Live from Lyon
 

Arrived here on the 30 Jan after an uneventful flt and TGV trip from CDG. Weather was warm and sunny...wonderful. We were met promptly at our apt, La Loge des Avocats, in the Vieux Lyon. It's located in a renaissance buidling from the 1400's. We love the apt and we already love Lyon. Spent the first two days wandering about this delightful town, making two visits to the local Arche store to help the economy by partaking in les soldes. We were directed to our first lunch by Jean Luc who met us at our apt. Jeremy Galvan at 29 rue du Boeuf, was around the corner from our apt. gottravel had a delicious cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup with chestnut puree- the highlight of our meal. He followed it with a roast pork in wine sauce. Jet lag prevents any distinct memory of any other food. Lunch for two with wine was about €40.

That evening we crossed the spectacular pedestrian bridge, Passerelle du Palais de Justice taking us Presqu'ile where we made our first shopping foray for shoes. We wondered into a Wine Bar, L'Ange di Vin on 13 Rue de la Monnaie where we had a lite supper including charcuterie and fromage and small dish of risotto with scallops. We had fabulous bottle of Vacqueyras. This small meal was €41. From there, in our jet lagged state, we made our way back to the apt for a good night's sleep.

Thursday was also a pleasant, sunny day...we seemed to be in luck with the weather, but no doubt that will change. We hit a couple markets buying local cheeses, quiche, bread, salad makings and wine as we planned to dine in that evening. After visit number two to the ARCHE store, we leisurely strolled down Rue de la Republique admiring all the architecture. We sought out the Bouchons on Rue Garet and ended up having lunch at Cafe 203 which was recommended by fodorite, Jay_G. For €32 we thoroughly enjoyed quenelles, chicken in red wine sauce, salad and "pot" of whtie wine. Highly recommend this spot.

In preparation for the next two days adventures with bought a Lyon City Card at
€31 per card for two days. this card provides free access to most museums and all transportation.
In our brief time in Lyon, not even 48 hours, we are smitten by this charming town of two rivers with its ever so friendly people.
To be continued.

Oh goodie! I'm running out the door now but will send you the name of a wonderful resto. Can't wait to read more.

Wonderful ! An excellent beginning and a great 1st TR installment. You made me so hungry, I think I could eat the French flag. You have gotten me enthusiastic about Lyon - having only spent 2 days there many years ago - so I will be trying to work it into my coming trip to France.

I wish you and gottravel a great trip - and I am looking forward to following your entire adventure (albeit in my old shoes) from Buenos Aires.

Bisous,

Sounds like a perfect start! Looking forward to more.

Love Lyon. Love Bouchons. This will be fun to follow. Enjoy.

It's nice to read good things about Lyon. I have only been there twice, extremely briefly, and have never had a chance to appreciate the city the way I know it deserves.

(At the same time, I never recommend it to people who have just been to Paris because it is not "different" enough.)

Good to hear from you yestravel! I want that soup - and NOW!

I find Lyon to be quite different from Paris. Love them both.

Great start. Glad you're so lucky with the weather! I didn't read a planning thread - are you going up to Annecy and Chamonix?

I am using my iPad for this TR so please excuse all the typos that I miss. thanks for following along in spite of them.

I love Paris...it's one of my favorite cities. Lyon is similar in some ways since it is French and urban. However, there are very few tourists and not nearly as much to see. The town seems to operate at a somewhat slower pace and people are very friendly. Similar to Paris, it's a physically spectacular city, and similar to Paris it is a very walkable city and has a good transit system. Lyon, like Paris has fabulous food and wine and so far it's a touch less expensive at the more moderate priced restaurants where we have eaten.

@thursday - In terms of planning, we did very little, that is why we chose France and only three cities. We will be in Lyon for a week then Four days in Dijon before ending with 18 days in Paris.

Lyon, where sadly I have not been, has a reputation for the best food in France. Sounds like you are proving that!

It has to go on my list.

Here is an oddish question: can you see any [snowy] mountains from the city?

Where in France is the reputation for the best food in France not extant :-)

@yestravel - should you run short of things to do in Lyon, Annecy is just two hours by direct train. Dijon is another good choice, don't miss the Musee de la Vie Bourguignonne.

@ackislander- we haven't really seen the mountains. While we've had lots of sun, there are also low lying clouds perhaps obstructions any view of the mountains.

@thursdaysd-thanks for your suggestions. We likely won't run out of things to do Lyon, but u never know.

