Family of four traveling by car from Avignon to Paris on Feb. 25, looking for a memorable one-night stopover roughly halfway. Lyon? Or maybe a smaller town?

I have recommended this palce on more than one occasion - - I swear I am not getting a kickback or anything! <BR> <BR>Spend the night at Chateau de Longsard - - www.chateauxandcountry.com/chateaux/longsard - - a real working chateau and "vignoble/domaine" about 30 minutes north of Lyon, near villefranch sur Saone. The owners Olivier and his lovely (ex-American) wife Alex(andra) will welcome you into their "work-in-progress" where they are making necessary fix-ups and back to producing wine again. This property had fallen into disrepair, in the hands of the final heiress whose family had owned it since the 19th century. If the new owners have a fault, it is that they have done up the bedrooms almost "too nice" - - Laura Ashley, etc (is there such a thing as too nice when it comes to outfitting the bathrooms with all new modern plumbing and so on?) <BR> <BR>And for a lunch stop, their suggestion of La Beursaudiere (stop at Nitry) will nicely split up the drive from Longsard place back to Paris. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Rex: Sounds perfect. (What an amazing resource this site is.)

Lyon, absolutement! The cafes! Magnifique!

Vienne is very nice, too, with a great Roman theatre to climb around. If you are foodies, the Lyon region is the inner ring of heaven.

Thanks. Any specific restaurant in Lyon to recommend?

I'll be in Lyon next month. would love to hear about cafes/restaurants.

In my (pretty limited, actually) experience, the general level of food around Lyon is simply out of this world - call it a regional tradition, I guess. (I think I recall this is something of a widespread opinion, by the way, that Lyonnaise cooking is the best in France, which is really saying something.) I do know that for years and years La Pyramide in Vienne was ranked by Michelin as one of the (if not the) best restaurants in the world. Not so, nowadays evidently, but it still speaks to a pretty high local culinary tradition. The Richard guide (http://www.eurogourmet.com/) still shows a few restaurants in the Lyon region on the "best in the world" list.

to the top <BR>

Have you considered Dijon? Lyon i too near to Avignon, not half way.

In Lyon, try one of the Bocuse places -- Le Nord, Le Sud or L'Est. I prefer Le Nord or L'Est. Le Sud is good, but I think the other two are better. There are menus on-line at bocuse.com (I think that's the address, just search if it's not). <BR> <BR>Be careful on rue Merciere -- some places are not so good, although that is one of the more popular places to go (restaurants galore!) We like le Merciere (I'll eat quennelles there and at Le Nord ONLY.) <BR> <BR>You really can't go wrong unless you go to Hippopotamus (ugh). <BR> <BR>You can also go to Perouges (about 30 min from Lyon) and stay there as well as eat there. I understand the room rates are under $100 (but dining there is expensive, I think). <BR> <BR>I feel very "French" when I have coffee at "Bar American" in Lyon -- the buildings around it give it that "atmosphere". <BR> <BR>Lyon's a great city -- I've responded to other inquiries, if the search is working (!), try it.