30square meter living

Cooking dinner in our red IKEA kitchen. Very compact, you can be creative with 1 pot and 1 saute pan. Cleanup is quick, and only one person in the galley at any time. Undercounter fridge, combi-micro-grill and dw doors all meet in the center and everything is within arm's reach. This is an upgrade from our last kitchen that had 1/3 the counter space and sink water draining into the open courtyard. I thought they did away with open sewers after the last plague.

view over Lyon

The view from our apartment window overlooking vieux Lyon (foreground), the Saône River and the presqu’île peninsula.

traboules

Traboules are narrow passageways between and through buildings in Lyon. It is thought by archeologists that the first traboules were constructed in Lugdunum (the Roman capital of Gaul, now Lyon) in the 4th century. This traboule is in vieux Lyon, at the base of the hill that leads up to the remnants of Lugdunum.
Traboule from rue Saint-Jean to rue de Bouef. Circular stairs are prevalent in Lyon. These stairs and central column are of limestone, another ubiquitous building material.

cavier de la Croix Rousse

La Croix-Rousse is a hill in the city of Lyon where silk-weavers (canuts) lived and worked from the late 1700s.

Caviar de la Croix Rousse
1 c or 250 gr lentilles du puy (brown lentils in bulk at the Moscow Food Co-op or at the co-op nearest you)
1/3 pound or150 grams of smoked bacon, preferably in one piece
a bouquet garni with a sprig of thyme, 2 French bay leaves,
3 - 4 sprigs of parsley

1/2 onion sliced
1 small shallot minced
1 clove of garlic crushed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white or red wine vinegar
sea salt and ground black pepper

Rinse lentils under running water until clean, and place them in a large pot with the bouquet garni, the 1/2 onion, and a pinch of sea salt.

Slice off the skin from the bacon in one piece, and put it in the pot.

Cover the lentils with three times their volume of water, and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium, and slowly boil for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat, but leave the lentils in their liquor while you prepare the vinaigrette.

Slice the rest of the bacon into lardons, and sauté until browned.

Whisk the shallot, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon each of sea salt and pepper together. Strain the lentils of most of their liquor, and put them in a bowl. Add the vinaigrette and gently coat the lentils. Add fresh parsley when serving.

If you are unable to find lentils du puy (small brown lentils), then green lentils will substitute.

Adapted from http://kitchen-notebook.blogspot.com/2006/09/caviar-de-la-croix-rousse.html