@marnie, yes all of France has wonderful food as far as I have experienced. but Lyon does claim to tbe the Capital of Gastronmy for some reason, I haven't read they why of that yet. Maybe before we leave here on Wednesday,

Lyon is reputedly the capital of the traditional French cuisine with all of the heavy sauces that are now somewhat out of fashion. But there is not really any other place in France that could be designated as the "food capital" so I'm sure that its trophy is safe. Paris, for example, certainly doesn't have any distinctive culinary specialities, unless we are shooting for the crown for fusion food.

Giovany's
3 place de la Baleine
Lyon 5è

We were walking along Rue Saint Jean and spotted it. Wonderful lunch that day.

Thanks TD We'll see if we can find it and fit it into one of our meals.


Our plan was to devote yesterday, Friday and today, Saturday to those activities included in the Lyon City Card.  We began with the Musee des Beaux-Arts which houses one of France's largest art collections after the Louvre.  The musee sits on the striking place des terreaux with its beautiful Bartholdi fountain.  In the musee one can have an audio guide which provides very helpful info while looking at the art.  Although our tastes run to modernism, we enjoyed the older paintings, in particular, an absolutely stunning Zurbaran portrayal of St Francis.  In particular we recommend the modern artists such as the Dufuys, the Picassos, the Bacons, the Degas and their contemporaries.  We spent several hours here, but one could easily spend much longer.

By now we were getting hungry and stopped at Eric Kayser Boulangier for a quick lunch.  I had pisssaladiere that was very good and GT had a jambon and fromage croissant, also very good.  We sat at the counter watching all the people enjoying their lunch breaks on a sunny afternoon.  From there we took off for the Musee des Tissus and Decorative arts museum.  I love textiles so was looking forward to this museum.  Alng the way we decided to conserve time and hopped on the metro which was very easy to use.  Our city cards gave us free transport.

These museums proved to be somewhat of a disappointment.  There was little in the way of guide material and the rooms were so dark it was often difficult to fully enjoy the work in the textiles.  We thought we were following the map provided and came out at the entrance.  The attendant pointed us thru another doorway for a few more displays.  Then we went thru the gift shop and were on our way. Later reading about the museum we realized we may have missed the furniture displays and likely all or most of the Decorative Musee, but oh we'll, we'll catch up in Paris.

We hopped back on the metro and headed for the funicular which would take us up the hill to the  Fourviere district.  The imposing Basilica had been looking down upon us since arriving in the Vieux Lyon.  Also on this hill is the La Tour Metallique which is supposed to rival the Eiffel tower...no contest here given its modest dimensions.  Today it serves as a TV relay tower.  Views back down the hill and across Lyon are stunning and it's worth a ride or a walk up just for that.

Most interesting on the hill are the remains of two RomanAmphitheaters  and the Musee Gallo Roman which is fascinating.  The museum tells the history of the Roman civilization, Lugdunum, in Lyon.  The building itself appears almost as a bunker and was built in 1975 when it was decided to combine all the roman artifacts in one building,  We were told the amphitheater is still used for rock concerts in the summer

We walked back down the hill, rested and then took off for our dinner at Au Petit Bouchon Georges on 8 Rue du Garet.  The owner was a hoot and thoroughly entertained us throughout our meal.  I started with onion soup that didn't rock my soul. GT had a delicious gateau de foie in a fabulous tomato sauce.  Our mains were local sausage sautéed in Beaujolais with steamed potatoes and Quenelle again, and also delicious again.  We accompanied this with a pot of Cote de Rhone.  We ended the meal with St Marcellin, a local cheese, which is quickly becoming a favorite.  The cost of this feast including a demi pot to go with the cheese was about 60 well spent euros. Highly recommend for the food and the entertainment, but skip the soup.

Next up Day Two -Going Round & Round and the City Card

Great to hear from you, yestravel! I've never been to Lyon, but it's been on the list for awhile. You're making me think I need to bump it up. ;-)

What a great start - looking forward to hearing more.

Sounds wonderful!

I also visited the Textile Museum--they had a very interesting glove exhibit and showed the rather intricate looms used in the fancy silks. There are one or 2 silk makers (weavers?) left. We left before I could get an appointment with one.

Have you considered doing the bus tour of the murals? I was absolutely fascinated by that.

My first day ever in Lyon pretty much was what you did today, except I just threw myself on the métro after the textile museum and got off at random stops and wandered around, then came back to wander around some of the traboules.

I agree that the Musée de Beaux Arts is absolutely fabulous, and such a beautiful building, to boot.

