glass, mosaics, painting, wrought iron, wood work, etc. etc. Absolutely beautiful! A couple of the windows were even signed and dated by artrists. It's amazing how many gorgeous windows and how much lovely design work are hidden away in various buildings - even on doors leading to where the poubelles (garbage cans) are kept!

Here are some of the windows:

Two had artist signatures:

This one was created in 1904

 

Some lovely wrought iron work:

This is an elevator door.

Painted walls and ceilings:

 

 

Following our “field trip”, we all went to Andrée-Anne's for our usual end of the year luncheon. Andrée-Anne’s apartment is rather unique in that she and her husband have a large yard, complete with trees, flowers, bushes, and grass.  All of this is planted on top of the roof of the building’s garage!   So we gathered around the table on her patio overlooking her lovely yard.

Enjoying our lunch - that's Andrée-Anne
in the white next to David

She had asked us each to bring a dish “plat salé” (as opposed to a sweet or dessert dish) to share. We had SO much great food; with several nationalities represented you are sure to get an interesting, delicious mix of dishes!  And, of course, the wine, apperitifs, and digestifs flowed (some were borderline lethal).  We even sang some French folk songs Andrée-Anne has taught us through the years.  (As I remember, the volume increased with each additional glass consumed.)

These end-of-the-year parties are always so much fun.  Not only are the food and drink wonderful, but we also enjoy conversing on a variety of subjects with a very interesting group of people we wouldn’t know otherwise.  We are fortunate that Andrée-Anne decided to create this class and has continued with it each year; we’ve certainly learned a lot about France and the French and, of course, lovely Lyon.  We are definitely looking forward to enrolling in the class on our return.

Papilles en Éveil

We enjoy belonging to Acceuil des Villes Françaises (AVF) in Lyon.  As we mentioned earlier, the group was initiated by the French government many years ago to assist French people returning from abroad and expats, like us, get acclimated into current life in France.  There are branches all over France, and the one we belong to in Lyon is going strong. 

One of the activities Anna enjoys with AVF is Papilles en Éveil which is roughly translated as “excited tastebuds.”  Brigitte, an AVF member who lives in the Lyon area, came up with the concept and started a group when we were in Lyon for a year.  Anna was a member of that original group and joins in when we are in Lyon and there is space.  Papilles en Éveil has become so popular that there are now three groups! The idea is for eight women to get together once a month to prepare and then eat a nice three-course lunch.  Each takes a turn hosting, providing recipes and ingredients, and all share the cost of the ingredients.  Since we didn’t arrive in Lyon until late April this year, the groups were in full swing, and all three had waiting lists.  Fortunately, there was a recent opening, and Anna was able to participate.

Aprons on and ready to go to work.
 

There's always lots of prep work!

We met at Brigitte’s and prepared an entrée (appetizer in France) of Salmon Citrus Mousse, plat (main dish) of Gambas à la Curaçao, and dessert of Tarte au Pralines (a Lyon specialty).  As you can imagine, having 8 to 9 women (from 5 or so different countries) working in a kitchen can be a challenge, but there is always plenty to do, and it always seems to work beautifully and be great fun.

Gambas-ready to dish up

 

Tarte au Pralines

After the preparation was done, we took a break and sat down on Brigitte’s patio and enjoyed a little rum punch.

  Then it was time to serve and enjoy our sumptuous lunch.  It was absolutely delicious!

Enjoying the fruits of our labor

And, after our leisurely lunch, we all help with the clean up.  Our hostess is always left with a spotless kitchen - and often some yummy leftovers.

Back in Lyon

A scene in lovely Lyon

Arriving at “our” apartment on rue Moncey feels like “coming home” in many ways.  We have been staying in this same apartment since we came to Lyon in 2010 to stay for a year.  The place always looks pretty much as it always has to us with very few changes (two new chairs in the living room and some new pots and pans in the kitchen this year).  We have boxes of wine and other things stored in the basement, and Anna’s planter boxes outside the living room windows await this year’s batch of red geraniums.  Having a comfortable base like this is a bonus in a place with a different language and customs!

154 rue Moncey
Our windows are on the 5th
(US style) floor on the left

So we jumped right into our life in Lyon. In our first week, we had lunch with Estelle, our French daughter (and former exchange student), David went to the monthly AVF* Men’s Lunch, we both attended a Del Cano** lunch, David went on a weekly bike ride with several folks living in and about Lyon, we hosted our new landlords, Nathalie and Stephane, and their delightful daughters for dinner at the apartment, and we went to lunch at Roger and Dominique’s, our former landlords.  Guess you could say we hit the ground running!
In reviewing the previous paragraph, it became pretty obvious that dining is an important part of being in Lyon.  It IS the culinary capital of France, after all.  And, dining here is definitely not a rushed affair.  Everyone expects lunch to take two hours, for instance.  That allows one time to not only savor the food but also engage in real conversations with others at the table.  Very civilized and very enjoyable!  No wonder we find ourselves acclimating very quickly to the Lyon way of life!

 

* AVF - Accueil des Villes Françaises, an organization we belong to that was created to help returning French and expats get acclimated into current French life.

**DelCano – named for Juan Sebastian del Cano, unsung hero who actually completed the first circumnavigation of the earth after Magellan died in the Philippines, and a social group that has monthly lunch meetings and is comprised mostly of former RAF folks who have graciously adopted us “colonials”

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées

There is something special about strolling down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées!  It’s really hard to beat the looking at the Arc de Triomphe as you walk down the wide tree-lined sidewalks.  But, it hasn’t always been that lovely.

