At first, I wanted to skip this post but I was so impressed by this charming old city, I decided to share my experience through 5 highlights of visiting Lyon.
I arrived late in the evening at the Saint Exupery airport. I run to the train station (just right beside the airport) hoping to join the other members of my seminar. They had dinner at Restaurant Marguerite, a restaurant created by Paul Bocuse at a brasserie price. But I arrived too late. I believe it is a nice address though so if you make it one day, please share your experience here.
1. The Lyon Saint Exupery train station
Saint Exupery train station
I did not expect what I saw after the 15mn walk to the train station. A beautiful and modern building that appears quite futuristic too.The station was empty, there were no travelers nor agents that night. It added a more dramatic effect to the whole lot. I thought the place was beautiful but a little soulless and cold. It is still a highlight of my trip because it made me go waow and it struck me through its design.
Afterwards, it had not been easy to find the Lyon Express quay. After exploring the station, I found it: outside, immediately straight on the right hand side, down the stairs. After buying my ticket to Lyon Part-Dieu, for 15.90 Euros one way, I realized how cheap and great public transportation is in Barcelona. In Barcelona, you can use one of your 10T tickets from the airport to town. And don’t try to cheat on the train in Lyon, there is a ticket controller on the train. It is kind of old fashioned but I like it because of its human report…And… that train ticket can’t also be used on Lyon’s urban network.
2. Start underneath the horse tail then head to Saint Jean district
As I was attending a week end seminar, I could not spend much time visiting the city. However, we had a pleasant evening walking around guided by a local. It started underneath the tail of the horse on Place Bellecour. The meeting point of all Lyonnais. Then we headed to Quartier Saint Jean in the old district of Lyon. On the way, I could admire the old houses along the river. The city is quite romantic especially in the dark. We did not have time to go up the viewpoint of Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Fourviere but we had a nice view of it from the Place Saint Jean. There you can also visit the Cathedral Saint Jean de Lyon. The old quarter itself is full of narrow paved streets and centuries old buildings full of history. That makes it a great place to stroll around. On the Rue du Boeuf, do not forget to look up the boeuf (ox), on the wall of one of the buildings.
3. Walking a traboule
Experiencing a traboule
Linda, our guide, introduced us to the world of traboules, more precisely to the underworld of traboules. Traboules are narrow pedestrian passageways, they are kind of secret. In Lyon, they were originally used by silk manufacturers and other merchants to transport their products. During the WWII, they were used to escape the Nazis. It is pretty cool to walk under a traboule. Ours was somewhere in the old town. It run under private properties so we had to ask a man to let us in as we were there outside public hours… I can only lead you there. I forgot to take the address. But you can get a free map of the traboules from the tourist office.
4. A gastronomic experience of Lyonnaise cuisine
Dining at Tire Bouchon, Lyon
So you have heard, Lyon has a gastronomic reputation and you definitely should try to eat at a bouchon, a traditional restaurant that serves Lyonnaise cuisine. I actually wanted to try all the famous restaurants I found online (bouchon or not) but it seems sunday evening is a rest evening so they were all closed. If I were on FB, I would add in my status – feeling sad with a sad smiley… Anyway, I had to find a place that was open that night.
The Tire Bouchon in the old town seemed interesting. To be honest, I thought it was a bouchon because of its name. They do offer traditional cuisine but a revisited one. I had the 26 euros menu with a Kir Royal (5 euros outside the menu). As a starter, I ordered the gateau de foies de volailles. It was so light and melting in the mouth. Then the tête de veau sauce gribiche and finally a lemon dessert. I liked the food though I think Lyonnaise cuisine is best enjoyed at lunch time as it is not the lightest…My waitress has also been kind enough to let me taste a sample of Cervelle de Canut. It is a dish based on fromage blanc with chopped herbs, shallots, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar. I think this one also contained cream. Its name literally means “silk worker’s brain”, after the canuts, the silk workers of 19th-century Lyon (thank you Wikipedia!).
5. A tasty ending with artisan ice-cream
Ice cream menu Glacier Narbone
That is how my trip ended. With a delicious artisan ice cream at Rene Narbone. 3 euros a scoop at the terrace. No sorbet on offer though an amazing choice of flavours: chocolate, white mint, mojito etc… You can also add Chantilly cream and other toppings to your ice cream!
I like Lyon. That second visit opened my eyes to things I missed the first time I was here. I wished I stayed longer that week end. But I will come back. This charming city has much more to unveil! One of them, the Museum of miniature and theater and all the remaining food places I missed.
The addresses of this post:
Restaurant Marguerite: 57 Avenue des Frères Lumière, 69008 Lyon
Tire Bouchon: 16 Rue du Bœuf (Vieux Lyon)
Rene Narbone: 3, place Ennemond-Fousseret (Vieux Lyon)