@StCirq - can you tell us more about how to find the bus tour of the murals? Thanks.

Lyon is undersung indeed. Thanks for bringing us up to date. I was there in late 70's.

Hi StC- u had mentioned the bus tours of the murals. So far no luck in finding one during our time here. We went to the tourist offices-we've actually been to 2 for various reasons, and they say there are none available now. Perhaps they run from March thru October when there are more options. We have goggled a bit and saw one bus tour listed, but they say not while we are here. So today, Sunday, we are taking the metro over to the Quartier des Etats-Unis, the area where there is a large concentration of Trompe l'oeil murals and we will walk about. Looking forward to checking them out.

yestravel, great to see your super report. I have just booked to go to Lyon for 4 nights in June. We are also staying at your apartment!! Glad all is OK. Vincent seems very good to deal with.

More details about the apartment would be great - just general!! Also copying all your restaurant recommendations.

Keep up the good work,
Schnauzer

@schnauzer-small world. We really love this apt. It's well situated, nice size, quiet and comfortable. Its about 30-35 steps to the apt. Vincent was great dealing with though we have not met him. jean Luc who speaks little English was very helpful. apt looks just like the pictures. Lots of natural sunlight with views over the courtyard. Has a big TV, but haven't used it. May try to find Superbowl tonight. What else can I tell you?

Day Two of the City Pass, to Market, to Market and Spinning Round and Round

It was another beautiful day, albeit a touch cooler-a two layer day. We walked the two blocks to the river and crossed the pedestrian bridge to the very large Saturday market on the other side of the bank.  We love French markets and this one was exceptional.  We bought apples, pâté, tapenade, saint Marcellin cheese, moutarde d'lancienne du Miele, eggs, bread, lovely tulips, 3 varieties of local sausages, apple turnover...enough food for an unlikely snow storm.  We took this back to our apt and then took off for the tourist office in hopes of finding some tours of the traboules. Our original plan for two museums didn't work out.   The museums we had thought we might like to see were either closed or lacked exhibits we thought we would like.  The View Lyon tourist office sent us to the central tourist office in Place Bellecour where we picked up audio guides.  Normally they are 20€ for the two, but they were included in our city package.

As we walked towards the tourist office, we couldn't help but be tempted by the large nearby ferris wheel.  For any of you who followed us thru Chile, u will know that one of us does not crave heights shall we say.  But how could we resist going round and round under a blue sky with what might be unsurpassed views of lovely Lyon.  We paid our €5 apiece and were up, up and away.  We were rewarded with views of rooftops and chimneys and the vast sprawling city.  Place Bellecour below us dwindled as we headed toward the top where we sat, being gently rocked by the winter winds....time to come down!  Fair to say the views were spectacular, we even imagined that perhaps we finally caught a glimpse of the alps in the distance.

Once on solid footing we began the tour which took us back to the View Lyon and by our apt where we had all that wondrous food...time for a small, quick lunch.  Lunch was pâté sandwiches with the fabulous mustard and cornichons and some red wine. Fortified by this food, we took off for the reminder of the tour.  The tour took us thru the highlights of the Vieux Lyon including several traboules and explained their history.  Many had mailboxes  that were used by the French resistance during the German occupation.  The tour meandered back across the river toward the opera where we encountered two demonstrations.  The first thanking the French for intervening in Mali.  The second was larger and rather vociferous had demonstrators including small children carrying signs which said "1 enfant = 1papa+ 1 maman.". We assumed it was protesting gay marriage.  Our tour ended at this point.  It was actually a nice way to learn more about various aspects of the town.  It probably took us no more than two hours to complete it.

After our daily nap...almost caught up to French time...we walked around the corner for our 20:30 dinner res at Restaurant les Retrouvailles at 38 Rue du Boeuf.  This was a delightful small, family run restaurant.  We spent our time there chatting with the young couple who lived in Lyon sitting at the adjoining table.  They offered us several suggestions on the food and other restaurants to go to.  The amuse bouche was delicious, a very beefy mushroom broth with tiny ravioli....fabulous.   GT started with a foie terrine and had mignon du porc.  I started with their house salad made with salmon and shrimp, a meal in itself.  My main was scallops in a light white sauce on noodles.  We had st Marcellin cheese and topped this all off with desserts.  And of course a pot of Cote de Rhine rouge.  Portions were immense and the food was excellent.  cost was €60.  Recommend.  feeling totally stuffed we took a walk around the very empty Vieux Lyon quarter and then headed back to our lovely apt.

