Nope, not a rumour 'tis true! France has MORE than 500 varieties of cheeses! It's just harder to eat in some places... c'est la vie.
My time in France has been brief but I am spending the night in Montpellier, unplanned, before I embark on my journey to Spain tomorrow. After some consideration of the short time I have left here in Europe, the weather up north and the romance of Paris I have decided NOT to go to "The City of Light/Love". All the more reason to come back another time! There are just some things I don't want to do alone so hopefully one day in life I will be so lucky to venture to Paris with an equally lucky someone. I could go alone, and had every intention to do so but after looking over my calendar and seeing that I had unintentionally planned to get there today (Valentine's Day) the girl in me just screamed "NO!!!!". I tend to torture myself but enough is enough. Not only would it be torturous to my chronic singledom but can you imagine the crowds?!? EEK.
C'est la vie...TMI? I can't help it; Europe has such a romantic vibe...moving on. I spent the last few days in Lyon, France... a place hardly touched by Americans according to the locals and the lack of English knowledge in the area. My friend Jessica lived in Lyon for a year and is OBSESSED with it so I HAD to go. I found a couch to surf, with a vegetarian from England who is planning on turning vegan once she gets back to the UK in the summer. We discussed veganism and the difficulties France presents for a vegan more than we actually ate. I drank more wine than I ate real food and well I have nothing particularly exciting to share on the food front! Lots of baguettes and an interesting chestnut spread were consumed but nothing remarkable or noteworthy. The dreaded peanut butter craving is definitely sinking in right about now. Amy, my CS host, did share a vegetarian restaurant with me but when I made my way there it was already closed! Oh, Europe... so I am not completely to blame for my lack of interesting food info. HOWEVER, I do know how to get there if any of my readers and future readers have an interest in going I would really love to hear about your experience! It's a cute little place not far from a well-known Metro stop:
Toutes Les Coleurs
26 rue Imbert Colomes
Take Metro "C"/yellow line to Croix-Paquet
Walk up and out through stairs, go to the right and continue walking up another set of stairs. Turn right when you get to the street and as it forks go left. You will be on Rue Imbert Colomes and the restaurant is basically on the corner on the left side. I can see it in my mind, now!
It retrospect, because today's journey led me to an unplanned night in Montpellier I could have stayed an extra hour in Lyon and had lunch at Toutes Les Coleurs but then again it is Sunday and everything is closed because France, and much of Europe, really does practice "the day of rest"! Next time...
Lyon is a really cute city, just the right size. I thought I had seen the last of my snowy days but because it is in the more northern part of France I met my new friend Snow once again! Snow plus wind is really something...
I spent a lot of time with Amy but she works nights as a bartender at a nearby pub so the first night when I arrived I met her at work after my train-ride from hell. The second night her flatmates invited me to a "concert" where one of them, Pierre, was playing with 2 of the numerous bands he allegedly works with. It was SOOOO much fun and really reminiscent of California, although I have never felt so uncomfortable language wise it was definitely my kind of scene. It was a house party in Terreaux where Amy and her flatmates live. Terreaux is the alternative, "hippy" part of Lyon. This particular flat (apartment) is apparently an notorious destination for concerts, art expos, etc. The couple who lives there doesn't charge a cover but does provide beer and wine for a euro each. Everyone must take off their shoes upon entering and head upstairs where there is a loft of sorts with art all over the walls, pillows and a loungy vibe. Pierre and his band played Yiddish music, self-written songs in English and some 60's and reggae covers of The Beatles, Marley etc. It was really comfortable if only because the vibe felt so good but it's true, French people are really not the friendliest to outsiders. I didn't want to believe it and I hate stereotypical generalizations but even French people tend to agree! They are, however, very friendly and happy amongst themselves and do not fit the stereotypical "stick up the butt" image they are sometimes known for. Luckily Pierre and Macko, Amy's flatmates, are really chill and know enough English to have some conversation. They tried to make me feel at home but some of the girls there were CLEARLY unhappy about my presence so it was an odd feeling I can't exactly explain but I had fun anyway and I recorded some of the performances and promised the guys I'd get them famous in the states. haha.
