Eat . Travel . Dive: Lyon, Nice & Monaco, France

Happy Days are here again, ETDers!!

The WINGAZ Grand Prix of Lyon, Nice & Monaco!

My "toy" car collection.

We have decided to combine the 2 days we spent in Lyon and Nice, since we don’t have a lot to talk about…even for me! I could elaborate on how we spent the time relaxing, but that doesn’t make for much of a blog post.

To start us off, we travelled 2 hours south of Dijon to Lyon. Lyon was a lovely city, lots of shops bistros and sunshine, meaning that since Dijon the weather was definitely turning for the better and spring is finally reaching Europe!

We arrived at our lovely Air BnB, a short walk from the train station and the heart of Lyon. After quickly dumping bags, changing into shorts (me) and a glass of water we headed into town. We walked along trying to decided whether to cook or eat out – we decided on lunch at a bistro and home cooking in the evening for dinner.

We wandered the not s0 mean streets of Lyon, finding the plentiful bistros serving Lyonnaise cuisine, finally arriving at Gaston’s in a quiet back street. This place was well presented and the food came promptly to our eagerly waiting bellies! Gaston’s offered a menu of the day, which comprised a three course lunch, typical to Lyonnaise. Winnie really wants me to mention that she had the more Lyonnaise dish since she ate a Lyonnaise Salad…there you go darling! The Lyonnaise Salad appeared a lot like a classic Caesar salad, but with a poached egg and French (Lyonnaise) salad dressing. It tasted nice.

After lunch we wandered around Lyon until late afternoon, checking out the sights and architecture. Not much to write about there. On the way home we popped in the local supermarket and stocked up on supplies.

For dinner I cleverly snapped up the Cassulet de Toulouse, allowing us to reminisce on our time at Queen Sophie’s Chateau. We picked a good one too, considering it was direct from can to oven to plate it was almost as good as the first one we ate in Carcassonne. For dessert we ate a giant pistachio macaroon – man the French make these so well. It was seriously big in size (the size of Winnie’s palm) and BIG on taste. The textures and flavours worked so well – not bad for a Carrefour Supermarket version!

Winnie hoovering Cassulet & Cotes du Rhone...

Massive Macaroon!

Next day we were up early and onto the train to Nice. On arrival at Nice we jumped on a tram and headed to our accommodation to dump bags and go out into Nice. A quick change of plans and we were on the bus headed to Monaco for 1 Euro (per person each way). Monaco is a cool place, best enjoyed in summer with a fresh cocktail sipped overlooking the view of the marina (or during a Grand Prix).

We were lucky enough to spend a nice (albeit overcast) day walking the grand prix circuit, admiring the plush luxury sports cars (we picked our dream cars), the amazing luxury boats were the big draw for me…naturally.

I'd like the one on the end..and the Smart Car!

The parks and gardens of Monaco are very relaxing and well maintained. We enjoyed chilling in the parks.

Pretty in the Park <3

For lunch, we opted for the less expensive alternative….Macca’s. Cop out we know, but budget conscious we are.

After lunch, and a short walk back eating our Mc Flurrys, we jumped onto the bus returning to Nice.

After this we checked in at the Hostel, which was pretty nice and tidy. Our room however, was only accessible via the new bar –which was having a grand opening party that night….meaning not much sleep! Not an issue if you can function like the GAFFAtron (on no sleep) or sleep anywhere, anytime like Winnie!!!

Nice was nice, which came as no surprise given that this is what the French call it! Sadly, we opted for another fast, cheap dinner option this time a KFC Mega Bucket of Chicken (with extra grease). Never again…but doesn’t everyone say that!!