Lyon, France - (Day 1)- 31st January 2008

Thursday 31st January 2008 - Lyon, France

We had a Nice speciality, Socca (ie. 'pancakes' made out of chick
pea flour, water and extra virgin olive oil) for breakfast.
It was delicious.



Then we checked out of the hotel and
took the tram-bus to the train station to catch the
TGV (fast train) to Lyon. After getting our tickets,
I walked to the nearby Chinese restaurant to order
some take-out food to take along for our train ride to Lyon.

I was surprised at how the food is served differently here in
Chinese take-out places. The food is kept in chilled displays,
instead of heated displays here in the states and in Singapore)
then when the customer orders it, it is heated up, and the
plastic container is placed in a machine which seals the
container shut with a layer of plastic wrap. Interesting.
It’s also interesting to see how the ethnically Chinese people
here speak French as their first language.
I guess it would be just as interesting for a Chinese
from China to hear me speak English.

The train station


Views from the train window, while on the way to Lyon




We got into Lyon after about two hours on the train and took the metro
into old town Lyon or as the French call it, ‘Vieux Lyon’.



With its cobblestone streets, it looked very quaint and pretty.
High up on the hill, stood a beautifully lit church. We did not know it then,
but we found out that the church was the Basilique of Notre-Dame de Fourviere.



We also passed by the St. John the Baptist Cathedral before making
the absolutely horrendous decision to lug our suitcases up a horribly
long flight of stairs, mistakenly thinking that it was the shortest route
to the Villa Florentine hotel where we’d be staying.

We almost died dragging and carrying those heavy suitcases up those steps. lol.
Must have been at least 300 steps up that steep hill. Along the way, a man
walking up the stairs seemingly took pity on us, helping me carry my
suitcase up one flight of steps.

Kavin taking a break from carrying luggage up the stairs


The staircase from hell...


After a whole lot of huffing and puffing, we finally got to Villa Florentine.
The room was gorgeous with a view that overlooked Lyon.





View of St. John the baptist Cathedral and the rest of Lyon




The hotel's pool and grounds


It was soon time for dinner and we met up with Andrew and the rest from
New Asia as they had also made their way up to Lyon from Midem in Cannes.
Andrew and the rest picked Kavin and I up from the hotel and after a little
merry-go-round to find the restaurant, we finally found our way to Le Nord,
one of chef Paul Bocuse's 4 brasseries in Lyon, for dinner.



I had a French onion soup for a starter and the main course was veal
coated with breadcrumbs, gratin potatoes and for dessert, meringue ice-cream
and fruit. Kavin had white basmati rice and chicken and he had a
sausage in bread for a starter.

The menu at Le Nord


Kavin with his starter of saucisson bread


My starter of a French Onion soup


Kavin's main course of basmati rice and chicken


Veal and gratin potatoes for my main course


Victor and Joe


Andrew and Joe's godsister Mala.


Joe and Mala


Through the drinking glass.


couldn't resist playing with the drinking glass.


Glorious dessert




Jessica and I


Good company and good food.

Nice, France - 30th January 2008

Wednesday 30th January 2008 - Nice, France

I woke up earlier than Kavin and decided to go explore
the vicinity. I walked down the street towards the beach and stopped by
a little café for breakfast. I had a croissant
with butter and strawberry jam, and a cup of Darjeeling tea.
It came up to 8 Euros. ouch. But it was nice to be able to sit,
read a bit of the Herald Tribune newspaper and watch traffic go by
along the beachfront of Cannes.

Enjoying breakfast at a cafe in Cannes, France


The beach front at Cannes, France


After this, I made my way to look for the little church that
I’d seen on my map and happened to stumble upon a pattiserie.
Wow…my very first French pastry shop encounter.
I walked in, and bought a chocolate croissant for Kavin’s breakfast.

The patisserie


I also ‘kay poh’ –ed the next door grocery store, and was fascinated
by the different brands of food they had on display. Then, looking
at my map discretely ( I didn’t want to appear too ‘touristy’. I liked
the idea of blending in as much as possible) , I found my way
to the little church of Notre Dame de Pins. I walked in an discovered
that the church was actually bigger than I thought it was from the outside.

The interior of the church of Notre Dame des Pins.


A priest saw me walk in and motioned me to the chapel in the back.
I couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying in French,
but I figured he wanted to let me know that it was good to visit
the chapel. So I went, and it was beautiful in its simplicity.
Jesus was there in the tabernacle, so it was a good place
to just be quiet for a while and to say a rosary.

