Lovely Lyon

Friday and Saturday, July 22 and 23 - Lyon

We encountered heavy traffic on our drive to Lyon, as well as some rain. Gavin kept the mood light, amusing us by giving a running commentary about people’s poor driving skills as well as spouting pithy design critiques on many of the funky, unfamiliar, and often awkward European car models that we never see in the states, as well as oohing and ahhing at the more exciting vehicles that happened to cross our path, such as this Lamborghini Diablo. 

Poor guy suffers from an affliction I refer to as "Sports Car Tourettes Syndrome," where he spontaneously and uncontrollably blurts out the make and model of every fancy roadster he spots. The joys of being married to a car geek.

After some degree of difficulty negotiating the one way streets of the Lyon city center, we were happy to find our home for the next two nights: Hotel des Célestins. Given the dreary weather and the tiring drive, we allowed ourselves a few hours to laze in our hotel room and enjoy the decent wifi after the horrible net connection we had in Arles. Our hotelier had booked a dinner reservation for us, and though we borrowed an umbrella, it didn’t help protect us much and we were fairly soggy when we arrived to dinner. The food was OK. Supposedly it was typical Lyonnais cuisine—meat in heavy, creamy sauces. We weren’t particularly impressed. 

The next morning we were pleased to find that the rainy weather that had been forecasted didn’t pan out, and we had fair skies. Our hotel was situated in the Presqu’il neighborhood, which is on a narrow island situated between the parallel Rhone and Saône rivers where they converge. The old part of Lyon, including the Fourvière hill, was on the other side of the Saône from our hotel, just a short walk away. We walked the short block to the river where there happened to be an open market sprawled along the riverside, and we enjoyed perusing the fresh produce, meats and fish. 

We stopped to admire some of the stately buildings across the river from us, particularly the Cathedral of St. Jean, and the views of the impressive white and looming Notre Dame basilica perched at the top of the hill. 

We crossed a modern cable-stay pedestrian bridge, one of the many attractive bridges crossing the narrow stretch of river. We boarded a funicular which carried us to the top of the Fourvière Hill in a matter of minutes, and we emerged from the station into a square right in front of the facade of beautiful basilica. 

There happened to be a mass taking place, so we weren’t able to go in right at that time, so we walked to the overlook at the back of the church and admired the panoramic view of the city and the two rivers below. 

While we waited for mass to end, we checked out the lower chapel below, which is dedicated to St. Joseph. There we saw an impressive mosaic, constructed fairly recently. 

This church actually was surprisingly not very old—construction began in the late 1800s and was finished at the beginning of World War I. We then walked down the street a few blocks to yet another set of Roman theaters in France. As in Arles, these ancient theaters are still in use today as outdoor concert venues in the summertime.

After climbing and photographing the many rows of stone bleachers, we returned to the basilica and finally were able to get inside to view the exquisite, colorful mosaics and the lovely domed ceilings. 

Next, we popped into the nearby coffeeshops and picked up a couple of jambon, ementhal, and beurre sandwiches (ham and cheese, but it sounds so much fancier in French). We then decided to walk back down the hill, rather than take the funicular, into “vieux” (old) Lyon. We zigzagged down narrow paved paths through a lovely hydrangea garden, then found a long, steep stairway with whimsical penguins stenciled on the stucco walls above the handrail, sliding and floating with umbrellas down the hill, amusing us as we descended the hundreds of steps. 

We finally emerged amidst the shops of Vieux Lyon, and Ewan promptly spotted a candy store, selling barrels of bulk gummy candies of every variety. We couldn't resist buying a small sack. 

Next we wandered over to a large square in front of the other massive, and much older, St. Jean Cathedral stood. We entered for a quick peak, admiring lovely 13th and 14th century stained windows and and a fascinating, still-functioning medieval astronomical clock!

Our time was limited, as we were actually keeping to a schedule. Earlier that day as we left our hotel, we spotted a coiffeur, and scheduled an afternoon appointment for Gavin, who was starting to grow shaggy. Of course I couldn’t leave him there alone, as his foreign language ability is limited to German and a few swear conversational words in Chinese, so his haircut turned into a family affair. Ewan and I looked on as he had his first ever shampoo, and I translated as needed as the kind lady ran the clippers over his head.

The freshly shorn Gavin, Ewan and I returned to the hotel room to relax for a couple of hours before dinner. Given dinner the night before had been a disappointment, we did our research and found a more promising foodie-worthy destination and made a reservation. We headed back across the river to Vieux Lyon, where we dined at Daniel et Denise - St. Jean. 

This is one of three restaurants belonging to another renowned French chef, Joseph Viola. We were immediately impressed by the extremely attentive and friendly service. Gavin and I chose to order from the set menus, as they are such good value: around 30-40€ for a 4 or 5 course meal. This meal was 100 times better than the dinner the night prior, we were so happy. Gavin enjoyed a delicate vegetable tarte, a slice of regional sausage baked into a dense sweet, doughy bread served with gravy, and his main was a tender piece of slow roasted pork shoulder with glazed vegetables (Ewan had the same main). 

I enjoyed the most delicious starter which was a slice of tomato “cake” which was thinly sliced tomatoes layered with soft, creamy, fresh white cheese, basil and pesto. My main was a perfectly cooked veal steak with caramelized onions and shallots. 

All of our mains were served with two large family style casserole dishes; one with thinly sliced fried potatoes, and a baked, creamy, cheesy macaroni gratin. Oh. Em. Gee. And all of this was before the cheese and dessert courses. Neither of us could finish the rich cheese course (we had to save room for dessert, after all). We capped off this sensational meal with amazing desserts (no surprise after the meal we had just consumed). Gavin had a rhubarb crumble, I had a “millefeuille” which is a layered pastry with cream and fruits, and Ewan licked his lips after devouring two scoops of fresh, homemade strawberry gelato and a honey-soaked Madeleine. 

Now this meal was worthy of Lyon’s elite gastronomic reputation! We know we are over-indulging. When we get home, we will both need to refocus on healthy eating, but Hell, we’re on vacation! For now, are we ever enjoying the French cuisine scene! And at least we are walking a ton!

As we crossed the bridge after our three-hour long feast, we admired Lyon’s gorgeously illuminated riverfront facade. I snapped a few quick pics with my phone.

My iPhone pic.

Feeling inspired, after we returned to the hotel, Gavin decided to venture off with his tripod to get some of his technically superior signature night shots. Très jolie, n’est pas? 

Gavin's superior photographic work.