FRANCE: Lyon & Annecy

This is my second visit to Lyon, the gastronomic capital of France. I don’t remember the hotel I stayed in, but this hostel is probably nicer in a lot of ways except for the location. However, style and cleanliness go a long way to making up for that.

 

                                                          Lyon

 

SLO LIVING HOSTEL – Winner of the 2016 Hoscars for best French hostel.

 

 

 

                                      BRASSERIE GEORGES

BRASSERIE GEORGES – 1836

The largest brasserie in all of France, one of the most celebrated and celebrated in. This place is truly an institution. My first experience dining here was back in 2010 or so when my former wife and I were having the beef cheeks, Bourguignon. A sophisticated, Parisian lady at the next table informed us that she had come all the way from Paris especially for the pike quenelles. My ex and I decided to split an order, and we were glad we did.

 A truly grand brasserie, worthy of the gastronomic capital of France.

The Holy Grail – Quenelles de Brasserie Georges

They serve so many people on any given evening seven days a week. It was late when I took this shot so things were thinning out. I came straight here on the tram after a long day of travel which involved a train to Bordeaux, a bus to the Bordeaux airport, a plane to Lyon, a train to the city center, the metro to my neighborhood, and a short walk to my hostel.

 

GEORGE HOFFHERR – Founder of Brasserie Georges – Since 1836                                                                                 Bonne Biére et Bonne Chére – Good Beer and Good Cheer

In Barcelona, I found an incentive to live until 2026. That is the year that they are due to finish Gaudí’s masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. I’ll be almost seventy at that point. I didn’t really want to stick around to be a doddering old fool, but I now find myself strangely compelled to show up for the 200th. anniversary of Brasserie Georges. By then I’ll be pushing eighty, and that should be a more than sufficient lifespan. I’ll even get to celebrate my daughter’s 50th. and my granddaughter Mia’s 21st. birthday. Her gift will be a trip to France in the Spring of 2036 to celebrate my 80th. birthday. And while we’re at it, we might as well throw in the same thing for Aria’s 18th. birthday which will be within a week of mine.

Looks like I’m also going to have an opportunity to see a manned mission to Mars after all, as well as having visited a good portion of our own planet. I wonder if I’ll be staying in hostels into my seventies? If I am to do so, I shall have to improve my exercise regimen and maybe lighten my load a bit.

Somebody, please tell me what this thing is so I can put it in my description. This charming little instrument is used to celebrate peoples’ birthdays. They dim the lights, swoop across the dining room with a dessert topped with a sparkler and crank out Happy Birthday on this charming relic. I  can’t wait to hear it play as I celebrate my 80th. here with my granddaughters. There must have been eight birthdays in the time I was there on a Monday night!

So you can clearly see a trip to Lyon is really not complete without a visit to Brasserie Georges.

Bonne Biére et Bonne Chére – They even make their own beer in house.

 

 

                                                 LES HALLES

 

LES HALLES DE LYON – Paul Bocuse – Cathedral to gastronomy.

LES FROMAGES

I picked up some of my beloved Cabecou de Rocamadour here for later. I grabbed a few pieces of bread from lunch to eat with my cheese.

LES LEGUMES

As you can see the French worship food.

LES VIANDES

The very best of everything.

 

CHARCUTERIE

Hey, I’m getting hungry.

That my friends is a duck breast or magret de canard as they like to call it here.

A little peppercorn sauce and some mac and cheese, and we’re ready to go.

MORE CHARCUTERIE

LES PÂTISSERIES

DESSERT ART – Pastry!!! I grabbed a mini one just to satisfy my sweet tooth.

AS TASTY AS IT IS BEAUTIFUL

Just walking around town taking in the sights. No formal tour this time. Just a few pleasant images.

 

The public art in French cities is always good quality.

MAJESTIC FOUNTAIN

DIGNIFIED CLASSIC STRUCTURES

Fallout from extremist factions emanating from a seriously destabilized Middle East.

 

I rented a bike for the day since the tours were all booked up. That’s my new cheap jacket from Zara by the way. It looks like perforated leather, but it’s synthetic so the rain won’t ruin it. My old one was getting pretty worn after the past 16 months of banging about. Central and South America pretty much finished it off.

