Dining with Nikki Marti and family in Lyon

Dear Reader,

Before I ever went to Europe I studied as much information as I could possibly find about the places, and the cultures and the people, the cuisines, the sights, the religions, and any bit of information I could find. One thing that has made a real impression on me over the years is the inaccuracy of the writers regarding the people. It's something I encounter often and find most disturbing.

The most common misrepresentation that I have encountered is that French people are rude. I can't tell you how many times I have heard and read this and it is simply not true. I've met people who have made that statement only to find that they had never even been to France. It's truly unfair how these rumors get started in the first place but I would like to attempt to dispel them.

After traveling around various parts of France for many years I finally decided it was time to visit Lyon, the great culinary capital of France unless you are a Parisian, then it is Paris. But that issue is between them, not us. One reason Lyon had not been at the top of my list for previous trips was because of the rumors and statements even in guide books that the people are not just rude but hate all outsiders, including anyone from France not from Lyon! This is very daunting even for the intrepid traveler but I finally decided to take a chance and visit the lovely city and see for myself. The driving force behind my decision was actually a teacher from Lyon who taught a conversational French class that I took John to so he would be able to communicate at least a little bit. Our teacher, Madame Rogers, was very proud of Lyon and spoke of the city's beauties and the wonderful food and even gave us recepies. She told us about their wonderful Boudins, family run restaurants with the old Lyonaise cuisine. I couldn't wait to visit after that.

We took the TGV high speed train from Paris to Lyon and were there in no time. The city is very beautiful indeed with the Rhone and the Saone Rivers meeting and forming an island in the middle. A great red place is in the center of the island with a great fountain and statue and on both sides are lovely Georgian and 19th century buildings including an opera house and a modern museum. Our main interest, however, was to go to the old town with it's covered paths once used to carry fabrics without getting them wet and to take the tram up the hill to see the Roman arena and museum. There's a fabulous Baroque Cathedral hanging on the side of the mountain at the top which looks like it might just slide down. It's one of the most opulent cathedrals I've ever seen and though gorgeous, many Lyonaise dont' like it.

After our tour of ancient Rome and the cathedral, we returned back down the tram to old town with it's curvy cobbled streets and little bars and had a drink at one of them which had sidewalk tables. While John and I sat and discussed the sights we'd seen and what we liked best, a very lovely young lady from the next table walked over and asked if we are Americans. We said yes and she smiled really big and sighed and then asked if she could join us. She was with her boyfriend and signalled him to come over and the next thing we knew we were having a very nice conversation about Lyon and America with a very charming and delightful young couple in their early 20s. They were very surprised to see us first of all. There aren't many American tourists in Lyon. In fact, there aren't very many tourists from anywhere. She wanted to know why we were there at all so I told her. This fact seemed to make her happy. When we left we all shook hands and wished each other a good day. I was ready to seek out my own original Boudin for dinner.

I had read about the Boudins, a dying breed of family owned restaurants serving the unique cuisine of Lyon, much of which sounds rather inplatable to me but I didn't want to think about that. I figured I'd just eat whatever is on the menu and not ask. The typical Boudin doesn't have a menu. They just serve whatever they have prepared that evening and that's your dinner. So I was ready to be brave and daring and try this cuisine before it disappeared into history.

The Boudin restaurant we chose was as usual from my list of recommended places to eat. It was very loud and crowded but nice and dark inside. There were picnic tables throughout and upon arrival you are ushered to one of them and shown where to sit. We were the first ones at our table so we were told to slide all the way to the far end. Very soon a family was seated across from us and shortly after that we had a very lively converstation going. One was a very beautiful young lady named Nikki who had studied for a year in Atlanta, Georgia and had the most beautiful southern/French accent! She was with her parents who spoke no English but they were all very nice.

Throughout the evening they helped us to learn what we were eating and were about to eat and how to eat it. This was most helpful. But thoughout Nikki's father asked us political questions wanting to know where we stood on the EU and other issues. We were not nearly as informed as he was and felt someone inadequate to the task but he didn't notice and the discussion got very interesting. It turned out that he was a Vietnam Veteran and had spent most of his life studying the war. He wanted our take on it and we were glad to speak on a topic we both know well. We also spoke to Nikki about her time in Atlanta and how she enjoyed it there. She said she liked it a lot. She and her parents really liked the Boudin where we were eating and said it was their favorite in town. That made me and my list feel rewarded for our efforts.

After several hours of eating and drinking and heavy conversation, we noticed the time and the empty restaurant and realized it was time to go. Nikki said her parents wanted to give us a ride back to our hotel but we said we were fine and could take the metro which was only a couple of blocks away. Her mother insisted on giving us a ride to the metro even though their vehicle only had four small seats. We somehow managed to squeeze in only to appease her worrying and thanked them all heartily for their kindness and the great evening. And it was a great evening. We met real people of Lyon and heard all about their home and their culture and food and their thoughts on the U.S. and Americans in general. There was nothing aloof or snooty about them at all. In fact, they were staunch supporters of the United States and hoped that somehow the US would rescue them from the EU. (Ironically, the EU was the best thing to happen to Europe in a long time.) They were educated well bred gentle people and I will always remember them and how they helped to dispel those bothersome rumors about the French being rude.

Based upon personal experiences, when faced with someone who insists that certain peoples or their cultures are bad in some way or simply rude, my desire to go there and find out for myself increases ten fold. So far my instincts have served me well and also proved that people cannot be judged by a single instance involving two people any more than we can be judged by who we elect into office because we may not have voted for the winner. The latter they understand perfectly and are always willing to give us the benefit of the doubt.
Salud