This was a fun read! I’m a sucker for a good croissant. My favorite memory isn’t of one specific croissant, but I yearn for the days when I studied abroad in Lyon and could just walk into any old bakery (or even a Monoprix, for that matter) and find something so light and buttery it would practically melt in my mouth. I used to have picnics with friends in the Parc de la Tête-à-tête d’Or where we’d set out whatever breads and pastries we found at the nearest bakery and have a feast. It was bliss!
Also, there’s a French bakery in my neighborhood in Cairo whose croissants could rival anything I’ve had in Lyon or Paris (blasphemy, I know). I love sitting in the café’s backyard with a croissant, a cappuccino, and the sweet shop cats.
A wonderful post, Erin - who knew that croissanting is a thing?! A brilliant journey exploration of the French laminated pastry! Thank you for that great link about croissant shapes with reference to butter content - I was wondering (and in fact am still wondering!) why the French would still go ahead and call a straight croissant a croissant - really interesting!
My best croissant memory is of the total eclipse of the sun in August (I think!) 1999 (I think!). I fetched some almond croissants from the bakery across the road from our office and insisted that all of my colleagues join me on the roof of the building to watch the eclipse while we ate them.
(Turns out it's quite hard to eat something that flaky in the dark!)
It’s definitely more low-key. I have a big soft spot for Lyon and I would highly recommend it. I honestly wish I’d appreciated it more when I lived there.
Other than the food and how jaw-droppingly beautiful it is, the best things about Lyon is that it’s a manageable size but still has plenty to do—there is a nice lake you can ride your bike to, it’s full of excellent bars and pubs, there’s the Musée des Beaux Arts, it’s close to Geneva where you can hop cheap flights to the rest of Europe…just to name a few things! It’s also very rich in history from the Roman, medieval, and WWII eras. And personally, I think Fourvière is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe.
The winters are bitterly cold, but they’re made bearable by the city’s proximity to the Alps, the Fête des Lumières, and an abundance of vin chaud.
To me, the bottom line is: Paris is Paris and will never disappoint, but Lyon has everything you want in a French city in a smaller, friendlier package.
This was a fun read! I’m a sucker for a good croissant. My favorite memory isn’t of one specific croissant, but I yearn for the days when I studied abroad in Lyon and could just walk into any old bakery (or even a Monoprix, for that matter) and find something so light and buttery it would practically melt in my mouth. I used to have picnics with friends in the Parc de la Tête-à-tête d’Or where we’d set out whatever breads and pastries we found at the nearest bakery and have a feast. It was bliss!
Also, there’s a French bakery in my neighborhood in Cairo whose croissants could rival anything I’ve had in Lyon or Paris (blasphemy, I know). I love sitting in the café’s backyard with a croissant, a cappuccino, and the sweet shop cats.
A wonderful post, Erin - who knew that croissanting is a thing?! A brilliant journey exploration of the French laminated pastry! Thank you for that great link about croissant shapes with reference to butter content - I was wondering (and in fact am still wondering!) why the French would still go ahead and call a straight croissant a croissant - really interesting!
My best croissant memory is of the total eclipse of the sun in August (I think!) 1999 (I think!). I fetched some almond croissants from the bakery across the road from our office and insisted that all of my colleagues join me on the roof of the building to watch the eclipse while we ate them.
(Turns out it's quite hard to eat something that flaky in the dark!)
It’s definitely more low-key. I have a big soft spot for Lyon and I would highly recommend it. I honestly wish I’d appreciated it more when I lived there.
Other than the food and how jaw-droppingly beautiful it is, the best things about Lyon is that it’s a manageable size but still has plenty to do—there is a nice lake you can ride your bike to, it’s full of excellent bars and pubs, there’s the Musée des Beaux Arts, it’s close to Geneva where you can hop cheap flights to the rest of Europe…just to name a few things! It’s also very rich in history from the Roman, medieval, and WWII eras. And personally, I think Fourvière is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe.
The winters are bitterly cold, but they’re made bearable by the city’s proximity to the Alps, the Fête des Lumières, and an abundance of vin chaud.
To me, the bottom line is: Paris is Paris and will never disappoint, but Lyon has everything you want in a French city in a smaller, friendlier package.