Embroidered napkins with a buttonhole in one corner to attach to a dress shirt. A favorable sign. Dress shirts and ties are over for me so I was unable to fully utilize the fancy napkin.

This quenelle didn’t come close to Brasserie Georges and it wasn’t very hot either. Neither was the mac and cheese. Disappointing for a supposedly top-notch restaurant. Order anything but the quenelles.

 

            Musee Miniature et Cinema

This is a museum dedicated to the preservation of iconic costumes, props, sets, and miniatures. Most are from Hollywood productions. If you are a film buff and the art of miniaturized interiors compelling, then make a beeline to this museum. I will visit every time I am in Lyon since they usually have special exhibits aside from their usual fare.

“Le Parfum”, Histoire D’un Meurtrier – Perfume, Story of a Murderer

These are the original sets carefully reassembled here in the museum by a twelve person team over a six month period. Reference materials for the reproduction of an 18th. century perfumery equipment were provided by the Perfume Museum of Grasse.

One of the perfumer’s victims.

BEAUTIFUL PERIOD SET DESIGN

Some thirteen hundred bottles were created in Polish glass factories, and filled with colored oil and sealed with wax.

COSTUMES FROM PERIOD PRODUCTIONS

SCI-FI COSTUMES

The Thing (Ben Grimm) from the Fantastic Four. The movie didn’t pan out with a critic score of 9% on Rotten Tomatoes.

MYSTIQUE – Making blue look pretty good, and helping the X-Men franchise on its way to success.

HARRY’S WAND

Yep, that’s the actual wand used in the movie. Danny’s days of getting ribbed for looking like Harry Potter are over, but he had a good run of it.

That little idol on the right is the one from Indiana Jones where he removes it from its pedestal, and then the boulder comes rolling after him.

WONKA BAR

This prop is from Johnny Depp’s strangely repellent performance in the very poor attempt at a remake of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

CATWOMAN – The mask from Michelle Pfeiffer’s excellent performance in a Batman film.

That’s the mirror from “The Matrix.” On the right is a light fixture from “The Fifth Element”.

MRS. DOUBTFIRE – Robin William’s “Mrs. Doubtfire” mask.

MALKOVICH – From “Being John Malkovich” – I think it looks more like Picasso.

ASSORTED SCI-FI WEAPONRY

MORE WEAPONS

The dog that was shot in “Wonderboys” with Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire. The dog is made out of latex and fake fur.

Capital Dome from “Independence Day”.

Terminator Stuff – Get Out!

I Robot – I think the movie would have been better without Will Smith, who also nauseated me in “Independence Day”. I also think Robin Williams was the ruination of “Bicentennial Man” which was an adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s “Positronic Man”.

These films would have been better served by casting unknown actors in my honest opinion. I found them both to be annoying distractions. They compromised two classic Asimov stories in his collection of works on robotics. His books deserved better cinematic treatment, and in the right hands would have become classics in the sci-fi film genre.

Event Horizon Spaceship

 

Sigourney Weaver’s torso mold with emerging newborn Alien.

FULLY ANIMATRONIC ALIEN QUEEN

ALIEN POD

BETTER GRAB ONE OF THESE

Mangalore (Bad Guy) and Mondoshawan (Good Guy) from “The Fifth Element”, beloved film of our family. Dina successfully wore the thermal bandage costume of Leeloo played by Milla Jovovich one Halloween. A friend of hers sewed an exact replica. I had a photo of it but decided that putting it in the blog would not be a good Dad move. Maybe for Donald Trump, but not me. That said, she did Leeloo proudly. We also had a big thing for “Galaxy Quest.”

GREMLINS – No food or water allowed near the exhibit

MINIATURE MOCK-UPS OF CREATURES IN “BEETLEJUICE.”

WORKSHOP – Triceratops head from “Jurassic Park” and C3PO.

 

 

                                   Wes Anderson Exhibition

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

The miniature used in the movie of the same name.

 

MENDL’S

This famed top class patisserie had a lot of exposure in the film.

CABLE CAR FEATURED IN THE FILM

 

 

                     Fantastic Mister Fox

 

FANTASTIC MISTER FOX AND FRIENDS – Not to be confused with the vapid, horrible crew of Fox News.