Next up -  Trompe l'oiele murals

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Hurry!

tom, I think this is the tour of the murals I took, but I didn't sign up on line, just went to a spot by the river where they were selling tickets on the spot:

http://www.lyon-visite.info/visites-guidees/

yestravel - hope you find the Superbowl. When we were in Europe in the fall, we discovered that "Monday Night Football" in the US is really "Tuesday Night Football" in Europe - it was a little weird.

StCirq - thanks for the information. Hope we get a chance to see them!

I am so delighted to find this trip report. I will be in Lyon in May and your detail is very helpful!

@yankygirl-hey! Definitely think about moving Lyon up on your list.
Re the tours for the murals,...I would suggest trying to find an English language tour of the murals as they are spread out at various locations throughout the city. We couldn't find any such tours in the dead of winter, but understand the situation may be different in the warmer months.

A Sunday Stroll in the Cold
Sunday had a slow start. The temperature had plunged 15 degrees from the previous morning. We began by making omelets with caramelized shallots, roasted red peppers and some soft market cheese. Fabulous! (We'd roasted the peppers and caramelized the shallots Thursday after our initial excursion to the farm market had resulted in us having to buy them in bulk...the farmers had refused to sell them individually, so we'd ended up with seven long red peppers and about sixteen large gorgeous shallots.)

After our second cup of coffee & writing up the previous day's adventures, we bundled up for the cold and left for the Vieux Lyon metro stop. We road the line about six stops, exiting at the Monplaisir-Lumiere stop. Today's destination was the thirty or so outdoor murals ("Murs peints Les Cites Ideales") in a Tony Garnier-designed housing complex near the Musee Urbaine Tony Garnier. Garnier had been something of an idealist who'd had the then revolutionary idea that properly designed housing led to happy tenants. We trudged through the cold for about a mile to arrive at the complex. The murals, added long after the complex had been built, ranged from the exquisite (a whimsical depiction of Quebec as a Cite Ideale) to the pedestrian (industrial scenes & overlays of architectural plans onto the sides of the buildings). Lyon has various murals throughout the city, including some acclaimed trompe l'oile murals; although nice at times, these weren't among the best.

We left the murals and walked up to Ave Berthelot and, after some fumbling with the ticket machine, bought tram tickets to the T-2 Tramway. Our next destination was the Centre d'Histoire de la Resistance et de la Deportation, located in a former medical school on the banks of the Rhone. This building had been the Gestapo headquarters for the Lyon area during the Occupation; it was here that Klaus Barbie had tortured Resistance hero Jean Moulin, resulting in Moulin's later death. The exhibitions at the Centre were comprehensive, fascinating and almost overwhelmingly detailed. There's a written English guide available at the front desk - a necessity as all of the displays are labeled only in French. (Some of the accompanying short films are dubbed in English.). We spent over an hour in the Centre and emerged profoundly moved. After that we crossed the Rhone to Presqu'ile and walked up and back to our apartment in Vieux Lyon, stopping once for espresso and hot chocolate. Back in the apartment, we fixed a light lunch and hung out in our apt.

Later that same day...
We wanted to sample Paul Bocuse's cooking and had chosen one of his brasseries, Le Sud, for dinner.  We walked Le Sud, passing what looked like many charming local eateries on Rue des Marronniers near Place Bellecour.  We turned the corner onto Place Antonin Poncet and came upon Le Sud, located almost at the banks of the Rhone. Le Sud was a decidedly modern looking restaurant with very few customers inside.  After checking out the menu, we decided it wasn't what we were in the mood for.  We cancelled our reservation and headed back to Rue des Marronniers where we had passed Aux 3 Cochons.  I remembered it had been recommended by StCirq.

Aux 3 Cochons was exactly what we were in the mood for - a cozy, crowded, casual restaurant.   We started with an onion tarte and a salad with chaud chèvre and walnuts.  Both of us had sausccion with steamed potato accompanied by a cream sauce.  Dessert was fromage blanc and Lyonnaise cake. While the cake was delicious the cheese fell under the category of one should try everything at least once.  Of course the meal was accompanied by a pot of Beaujolais.  GT finished off the meal with an armagnac, his first of the trip. All in all, a very nice meal for €59.

After dinner we thought we might walk up to the Place des Terreaux to see it lit up.  However the night proved to be too cold for an evening stroll and we headed home. Never could find a sports channel on the TV, so no Super Bowl.

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Someone upthread mentioned 'one or two' existing silk weavers that use the old techniques.

