A Day in Lyon

Hello :) If there was one place in our Europe travels, where I wished I stayed longer, it would have been Lyon. We were held up at the train station in Paris for a lot longer than expected, and really only had one full day in Lyon. But it really was a perfect day. It was Bastille Day for one, and a Sunday, so everyone seemed to be out and about enjoying the gorgeous weather ...

I was very excited to find a farmers market, especially after a failed attempt at finding one in Paris. But this one certainly made up for it and was exactly how I pictured a little French market. 

Cherries in the sunlight ...

Salami

Roasted chooks 

Olives! And so cheap ...I got two decent scoops for under 2 euro.

After wandering around the markets for a little while and sussing out the best stalls, we bought lunch supplies and sat here by the river. Our lunch included chicken, olives, peaches, and a baguette. 

Time for a wander around the town ... we found art and jewellery markets along the river, stopped for a milkshake, and admired all the old, colourful houses.

We came across a huge outdoor swimming pool and decided it would be the perfect way to relax before dinner. So hurried back to our hotel for swimmers, and got in after a while spent lining up. One of the most refreshing, relaxing swims I've had.

Mojitos after a swim. Yes please!

And then it was dinner time. Lyon is known as the food capital and I could definitely see why. We chose a little restaurant with a 3 course special, after meeting some Australians who recommended it. Seriously good food !!

Cured trout to start ...

Duck breast with an orange sauce, potato gratin and pumpkin mash for the main. Oh yeah!

I opted for cheese for dessert & it was divine.

After dinner we walked around the town, and up to a hill to see this very picturesque view of the rooftops.

Being Bastille Day, there were fireworks at 10pm, and so everyone sat along the canal listening to music and waiting ...we had a nice view!

Waiting for the fireworks. It was so much fun !!

And that's how we spent a day in Lyon :) 

In other news, I turned twenty one yesterday! The past two weeks have been quite hectic at uni (essays! reports! presentations! all at once!) so had fun eating dumplings and duck pancakes with Adrian, and enjoying a glass of wine (or eight)*

Hannah x

*I didn't actually drink that much.

Perfect Paris

Hello :) Ahhh Paris. We spent 4 nights here, which was definitely necessary, as there was so much to see! It was Renee's third time here (lucky thing!), and so it was great she knew some basic French to get us around (I was terrible ...) I absolutely loved wandering around the streets ... everyone was really quite stylish, so we made an effort to dress up a little. It was fun. Oh and it was Renee's 21st here as well, which was special. It was also here where we learnt how to be patient ... as the lines for everything were so long!  Onto the photos ... & there's a lot! 

Just near where we stayed in Alesia was an amazing bakery dominique saibron where we went at least once a day ... for breakfast and sometimes in the afternoon. I had my morning croissant, as well as a quiche. There were so many divine quiches.. I think I tried 5 of them. And the croissants were perfection.

Chillin' near the Eiffel Tower. 

An amazing Indian feast! Renee had a fish tagine and I had this amazing lamb ... we were super full afterwards !!

Versailles was a must see. I was overwhelmed by the extravagance ... it was just astonishing. 

The gardens were so beautiful and a lot larger than I expected! It would have been nice to take a picnic and spend the whole day there, as other people did. 

Hello hedge

Of course we went to this cafe :) 

Renee's 21st breakfast complete with hot chocolate, a brioche for me, and a pain au chocolat for her.

On the morning of Renee's birthday we spent the morning at a local hair salon, being fancy and getting our hair done. It was quite interesting as we couldn't speak much French and they weren't able to understand our English ... but it all worked out and Renee coloured her hair a beautiful dark brown and I had mine cut into a nicely shaped bob ...

Perfect weather to do nothing 

21 forever!

Smoked salmon and cream cheese crepe. 

Wandering around the little streets ...

Well I was in France after all ;) 

Some more things I loved: going all the way up the Eiffel Tower (although I was quite nervous!), people-watching around Saint Germain, looking at fancy clothes in Galleries Lafayette, espressos (after too many "interesting" lattes we stuck to these), the super regular metro and just walking around the streets in the warm weather and really having the best time ...

Hannah x

Brussels

Hello :) Next stop on our holiday was Brussels, only a few hours away from Amsterdam. I was still getting used to the concept of hopping on a train for a short while and suddenly you're in another country. Crazy! We only spent 2 nights in Brussels, and weren't really sure what to expect. I really enjoyed our time here, and it was also a good time to rest, and rejuvenate before the busyness of Paris. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking ...

Loved our hostel. Our room was spacious, and looked over the garden. 

Hostel garden ... 

The Grand Place was flippin' amazing! 

Renee and I ... we were a good team!

Stumbling upon a Sunday vintage market where I purchased my sunnies. There were so many nice things!

A statue referred to as The Pissing Boy. Yeah ...

A huge antique/vintage outdoor market. Wish I had more room in my backpack!

Chocolate shops ...

 I couldn't say no to a Godiva soft serve dark chocolate icecream !! 

On our second afternoon we felt like escaping from the city, and went to a huge castle/garden in the countryside. It was only 20 minutes from the city and was so peaceful .... we had a very relaxing stroll.  

On the way back we stopped off to get strawberries from a little shed. Some people may go overseas for the art galleries and museums, and we did visit a few, but I went for the moments like these ... picking up fruit from the side of the road in the country or going to morning farmers markets :)

Cooling down with cherry beer. Delicious, and not too sweet.

And there you have some highlights from Brussels :) 

Hannah x