Lyon: The food capital of the world

Hey guys,

Yes you heard me right! When I arrived here, I found out that Lyon has been named the gastronomy capital of France and even the world, which if you're a big foodie I would absolutely recommend coming here! Now as much as I can say I won't eat too many carbs, I think I'd be lying to myself as what other time in my life will I be able to eat such good, high quality food/ fine gastronomy than right now! So I am gonna be embracing my own Eat, Pray, Love adventure, emphasis on the eat, and am excited to share with you guys a bit about what I've learned about the food here and the different things I've tried!

Some French Vocab:

As you can probably could guess, the main language here in Lyon is French. Therefore, when I'm going out to eat, ordering off the menu, or looking at all the delicious food within the display cases, it was important for me to learn some of the main terms for restaurants or food items. Now everyone knows croissant or baguette, as they are the first things that pop into our minds when we think of France. And to confirm your theories, it is true! France is filled with all kinds of delicious breads, which I can proudly say I have almost eaten every single day! Everywhere you go here you can buy a baguette for only 1 euro and can find croissants galore! But, I've figured out there are 3 main types of stores that you will visit here when looking for particular types of food. These are:

La Patisserie= pastry shop (so this would be where you'd mainly find cakes, fancy pastries and more)

La Boulangerie= bakery (This is where you'd find more breads, sandwiches and other items like that)

L'Épicerie= grocery store

Also when you are here in France, it's important to know the three different types of breads, as they all can look pretty similar.

Ficelle= very similar to a baguette, but it's a lot skinnier

Baguette= again everyone know what this is. Just picture the stereotypical picture of a french person with a long baguette under their arm (however I have yet to see something like the picture below, so definitely just a stereotype!)

Flûte= this is a much larger loaf of bread that is intended to feed a whole family, or a very hungry university student! Either one really, haha!

Miche= a round loaf of bread, used for larger meals.

Famous Lyonnaise restaurants:

As I've been here, I've learned one very unique thing that originates from Lyon. Located all around the Vieux Lyon district in the city, visitors can find quaint little bistros that are called Bouchons. These little bistros can only be found in Lyon, so if you are looking to get an authentic french cuisine experience, these little places are the perfect place to go! The Bouchons are usually family owned businesses which serve authentic, home-made french cuisine in the form of a three course meals. My friends and I on a trip through Vieux Lyon, got a chance to visit one of these bouchons called Au Comptoir Les Gônes. The food there was amazing, filling, and definitely worth spending 15 euros on! With a beautiful and unique decor, these little bistros are definitely something to try if you ever make it to Lyon!

(Above: the famous bouchons of Lyon)

(Left: I thought this was going to be a plate of cheese but ended up being melted white cheese on a baked potatoe, very good!)

(Right: le plat de jour, which consisted of a strong spiced porc dish, with a cheese cream sauce pasta and green beans)

(Below: a delicious caramel dessert)

WINE!!!!

As it's known for, France has a great reputation for wine and I've definitely experienced this first-hand! Everywhere you go, the cheapest and best drink you can get in town is a great glass of fresh wine. Here in the Rhone-Alpes, which is the province I'm living in currently, Beaujolais is the local wine which I've learned has many traditions around it. Here in Lyon, there is a big celebration called Beaujolais Nouveau, where people gather in the bars/cafés around the city and try and have the freshest and newest glass of Beaujolais wine from the wineries! People here go nuts for wine, and as a student it is definitely the more affordable drink when going out, haha!

Food holidays!

While I've been here in France, I've had the pleasure of participating in a very old and fun religious holiday here called Epiphany. For a very brief history lesson:Epiphany was originally created by the Christian church to celebrate the arrival of the Wise Kings who came to see Jesus soon after he was born and God's arrival in human form (now this is just the very short story, and I'm sure there is a lot more history to it). Every year Epiphany is celebrated on January 6, where people buy a cake called la gallette des rois, translated as Cake of the Kings. It's a delicious flaky-pastry cake filled with a almondy filling and the big tradition surrounding this holiday is that somewhere inside the cake the bakers place a small "bean" (which traditionally was an actual bean, but today is a plastic figurine). The game goes that whoever discovers the bean in their slice of cake is the King for the day! My friends and I did this together the other night, and instead of giving the King a crown like they traditionally do, instead we had to give our friend Charlie (the King for the night) each a drink when we went out to the bar! It was definitely a lot of fun, and I felt just a little more integrated into the french culture!

Little tips when ordering at a restaurant:

If you plan on going to France, it's good to know a little French as some of the people who live here, especially in smaller towns, know little to no English. Therefore, some these are some of the helpful words I've found when ordering at a restaurant:

Un carafe d'eau= tap water: sometimes when you're at a French restaurant and you ask for water with your meal

they will bring you a bottled water instead of tap water; bottled water meaning you have to pay for it and tap water being free. Now I personally have never had this happen as most restaurants have just brought us water, but I think most places expect you to order wine or other drinks with you meal as well. However, if they do ask for your drinks and you want free water, you need to ask for 'un carafe d'eau'.

Un pichet de vin= a pitcher of wine (loosely translated). When ordering wine in France, it's good to know this term as this is usually way cheaper than a bottle of wine, which is great when you're trying to stretch your money like I am. So instead of paying 15-25 euros on a bottle of wine, you could be spending only 12 euros or cheaper! My friends and I were definitely a little excited about this, considering how cheap it is once you split it 4 ways!

(cl)= centilitre: When you're ordering wine at a restaurant, the bottles will come in different sizes and beside the number will be printed a small cl. So for examples it will say- 25cl. When asking the server (serveur or serveuse in french) for a certain size of wine you have to say "le vin rosé de 25 centilitre, s'il vous plait", so in english it means "the 25mL of rosé wine, please", or something like that!

(**Sorry to my french friends if I got that wrong**)

L'addition= the bill: Now at the end of your meal, your server will clear your plates and won't always come back right away to bring you your

bill. Here people go to restaurants to socialize and spend time together, so meals tend to go longer even when the meal is finished. Therefore, if you want to pay your bill after the meal is done, you have to say "L'addition, s'il vous plait" meaning "the bill, please". Another big thing to learn about restaurants here in France is that the bill is the collective amount of the WHOLE table, and not just everyone's individual meals. That means that when my friends and I go out for something to eat, we better make sure we have enough change, so that either your the one who pays for the whole meal or you are the one who pays back your friend right away.

The one thing I miss:

Although the French food here is amazing, the one thing I truly miss food-wise from Canada is our coffee! Laugh all you want, but the coffee they serve here in France is either the strongest, blackest coffee you've ever tasted, a very strong espresso or the tinest little portion size you've ever seen! I cannot wait to get home and have a normal Medium sized double double coffee from either Tim Hortons or McDonalds, and enjoy it in more than 3 sips! Haha!

(Closest Google images that I could find to the tiny coffe I get here in France, but some of my friends swear it's so much stronger they feel jittery)

But that's all I got so far, I hope you guys enjoyed my first entry on French food! Make sure to subscribe to the blog if you liked what I've been posting, or leave any comments on Facebook or Instagram about what you've thought!

Thank you for all your guys love and support! I miss you all so much!

-Tori

#Frenchfood #Frenchcuisine #Lyon #Bouchon #Lyonnaise #Food #Cuisine #Gastronomy