One of them is Soierie Saint-Georges in Rue Mourguet, which still uses one of the last (working) 19th century Jacquard looms in existence.

The owner has an atelier that he'll happily show you around and will more happily sell you his wares at the sort of prices that hand-woven on an antique loom, silk items go for.

yestravel- I'm with you on the fromage blanc. Can't bear it. And I don't know if it makes it better or worse to watch the younger members of my Lyonnais family smother it in sugar before eating it.

Aux 3 Cochons, sounds wonderful except for the cheese!. Gack! Sugar on fromage. Hate to say this but I wasn't wild about honey on cheese either.

I'd love to get back to Lyon to visit that atelier, Jay_G. Had to curtail our stay in Lyon as hub's health took a bad turn.

Hey TD, we literally stumbled upon the restaurant u mentioned above, Giovany. We had just eaten so didn't thnk we could fit in another meal! I'm beginning to feel like the sausages we have been eating...

Actually, I love fromage frais, with honey, but for breakfast, not dessert.

Glad you found Aux 3 Cochons - my son ordered pigs' ears there and loved them!

Having fun following this report.

Sorry to hear that TDudette, hope it was nothing serious.

If you do get back to Lyon, I can highly recommend that atelier. When I was there he'd just produced some pieces for a Chanel couture show, which he was understandably proud of.

I've heard very mixed things about Aux Trois Cochons from family and friends. I might have to bite the bullet and try it out next time I'm there.

Lyon in the Mist

One of the more delightful aspects of long vacations is that one can pretty much waste a day without feelings of regret. And that is how we spent much of our day. Aided by the overcast sky, we again slept in. It was almost 11:00 before we left the apartment.

We crossed the Pont de la Feuille to Presqu'ile and wandered towards Place Terreaux and its marvelous fountain. Many of the shops - we liked this area for its trendy feel - were closed as it was Monday. We planned on going to Le Garet on rue Garet to make dinner reservations; instead, we got sidetracked at Chez Hugon on rue Pizay. Our intention was to have a light lunch. It was only after we were seated and had ordered a demi pot of Cotes de Rhone that we discovered one could not order a la carte. So we opted for the 25€ fixed price menu, the least expensive option. YT had a delicious pate as an entree and chicken stewed with wine vinegar as a plat. I had a lentils with heated sausage as a entree and a gateau of liver with quenelles as a plat. The food - in particular the entrees - was good, but all of the portions were enormous; we couldn't finish our plats. Our respective desserts were chocolate mousse (YT) and the ubiquitous Lyonnaise praline tarte (GotT). We ended up both overeating and overpaying - the total came to over 60€. So much for the light lunch. We skipped continuing onward to Le Garet for dinner reservations.

After we waddled out of Chez Hugon, we decided to explore the Croix Rousse, the hilly district north of Place Terreaux. We walked up via a combination of streets and stairs. Parts of this area were gentrified, but much of it was covered by grafitti tags. Almost everything was closed. It was cool and mist turned to a light rain. By the time we had arrived at the upper reaches of this area, we had already tired of it and the weather. We headed back down towards the Saone to check out the Fresque des Lyonnais Celebres off quai Saint-Vincent. The Fresque des Lyonnais Celebres is an old apartment building. The windowless side facing away from the quai is covered with fantastic trompe l'oeil murals featuring imaginary doors, windows, balconies and revolving doors populated by famous Lyonnais ancient and modern. We loved it and took photo after photo of the clever murals.

Then we headed back to our apartment in the grey misting afternoon. It was only a little before four. We didn't leave again for the rest of the day. We ate a very light dinner scavenged from the fridge and read. Tuesday will be our last day to explore this wonderful city. Hoping for some sun again or at least no rain.

It's a shame you mis-timed your visit to the Croix Rousse. As you said, the area's been going through a 'gentrification' for the last few years. The town council has been offering young artists and creative businesses help to set up in the area to re-vitalise it.

There are some really interesting shops and ateliers on the 'pentes' (and interesting bars on the side streets) and a really interesting mix of people.

Hope Tuesday brings you sunshine!

Yes, too bad about our timing. Seems that happens when traveling as it is often difficult to know which street has what and which direction to take. But all in all we have loved our time in Lyon. And yes, today we have sun and warm temps-just like the first days here.

Glad the weather's perked up for you and you've enjoyed your time in Lyon.

This mis-timed visits and missed opportunities are all part of the travel experience I think, as I always use them as a reason to go back somewhere I've particularly liked!

Right you r!