Actually, we’re in Vienne, 45 km south of Lyon, paying homage to the ghost of Fernand Point, a portly fellow who is sometimes termed the father of modern French cuisine. The chef is Michelin 2 stars whereas of course Point would have been 3 but a glance at the menu should quiet your fears.
If this seems like bouchon food with more expensive ingredients, you have to imagine the many levels of tedious preparation that go into each ingredient. All involve a three-year sous-chef working for an hour on some prep stage that’s nearly invisible to the customers but which makes all the difference. We ordered one of each and a half-bottle of M. Bour’s Grignan, couldn’t finish, and all for a hundred bucks each? How do they do it?
Lyon Olympique Echecs
I found some time to slide over to the largest chess club in Lyon, 3rd largest in France, and play a game with a young Armenian fellow, Albert Arustamian, rated about 2100. I played a classic Sicilian Nc6 and managed to last about 40 moves but died in the ending. Never mind I look more like Kasparov. I sac’d an exchange and got an advantage but he sac’d one back and evened out into a won ending.
The established FIDE blitz time seems to be what they played at the Marshall–3/2, which is fast but during which you must give yourself time to think or you just lose, at least to this level of player. We played two such games after our long game but I lost both. I could have played a bit slower.