The kids getting up to no good in their lab.

THE BADGER CLAN

Mr. Fox, Ash, and possum initiate an incursion to abscond with some cider if memory serves me correctly.

Unbeknownst to them, the farmer’s vicious dog awaits.

 

THE FOX FAMILY

 

 

                                     The Miniatures

NYC SUBWAY

Accurate right down to the graffiti, ads, etc. Even the newsstand has stack of tiny folded newspapers, magazines, and tiny candy bars for sale.

 

GROCERY STORE

Who could tell this from the real thing?

DILAPIDATED THEATER

RAMSHACKLE CELLAR

RUN DOWN AUTOMOBILE

MODERN ART SPACE

MODERN SPACE #2

ART DECO DINING HALL – I think I was in this room in NYC.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

 

 

MINIATURE FURNITURE

Look very carefully at that art nouveau bedroom set on the upper right.

Now, look at this picture I took just three weeks before in the Museé D’Orsay of the exact same beautiful, full sized, art nouveau, bedroom set. What are the odds?

It was well worth the price of admission.

Time to hop on the bike and head three miles across town to my next stop.

Institut Lumière

This is where motion pictures all began.

Inside the Institute Lumiére where the Lumiére brothers lived, and now houses many exhibits and important artifacts that chronicle the development of motion pictures as well as advancement in the field of photography.

This device lends credence to the concept of shooting film.

CINÉMATOGRAPHE LUMIÉRE – This is how it all began!

Their beautiful home is the backdrop of this homage to their works.

 

Antoine Lumiére’s bedroom as it was on the second floor.

LOUIS LUMIÈRE

This is the uniform that he received an important French award which is in the case on the left.

Cruising along the river on my trusty bicycle.

 

After three perfect days, it’s time to get back to the hostel and pack for Annecy.

 

 

                                  Annecy

ENTRY TO OLD TOWN

Crossing into a Medieval Wonderland

PACKED WITH HISTORY AND TOURISTS

 

It was a national holiday so the French were out in force, but Annecy is a big favorite with the French regardless.

CANALS

PICTURESQUE PRISON

SUCH A PHOTOGENIC TOWN

People take a look at the most charming prison in France.

More accommodations for the guilty.

ENDLESS PHOTO OPS

LIKE THIS

This is the third in a three photo series. You saw my approach, the long shot, and the medium shot.

I’m just trying to give you the feel of how breathtaking it is to stroll about this highly praised French village.

Every perspective brings a new visual treat.

Sometimes there are street fairs where artists sell their wares. This one featured local pottery.

SOME WHIMSICAL

Chilling in the park.

Mountain vistas add to the charm of Annecy.

Even better swans and cygnets with mountain vistas.

Dad gets frisky.

 

 

 

The boat on the right does lunch and dinner cruises, and the left one just cruises.

 

 

 

 

Human beings intertwine as varied flat planes intersect all joining together to make one collective harmony.

 

View from the hostel room.

Town Hall

 

 

 

ANNECY AT NIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

Life Before Death

I believe in life before death. Paradise is promised by many but guaranteed to no one. Some look at life as a dress rehearsal or a lousy precursor to a heaven that likely doesn’t exist. I’m not wasting my remaining time here banking on what is likely just a made up comfort for those who fear death or can’t handle the fact they won’t ever see their departed loved ones again. This photograph shows a cracked and crumbling cemetery wall with flowers emerging from its fissures.

SAVOIE – One hour cruise on Lake Annecy – I napped for half of it.

 

CHATEAU BY THE LAKE

Backing into our parking space back in Annecy Old Town.

Offloading the vessel.

 

 

LE CHATEAU D’ANNECY

 

 

SUNDAY MARKET DAY

ASPARAGUS OF PROVENCE

I rented a bike for the long ride around the lake. The sounds of songbirds fill the air.

 

Paragliders take advantage of a perfect day.

Heading back to town on my last 10K.

CHEZ POUSTACHE – And now for a little refreshment after my 40k bicycle ride. The gelato is excellent here, the lines are shorter than the other places, and the prices are lower than the rest.

One last glimpse of Annecy’s Old Town.