After flying into Lyon, we rented a car an headed for the Alps- about a two hour drive (took us 3 1/2:). Everything was going great until we were ready to stop for some lunch and groceries to take up to our remote chalet. EVERYTHING was closed! Little did we know everything closes by 11am on Sundays- Crazy! We hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since 6am and by 3pm we were desperate.

We finally found a restaurant that was “open”. I think it was actually a private Father’s Day party, but the woman felt sorry for us (I think. She only spoke French) and gave us a table. They had only one dish on offer- a strange duck covered in a creamy sauce with ratatouille, a puffy omelette thing, and bacon wrapped asparagus. It was all very good actually. The nice woman then brought us a bowl of fromage blanc (fresh creamy cheese similar to yogurt) with sugar and a selection of cheeses. We thought lunch was done, but then she brought us an amazing dessert. A small almond cake covered in a creamy vanilla custard then topped with a spectacular apricot gel and fresh crushed pistachios and almonds. It was surrounded by a mote of cream and strawberry coulis- the best part of the meal! The dessert was spot on!

After we finished our meal, we asked for the bill and Adam gave her our credit card. It didn’t work! They only accepted “chip” cards which we don’t have in the US. We had no cash, so we said we would go to the ATM- NOPE! Closed. We had to apologize profusely and promise we would pay the next day. Embarrassing! They were very kind and didn’t act too upset. We paid them the next day. We never found an open grocery store. Luckily our kind exchange partner left us two bottles of excellent local wine. 😉