The little chapel and tabernacle



After this, I walked around the church, admiring the nativity
scene that was set up in the left hand side of the church.
(This being the end of January, they still had the Christmas decorations
up. I thought it was great. In the US, it seems that Christmas decorations
are taken down so fast right after Christmas which seems a pity)

Some information I found about the church on the internet
EGLISE NOTRE DAME DES PINS
Nineteenth Century Church
32 Boulevard Alexandre III
(25 Boulevard Eugène Tripet)
Cannes, 06400
Phone: +33 4 93 43 26 39
Fax: +33 4 93 99 56 17
Website
East of the city of Cannes, the Eglise Notre Dame des Pins is part of an active parish, with masses conducted every day of the week except Thursday. Baptisms and marriages are also conducted here, and the church is open to visitors every day but Sunday. The eclectic styles of the architecture, encompassing the 1864 construction and two additions, is Roman, English Gothic, and Italian.

Outside view of the church


I walked back to the hotel. Refreshed by my explorations.
We checked out of the hotel soon after and took a private cab
(the taxis in France were on strike that day to protest some ruling)
to Nice, checking into the Le Meridien. The room was nice, and
since we were starving by then, we walked towards the nearby
McDonalds (A travesty you say? to be eating McDonalds in France!)
It was surprisingly good. We had a Raclette burger that came with
some French local cheese and bacon. I’ve found that it’s always
nice to explore the local McDonalds in various countries as they
always have special burgers that are specifically catered to the taste
and culture of each country. Case in point, Singapore had the ‘Rendang
Burger’ in their McDonalds for a while, which featured a nice, rich
curry paste derived from the Malay culture’s cuisine, paired with
a beef patty, sandwiched in a bun.)

The McDonalds hamburger box


We went for a tour of Nice after this in an open-top tour bus.







Among the attractions we stopped by to see were the Cimiez
Monastery.



Resplendently beautiful in terracotta hues on the outside,
it featured many works of art within, and perhaps for that reason,
we were not allowed to take any photographs within the church.
But it was so beautiful, with all it’s painted arches and domes.
To the left of the church, the Blessed Sacrament was in a small side chapel.
We spent a little bit of time there before heading downhill to check out the
vicinity. Kavin wanted to see the gallo-roman museum at the
Musée et site archeologique de Cimiez but it was closed for renovations.
ah well…We passed by the Matisse Museum but decided to skip it.

Ruins of Gallo-Roman amphitheatre


Walking through the public park was quite a lovely experience.
It was a workday but surprisingly, there were many people there in the park,
just enjoying the laid back, overcast skies and balmy afternoon. There were parents
playing with kids, toddlers in push-prams and senior folk playing ‘bocce’
which resembles a bowling game, except that instead of pins, the winner is the
one who places the bigger ball closet to the small target ball.
The French truly know how to savour life in all its finest details.



We also spent a little bit of time looking at the ruins of a gallo-roman
amphitheatre. Amazing to think that it’s been standing there for so many
years.

Ruins of Gallo-Roman amphitheatre


After this, we caught the tour bus back to the hotel and walked around
later for a bit along the streets of Nice before catching sunset on the beach.
The beach of Nice is lined with pebbles. We found a ralphie rock. (ie.
a grey-white rock that resembled our grey-white cat Ralphie) and laughed
about it. The sun was beautiful in the sky. It is said that a lot of painters
and artistes love the light in Nice and in other towns along the French
Riviera. The light does look different here. There is more of a colourful
orange/ yellow glow to it. No wonder the paintings by Matisse had
a lively colour to them. It’s interesting how light looks different from
place to place. I’ve noticed that the light in LA has a whiter hue than
that in Singapore where the light is more akin to the light on the
French Riviera, a bit more orangey.

Kavin dressed like a Franciscan, standing on the pebbled beach of Nice.








We were hungry after this and spent a long time trying to decide
where to go for dinner before finally settling in at a ‘Maori’ restaurant
where I had gnocchi and Kavin had a chicken dish. Yes, I know,
we’re in france and we choose to have ‘Maori’ food? LOL.

MIDEM showcase in Cannes, France

Tuesday 29th January 2008
Cannes, Midem.

The 30 minute showcase went well. It was nice to meet a couple
of people who came up to say they really enjoyed the showcase
and some mentioned they were moved by the songs, so I was happy
about that.

Check out the photos from MIDEM.

We had supper later with Mike Matsushita and the rest from S2S
at Café Roma. It was great to see Mike again.
Eva, his wife had knitted him a nice blue scarf, so it was great
to see her handiwork too, even though she was not there in person.

After supper, we all went back to our hotels. Mike offered to walk
us back, but I figured that we would be able to find our way
back to the hotel with no problem, so we bade adieu to all and
walked back.

Well, we got lost along the way. It was about 2 a.m by this time
and we had been walking for a while without spotting the street
that we were looking for. The streets seemed deserted apart from
a couple of cars that drove by. Thankfully, a man with a MIDEM
tag was walking along the road going in the opposite direction
and so we asked him if he knew where the hotel was and he pointed
us in the right direction.

We chatted a bit in the minutes that followed and found out that he
happened to be from Canada, but he’d been to Singapore before.
We introduced ourselves and he looked pleasantly surprised,
and explained that he had my album because a friend had given
it to him. Wow… what are the odds. Talk about a chance meeting.