It's a gift.

Self-portrait in the spoons

I'm pretty much wife of the year around here. You see, Jonathan got some birthday money designated towards ice cream - one of our favorite treats. There are several well-known gourmet ice cream shops in Lyon, however we seem to be the only ones who think they are overrated. Sure, they have interesting flavors like lavender, beet and basil. But sometimes you just want rich, creamy, simple ice cream.

So I set Google off on a search for a store nearby that sells Häagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry's. Hmm... 2 miles away and we only had an hour before the big match started. That would have been tight to walk there and back, and have time to sit and enjoy our Jonathan's-birthday-ice-cream.



Plan B. We'll go for a walk to the corner store about 1/2 mile up the road and hope they have something frozen of dairy origins. We walk past the post office, kebab shop, some restaurants, a hair salon, a cheap pizza joint... Hold up. Did you say cheap pizza joint?

If you ask Jonathan, he'll tell you that I poked my head in the door and squealed with delight. Whatever. I merely expressed my joy over seeing a small freezer of Häagen-Dazs in the middle of this pizza place that was papered in ads for travel deals to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage.

Macadamia Nut Brittle, to-go please. No thanks, I've got spoons in my purse.


The view from the park across the street


Birthday boy...photo taken by his wife, who has a gift for tracking down good ice cream.

Desperately avoiding culture...

We have tickets to two of Lyon's best known museums. They expire June 30th, which is soon. Retail value on these suckers is about 46€, or about $57 by today's horrible exchange rate. We really should go. We really should want to go.



But I inherited by museum appreciation gene from my mom. If it's under glass or has a descriptive plaque next to it, she's off in the opposite direction in search of a pâtisserie.

Jonathan's not much better. We went to Morestel recently and one of the big draws to this little Medieval village is its series of free art galleries. So we went. We walked slowly, pausing respectfully in front of each painting and sculpture, trying desperately to come up with intelligent remarks. About the best we could muster up were variations on, "I really like the colors/movement of this one," or "Ooh. That's nice/cool."

So it's probably not a big suprise to you that although we had tickets and big plans to go to the two museums today... we didn't. Instead we rented Vélo'V bikes and went to what I'd like to call the 'modern technology museum'.



Unfortunately, the sign on the door of the Apple store said they were closed 'exceptionellement' today. Bummer. So we got back on our bikes and went to the 'nature museum'.



A ride along the Rhône River and up into the Parc de la Feyssine. Good call, team Masson. Good call.

Name-dropping...

Very traditional Alsatian architecture

Colmar. Now, there are a lot of fascinating, wonderful things I could tell you about this little town in the heart of Alsace. But I've chosen one fact that I think will really stick with you. That way when someone name-drops Colmar in a sentence, you'll be able to follow up with this little historical tidbit.

"Colmar? That's where Charles the Fat held a diet in 884."

Not even kidding. You can look it up in a French history book. Apparently King Charles III of East Francia was more commonly known by his nickname. (And unfortunately, 'Charles the Great' had already been taken by Charlemagne.)

Also, in this case, a 'diet' refers to is a formal meeting or assembly.


Colmar is much more colorful than many French towns. Kinda reminded me of Florida houses.


I love the windows.


The canal in the Old City


Display outside a wine shop


Creative recycling here.


Pigeon the Fat?


Judie and Noémie - two of the highlights of Colmar for me


One church, three names: The Église Saint-Martin (St. Martin church) was also a collegiate church, so is known as the Collégiale Saint-Martin, and because of its large size, as Cathédrale Saint-Martin. So in the US, that would be like calling it First, Second and Third Baptist Church :)


Arch of the Collégiale Saint-Martin


The morning market in front of the church


Jonathan and Vincent (with Noémie on his shoulders) in the Old City


Vincent and Claire put on a mini-concert for us




Remember this picture. You'll see it again soon...




It's official. My kids have to speak French. It's just too stinkin' cute.


Jonathan heading to the train station

And remember..."Colmar? That's where Charles the Fat held a diet in 884."

Really?

There's a sign next to this little fountain letting you know that the water is not potable.



Really?

Are there that many people who walk past this little boy peeing and think, "I'm thirsty. Gee, that looks refreshing. I'll just stick my Nalgene bottle in the stream and fill 'er up..."

Eat your vegetables.

It's so easy to love vegetables when you can buy them at a market like this one in Colmar. I will definitely miss this... so I'm enjoying it while I can! Vincent and Claire took us for a walk through the old city and to their favorite vendors at the market.














Jonathan bought raspberries for our mid-morning snack.

A recipe for laundry and an onion tart...

Our tickets for leg n°1 of 3 on our trip

Remember the whole 'six-day trip in two backpacks' deal? I know. It was impressive. And so is the pile of laundry it generated.


Self-portrait on the train

We got back this evening and are exhausted, but very happy. It was a wonderful six days. It all started with a visit to see our friends Vincent & Claire who moved from Lyon last year. They now live in the Alsace region, which is where Jonathan's got some ancestral roots, so we really wanted to get up there before leaving in August. (Two months!)



Lots more to come, but for now I'm going to leave you with Claire's recipe for a traditional Alsatian Onion Tart, made with fresh onions from the morning market.

Claire's tarte à l'oignon

1 recipe pâte brisée or other flaky pie dough (Claire makes her own and adds about 1 Tbsp whole flax seeds in with the flour)
4-5 medium onions (purple and white), peeled and very thinly sliced
3 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Grated nutmeg
Pinch of cumin

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.



Roll out the pâte brisée and place in a tart dish or pie pan. Sprinkle a pinch of cumin on the crust.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and sauté the onions slowly, stirring regularly, until they are lightly golden. Remove the skillet from the heat.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and cream together. Add a pinch or two of salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Add this to the onions, stirring to combine.



Fill the tart dish with the onion and egg mixture. Bake tart for 25 minutes, or until the filling is golden brown and set. Bon appétit!

I've been corrupted.

Five years, nine months and three weeks of marriage is how long it took me to be corrupted. I am now one of those people who can pack for a six-day trip in a backpack. Not a big hiking backpack, mind you. No, this little guy is actually marketed as a 'day pack'. But Jonathan has corrupted me to the point that I can cram everything I need for 144 hours in three countries in this one little backpack.



But I have not been corrupted to the point of thinking we should travel by bicycle. (That'll be at least another couple years.) However, we have been enjoying Lyon's Velo'v bike rentals this week, especially along the Rhône River.



Next blog post... probably coming from either Alsace, Switzerland or Germany!

Chillin' with our Consular buddies...

Jonathan talking with one of the head honchos that we've met a couple times.

If someone told you that the city of Lyon would be hosting an international festival with representatives from each of its 53 Consulates - including Senegalese - which of your friends would you say would be the most likely to be there?

Us? Really? How did you know?


The section of tents representing African countries was by far the liveliest. Music, food, dancing...

Yes, on Sunday afternoon we made our way downtown to visit the 53 tents and say hello to our buddies at the Senegalese Consulate. They asked about our trip in February, how our families are doing (we assured them you are all in peace), our plans for moving back, and of course, are we are at peace.


I stopped by the Côte d'Ivoire tent too.


That's me in Africa Alley.


Looks familiar!


The Senegal tent had paintings, carvings, batiks, shoes... and also bissap, sugared peanuts and gingembre drink.


The ladies loved speaking Wolof with Jonathan. They thought he was hysterical - especially Mme Ndiaye when she found out his Senegalese last name is Diop.