Recommendations for Lyon and Lake Annecy
 

We will be spending 2 nights in Lyon and 3 nights in Tallories in late August early September. Can anyone recommend good restaurants and things to do? <BR>We are open to anything and will have a car in Tallories but not in Lyon. As far as restaurants go we don't need or want anything too fancy. <BR>Many Thanks! <BR>(I have done a search for both locations and have seen some recommends but not alot, that is why I am asking for additional thoughts).

I can help with Lyon, but I'll tyr to keep it brief as I've posted answers before (don't want people to get too bored.) <BR> <BR>Restaurants: Lyon is the "food capital" of France. Paul Bocuse group owns several restaurants in Lyon -- all very good. Le Nord for "Lyonnaise" food, Le Sud for food from southern France, and l'Est for "food of voyages" (kind of a mixed fare.) Count on $30+ per person, with aperitif, wine, appetizer, meal, dessert, coffee. Worth every cent. Try the Bocuse website for menus. <BR> <BR>There is a street of restaurants, Merciere, of which I find Le Merceire to be the best (a "true" bouchon, which means they follow the traditional ways of cooking.) They have a website also. There are others, but I judge restaurants by their quennelles, Le Nord and Le Merciere having the best. <BR> <BR>Bar Americaine is a good place for quiche, their salad Lyonnaise is great, their omelette is good too. I really like their cafe creme -- it's "just right." <BR> <BR>Pizza del Arte is a chain restaurant, but we've had good meals there too (very simple, but no dish looks like it just came out of the freezer and was thrown into the microwave.) <BR> <BR>Cafe des Negociants (?sp) is a good place, it's across from the Virgin mega store. <BR> <BR>You won't need a car in Lyon -- it's very walkable and the transportation systems are good (and easy to negotiate.) Check into the passes offered by the tourist office to cover your museum entries and transportation. <BR> <BR>Museums in Lyon are numerous -- it all depends what you want to see. I find the Center for the Resistance and the Deportation to be extremely interesting, more so if you can read some French (however you do get headphones in English, but not all the posters, letters, etc., have been translated into English.) Gallo Romain is good, but if you've been to Rome, there's no reason to go (but the mosaics are beautiful.) I like the Musee des Tissues too. <BR> <BR>Chris

In Lyon, I dined at Anticipation with my wife. Had a great meal- about $75 US. Great price for the quality included wine. Reservations are a must-very small. There is a porcelin Doll shop around the corner(same street)that sold <BR>hand made dolls. My wife bought a few-dirt cheap. <BR> <BR>We also dined at Paul Bocuse' flagship <BR>restaurant which is a 20 minute cab ride from LYON center.(130 francs) The food was very good, but not worth $375.00 for two. That included a good bottle of wine and a decent half bottle of non vintage champagne. We were seated up stairs with all of the other tourists and felt very rushed. Thger are far better 3 star <BR>Michelin rest. out there. <BR>

In Lyon, I dined at Anticipation with my wife. Had a great meal- about $75 US. Great price for the quality included wine. Reservations are a must-very small. There is a porcelin Doll shop around the corner(same street)that sold <BR>hand made dolls. My wife bought a few-dirt cheap. <BR> <BR>We also dined at Paul Bocuse' flagship <BR>restaurant which is a 20 minute cab ride from LYON center.(130 francs) The food was very good, but not worth $375.00 for two. That included a good bottle of wine and a decent half bottle of non vintage champagne. We were seated up stairs with all of the other tourists and felt very rushed. Thger are far better 3 star <BR>Michelin rest. out there. <BR>

There are little family restaurants which open all day and serve traditional Lyonnais fare - basically a thousand bits of pig cooked ten thousand different ways. I just can't remember what they're called ... sure it begins with a B ...

xxx <BR> <BR>I think what you're thinking of are "bouchons" -- but I've not found one that is open all day, and quite a few are open for lunch only. <BR> <BR>There are brasseries too, but with a restricted menu after lunchtime. <BR> <BR>But you do bring up a good point -- a good meal isn't necessarily found at a "name" restaurant. There are plenty of little places where you will get a good meal. And you will find pork, rabbit, beef, fish, lamb (and all their innards) on the menu. Tete de veau is VERY popular at bouchons! <BR> <BR>I've not heard good things about Bocuse's Michelin rated restaurant either. But his restaurants in Lyon are VERY popular (I mentioned them above) -- reservations are a must, and I don't hear a lot of English when I go. And everytime I go, there seem to be "regulars" there. Their menus are not in English -- print out the English version from the website and try to follow along (but the restaurant version is slightly different) if you need it.