I also had the opportunity to meet and hang out with my friend Jessica's friend Florence who she met in Lyon when she studied there a few years ago. She met me in a city square on Saturday, the 13th, and we walked around FREEZING Lyon. We did a tad of shopping (bad Bailey) and then explored the old city across the bridge and had coffee to warm up. We went our separate ways in the late afternoon to meet up later at night and she invited 4 of her friends to get dinner with us and hit up The Smoking Dog Pub, per Jessica's request. Smoking Dog is an English pub and it closed around 1 so after we drove to Boat Q, a club on the river inside of a boat. I was tired and not at all tipsy so after about an hour of dancing to trance music both Florence and I had had enough of the scene so she drove me back to Amy's around 3 and that basically sums up my time in Lyon!
2.14.10
My plan was to get to Montpellier, France and make my way to Barcelona from there. This was going to be tricky because I would have to transfer trains. My original plan was to spend some time in Montpellier because a girl I met on my trip to Israel last year is currently living there however she had left on the 13th for vacation so the timing was off. I woke up and got dressed in a hurry and chose to walk to the train station expecting it to take a max of 30 minutes. I was wrong. The directions were straight away and not confusing but it took much longer than 30 minutes to get there so I missed my train and thus was going to miss the transfer to Barcelona. I got a Subway sandwich, haha, and tried to figure out if there was any way to get to Barca with the aid of one of the station's personnel. There was a way but it was 150 Euros, uhhh, no thanks! So, I hopped on the train and went to Montpellier. Because I had done no research of the place after finding out that Lisa was no longer going to be there I had no idea where to go or what to do when I arrived but I was totally happy to be hugged by warmer weather and sunny skies when I made it to the little coastal town. I found the cheapest hotel nearby and ventured around for a bit and found some food. Unfortunately I have bad news to report regarding the food of choice. I got a pita with veggies and when I was nearly finished a creamy substance started oozing out of the pita. It resembled mayo and upon further inspection I saw that it was IN BETWEEN the pita bread layers? Not even inside of the "sandwich"?!?! So disgusting. Needless to say I threw the rest of it away and didn't figure out the mystery of WTF it was but never had I ever, EVER, seen any sort of creamy substance in pita bread especially since last I checked cream isn't necessary to make pita. It wasn't like a flour and water texture either so the mystery will remain unsolved however I had an icky taste in my mouth and negative thoughts swarming my mind so in honor of V-day I bought myself some dark chocolate with hazelnuts for dessert. 
2.15.10
I stayed in a very funny hotel that reeked of something moldy and musky but I eventually got used to it, which isn't exactly a humbling thought! It was nice to have privacy and my own space for a night but definitely not worth the cost. When I checked out I left my luggage at the reception desk and went out to see as much of Montpellier as I could in the 4 hours I had before the train to Barcelona was to leave. I discovered a vegetarian restaurant with vegan options that opened around noon so after I walked around for an hour and a half I had worked up an appetite and made my way to Tripti Kulai. It's location is very easy to get to from the center of Montpellier; it's pretty much a straight shot from the Polygone if you're walking away from the tourist office. I will update links and directions when I do some editing once I am back in the states!
The interior of Tripti Kulai is adorned with calming pastel colors and Buddha statues. The women who work there are very nice and all clad in colorful saris. They offer a menu of the day that comes with an appetizer and a main course. I probably would have been fine and dandy with just a meal sans an appetizer but when I come across these places my excitement truly gets the best of me! I ordered the plate of the day "Tofu a la mexicaine, riz, salade verti" and decided upon the pate instead of a salad as my appetizer because pate is an integral part of French cuisine. I was so full! Although my meal was good it was definitely not up to my taste buds' standards of "mexican" it was actually rather bland and in need of sriracha but I am getting used to blander food and there was no pepper in sight. I hadn't had a good source of protein in a few days so it was definitely fulfilling to have tofu in my system! The pate was really good and I will definitely be adding pate to the list of things I must make once I get back to a kitchen at home. They even offer some vegan desserts at Tripti Kulai but because I was without someone to roll me out of there I asked for my check once I was done with my meal and didn't try the tarte, sadly.
Vegan Pate
"Mexican" tofu and rice
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