Lyon & Lille, France

Un séjour à Lyon est plus doux que cent pucelles.

Not my words, but true enough. And un séjour à Lille is just as good in terms of food and company. I spent three days in Lyon and two in Lille, and I wish I’d had more time in each city – but then I might have sunk the ferry on the way home, and that would’ve caused even more delay (but more on that later).

Brioche. Tart. Café. Baguette. Raclette. Lyon was a gastronomic adventure. My insides must be bright pink and crusted with sugar: Fiona aux pralines, a Lyonnais speciality. Don’t judge too harshly till you’ve been there and entered a couple of boulangeries. You won’t fit out the door.

I left for the airport at some ungodly hour on Wednesday morning, drooling my way through the train ride to Gatwick and only reviving with the aid of Three Musketeers and the promise of seeing Maddie for the first time in almost two months. Upon arrival, Maddie was the perfect host. She knew exactly what I wanted from Lyon – bright pink sugary things – and gave me the grand tour of the city, which encompassed spectacular city views, local boutiquey shops, and endless, endless stairs.

Most excitingly, I attended three of Maddie’s French lectures at the Lyon III university: one on Kant (argh), one on pan-Europeanism, and one on the French Revolution. While it’s true that I spent 75% of these lectures struggling to keep my brain intact and my eyes uncrossed, I did eventually click into the French.

I’d been slightly worried that my French might have slipped away entirely from lack of use, but it came crawling back over the course of the trip. Sure, my grammar was creative at best, and unintelligible at worst, but I spent a good many hours chatting away and succeeded in being vaguely understood. By Sunday afternoon, I was back to using the subjoctif like a pro.

But let’s get back to more important things, like fondue. Prior to Lyon, my closest encounters with fondue involved chocolate fountains and an Asterix comic that depicted a roomful of people becoming gradually roped together by strands of melted cheese. Authentic fondue is even more fun and delicious. The cheese! The bread! The cheese!

I spent my second night in Lyon chez one of Maddie’s friends, who very sweetly invited us around to dinner. This provided me with an opportunity to exercise my French in a non-threatening setting, and to eat delicious homemade quiche and (non-French, but decidedly nommy) apple crumble. And some vin, of course. We’re talking France, after all.

And so, having waddled from coffee to coffee and brioche to brioche with NO REGRETS, Maddie and I bought some bread and cheese (chevre!) from the local market and made our way north to Lille by TGV. Polly met us at the station and drove us back to hers, where we promptly settled in and watched a decidedly non-French film, Pearl Harbour.

Next day, we got up bright and early (I must not tell lies), and headed into town to explore. Polly showed us all the sights.

The best sights involved food behind windows. Oh look, a montage:

Somewhere amongst the pastries, we also saw two spectacular cathedrals, the local mall – complete with triffid-type flowers – and met a couple of Polly’s friends at a swanky-chic café. We also made time to duck into a bookshop, because obviously my suitcase won’t be heavy enough at the end of my trip.

And then – dinner! Polly’s parents took us to this lovely restaurant with traditional northern French cuisine, and wined and dined us in an incredibly generous fashion. I had cannelloni and pecan tart, both of which tasted heavenly. This restaurant was actually our second choice – first choice was booked out – but wound up saving us a half-hour trip to Belgium. Yes: Belgium. We almost drove to another country for tea.

That night we watched Welcome, a French film about illegal immigration from France to England, which was really quite sad and also foreshadowed the trials that Maddie and I would undergo the next day (but more on that in a minute). Following the film was an epic board game battle – Jungle Speed, Pictionary and Taboo – which I only lost because the whole thing was done in French. Actually, board games turn out to be the absolute best way to learn a second language, especially those requiring heavy description. Articulate is definitely the way to go.

And then it was Sunday morning, and time for Maddie and I to pack up for our journey to London. We spent the morning wandering about the area near Polly’s house, picking up essential travel supplies (chevre, pains au chocolat, lollies, jam). Lunch was an amazing chicken pie courtesy of Polly’s mum, and then we took off for the train station.

And then it all went horribly wrong. For eight hours.

Okay, it wasn’t actually that bad: our bus trip just took three hours longer than it was supposed to, that’s all. And Maddie and I didn’t even wind up at each other’s throats. Instead, we regressed to childhood-type maturity and got told off by the bus driver and Maddie spilled the lollies down the aisle and we had an eight-hour long sugar high. So really, it was fun.

And now we’ve both travelled across the Channel in three ways: train, plane, and ferry!

And there ended my adventures in Lyon and Lille – for now, at least. Pink sugary things are calling my name.