In the sixteenth century this area was nothing but fields outside the center of Paris.  Then in 1616, Marie de Medicis, wife of Henri le Grand (Henry IV), decided to create a long, tree-lined path going east from the Tuileries, the preferred Parisian residence for most French monarchs, from Henry IV to Napoleon III. Through the years the avenue has been expanded and lengthened. It also gained the name of "Champs-Élysées", or Elysian Fields in English. The name was derived from Greek mythology and refers to a place where heroes come to relax.  That’s a very fitting name since this is where Parisians celebrate their heroes and special holidays. 

The Arc de Triomphe anchors one end of the avenue and is, itself, an iconic symbol of France.  It was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 and was inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus. It was built to honor those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and has the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath it lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI. 

Ironically, the day before our walk, a terrorist had gunned down a police officer, another hero who died as a symbol of France, on this very Avenue.  Additional security was obvious; in fact, it was probably the safest place on the planet at that time.  But, people were going about their business, the Arc was still majestic, cafes had tables set up on the sidewalk, and the Avenue  des Champs-Élysées was still lovely and unbowed.  It was time to find a table, have a glass of champagne, toast the French, and enjoy the view!

 

Versailles

It started out as a King Louis XIII’s modest brick and stone hunting lodge in 1622.  Then he bought a lot of the surrounding property and began enlarging his lodge.  When Louis XIV came along, he became interested in the hunting lodge.  (There was a lot of political unrest in Paris, and he wanted another residence away from the Louvre Palace.)

So the Sun King hired an architect, Louis Le Vau, and started expanding and remodeling.  He also hired a famed gardener, André le Nôtre, to create a garden for the new palace. After Le Vau’s death, Louis XIV brought in Jules Hardouin-Mansart to continue the expansion (he tripled the size of the palace!).  The next step was to furnish the place and add lots of art to put icing on the cake, so to speak.  The finished palace was breathtakingly beautiful.

Hard to capture the size of the palace in a picture,
 but this one David took of part of it will give you an idea.

When the French Revolution came, most of the furniture was sold at auction.  Thankfully, the incredible collection of paintings, antiques, and other works of art that had been amassed at Versailles was transferred to the Louvre and other important items went to the National Library and Conservatory of Arts and Crafts.  The palace was still pretty impressive!  In fact, Napoleon spent his summers at Versailles until he abdicated. 

But, we have Louis-Phillipe to thank for the palace we see today.  In 1830, on his own nickel, Louis-Phillipe transformed the chateau into a grand museum dedicated to "the glory of France."  And, in the 1960s, curator Pierre Verlet somehow managed to get some of the furnishings back and restored a number of the royal apartments. Today, the garden and much of the interior are open to tourists.

Anna with a view of part of the gardens in the background.

We booked a guided tour, and it was money well spent.  We walked past all those people standing in a serpentine line that looked incredibly long, and were treated to some great information beyond what the tour books offer.  The high point of the tour was, of course, the Hall of Mirrors.  The hall has seventeen mirrored arches that reflect the seventeen arcaded windows which look out onto the garden. Each arch contains twenty-one mirrors (many of which are original ones), for a total of 357 in all. The hall is 240 feet long, 34 feet wide, and 40 feet high. It is truly magnificent!  What continues to amaze us is that people actually called this place “home.”  

Our guide took this picture of us in the
Hall of Mirrors.

After our tour, we wandered around a bit and looked at the garden.  We were pretty much on museum/tour overload at that point so it was time for a nice, leisurely meal and some wine on a terrace outside a nearby café.  A very civilized way to end our time in Versailles!  Then we hopped back on the RER for our ride back to Paris.

 

 

 

Back to France - 2017

Normally, when we come to France, we land at CDG, hop on the TGV right at the airport, and go directly to Lyon.  We haven’t actually stayed in Paris since 2010.  But, this was a special year:  Anna’s 70^th birthday and our 50^th anniversary.  So we decided to celebrate by spending some time in Paris.  Anna had just two “must dos” while we were in Paris:  visit Versailles and take a stroll along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées again. 

David felt we should stay in the same hotel we stayed in when we came to Paris for the very first time and also for the millennial New Year.  So we found ourselves once again in the Relais-Hôtel du Vieux Paris.  The building dates back to 1480 and has quite the history.  It has belonged to a couple of dukes and a marquis and then much, much later was the crash pad for Burroughs, Kerouac, Ginsberg, and their friends.  Thankfully, Madam Odegard purchased the place and did a major remodel many years ago and transformed it into a charming 4-star boutique hotel.  It is on the Left Bank, steps away from the Seine, across a bridge from Notre Dame and other famous landmarks, and a short walk from the Anna’s favorite museum, the Musée d'Orsay.

So how has Paris changed since we were last there?  The big change we noticed is that it seems everyone in Paris speaks English now.  It certainly makes it a life a lot easier for the French-deficient tourists, but it was very frustrating to David who really wanted to be able to speak French.  We also noticed that the streets and sidewalks are very, very clean.  No “evidence” left behind by dogs and no litter.

We were pleased to note than some things did stay the same – for instance, the musicians and mimes performing on street corners in the evening.  And, just being in beautiful Paris is a celebration in itself!