Yesterday I posted about leaving for France and today I’m here. Bonjour from Lyon. I’ll be here for a week taking in the sights sounds tastes of Lyon and, more importantly, the Bocuse d’Or — the Olympics of the culinary world. Get ready for lots of posts about what I’m eating here, thanks to the good folks at A’tout France, Only Lyon, and Rhone-Alpes Tourisme. To start, take a look at dinner last night, breakfast this morning, and my lunch that consisted of ten euros worth of cheese.

Dinner was at Baragones, the wine bar attached to the College Hotel. I opted for a simple plate of cheese and charcuterie.

Afterwards, I stopped at Boulangerie Chez Jules, a little bread shop and patisserie near the wine bar. I couldn’t resist getting these two delicious pastries. The top had a solid disc of chocolate covered a full layer of rich caramel. It was amazing. The second was a succès with chocolate ganache in between two layers of almond dough. I literally couldn’t stop eating it.

Breakfast at the hotel meant pain au chocolat with some yogurt and a hot chocolate for good measure. Not pictured: a tangerine. I eat fruit, too!

For lunch, I headed down to the Fromagerie St. George, a wonderful cheese shop. My attempts at finding a bank to change some money were unsuccessful, so I was subject to their ten euro minimum. Ten euros buys you a LOT of great cheese here. Two different roqueforts, a local cheese called Abondance, and wonderful chunks of mimolette. C’est magnifique!

So many more photos to share with you all! Expect another post later today or tomorrow.