Lyon, France

Ok, on to Lyon...

Great trip so far, Paris was Paris and Burgundy was fantastic. Lyon was on the itinerary because it's reputed to have the best cuisine in France, which is saying a lot. But if you'd asked beforehand what I'd have expected physically from Lyon, my guess would've been it's some fairly gritty industrial town, maybe a little rough around the edges like I'd imagine Marseilles is like. But wow. Although I'd seen pictures in the guide books, they just didn't convey how beautiful the city is. We were both just stunned. It doesn't have the grand monuments of Paris or the sweeping Haussmann boulevards, but it's architecture is incredibly harmonious and it's green and hilly, a wonderfully preserved and vibrant old quarter, and the overall impression was that is was just incredibly beautiful.




Sounds like I'm damning with faint praise, but it reminded me a lot of Pittsburgh. I hadn't been to Pittsburgh until two years ago, and I expected some rathole like Detroit - and I was blown away by how pretty it was. Lyon is very similar geographically, the French also refer to it as the city of three rivers. You also have the high hill overlooking the entire city on one of the banks forming a backdrop. Except the Saone & Rhone are way more awe-inspiring than the Ohio. They were both at full flood pouring down from the spring thaw in the Alps, and the waters were high and the current was running very, very fast. I didn't see one single boat venturing on the water while we were there, probably very wise to stand back until the summer.

Lots of similarities to Bologna too, the belly of Italy. Lyon is also a huge college town like Bologna, it has the largest university in France. So you have the energy of all these college kids swarming around everywhere. which is fun. Vincent, the son of the owner of our hotel in Beaune, went to school here so I was grilling him, "Vincent, Vincent, you must tell me where to eat in Lyon, it's of vital importance!" And he's like, eh, just go to the old quarter and start walking north of the Cathedral Saint Jean and find a bouchon that looks the busiest, you'll be fine. Ok, gee thanks Vincent...

The French, always so nonchalant but it was very wise counsel. After wandering around for a while doing some scouting we doubled back to the bouchon L'Amphitryon. Just what we wanted, dark, woody, crowded, waiters squeezing through, lots of heated conversation, lots of wine flowing.

And the food was cheap, and it was very tasty. Started with a kir as apperitif while we studied the menu, being Europe of course it's barbaric to serve a drink without food so it came with a snack of charcuterie and an awesome French version of chicharrons (grouchon's I think they're called?). After one bite of these devils a synapse fired and I'm like, yeah baby - bring it on!



A Salade Lyonaisse in Lyon, nice. The soupe a l'oignon was excellent too. Washed down with a tasty grenachy Cotes du Rhone for 10 Euro a bottle:



Oh yes we're just starting. Bring on the pork...a pot au feu of various pork parts (pictured are just a couple pieces pulled out of the cauldron), and my wife had the hanger steak with of course - Pommes Lyonaisse. The potatoes were very, very, very good. She didn't want to share so I had to fight her for them, it was worth the struggle:



This lunch was our first meal in Lyon, and we were sharing a very small four top with a young French girl - a recent college graduate up visiting from Nice. She said she'd been in Lyon four days, and this was her fourth day eating lunch at the same place. I know the feeling, we were in Strasbourg about 10 years ago and found a place we were gobsmacked by and ended up eating there three days in a row so we could work through the entire menu. She was eating a warm lentilles salad with lardons this day, she told us it was very good...I believed her. And we should have followed her strategy! We ate at a few other bouchons, they were good but didn't reach the Platonic ideal of this one. Couldn't even manage the cheese course, reluctantly waddled out and bid L'Amphitryon adieu. A bientot j'espere:


The legendary Paul Bocuse is from Lyon. And upon him Lyon has bestowed the great honor of naming their permanent market after him, Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse (even though he's still alive and kicking). And they honored him well, this is the most dazzling permanent market we've ever visited. Just one display after another, everything pristine and very modern, with immaculate presentations:






We timed our visit right before our lunch reservation, big mistake. Countless temptations to be had in this market, lots of elegant little places to eat and drink. You could easily spend a half a day here going from vendor to vendor and having some of this and some of that. Just a dizzying display of excellent foodstuffs.

But non! We had to get to our dejeuner! I'd asked our concierge at the Hotel Royal (loved the hotel btw) where could we eat a good Poulet de Bresse. I'd been on a mission this vacation to dine on the classics that are difficult to impossible to recreate a passable facsimile of back home, and after the blanquette de veau and boeuf Bourgognon earlier in the trip this was the last missing piece of my grail quest. Without hesitation he said, "La Mere Brazier". Sounds good to me, book it Danno. After googling it up later that day I realized this was a serious establishment, the chef Matthieu Viannay being a Meilleur Ouvrier de France, or MOF (otherwise known as I can cook circles around your lame ass). Only a MOF can wear the chef's collar of rouge, blanc et bleu. And all I wanted was some chicken! We'd intentionally omitted the formal haute cuisine temples on this trip to keep it more relaxed, but it was our last day in France so why not blow it out.

So here we go, an amuse - asparagus soup of course, I never tire of asparagus in the spring:


Then we shared a pate' en croute:


Oh yes, and doubling back to the wine from the Burgundy post. Poulet de Bresse are raised in the town of Givry, which is in the Cotes de Beaune region of Burgundy. So why not get a bottle of Givry to go with the poulet non? They had one white Givry on the wine list, so the decision was a simple one. This was a Village appellation, about 50 Euro or so. And I'll be damned if this wasn't one of the more eye popping wines we had on the the trip. The sommelier obviously picked this vintner for a reason to go with the poulet. I sampled it and gazed up with an awed look to the waiter and he winked, like "not bad eh?" He was kind enough to pose it for its close up:


And now, we present le Chicken:




After finishing the chicken I felt - and looked - like I'd swallowed a basketball. The chef came out a few times to make the rounds, and he was impressed that we polished off that entire beast. He was gracious enough to pose for a photo, tres charmant:


But of course there was still a little room left for one more assiette de fromage:


And just a little bite or two for dessert:


So then it was one last night in Lyon:


Et voila, finis!

Eddie-

Merci beaucoup! I really enjoyed your trip as seen through your eyes. Fantastic stuff.

The GP wrote:Eddie-

Merci beaucoup! I really enjoyed your trip as seen through your eyes. Fantastic stuff.

De rien! For selfish reasons I like compiling these trip reports on here, it's nice to revisit them down the road and relive the trips. Hopefully the LTH servers never go down, oh no!

Fast Eddie wrote:

The GP wrote:Eddie-

Merci beaucoup! I really enjoyed your trip as seen through your eyes. Fantastic stuff.

De rien! For selfish reasons I like compiling these trip reports on here, it's nice to revisit them down the road and relive the trips. Hopefully the LTH servers never go down, oh no!

LOL, we back up. No problem. Thanks, for the comprehensive reports and beautiful shots. I go to France every other year for business and your reports have really inspired me to get out of Paris next time around, the moment my work there is concluded.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Fast Eddie wrote:

The GP wrote:Eddie-

Merci beaucoup! I really enjoyed your trip as seen through your eyes. Fantastic stuff.

De rien! For selfish reasons I like compiling these trip reports on here, it's nice to revisit them down the road and relive the trips. Hopefully the LTH servers never go down, oh no!

LOL, we back up. No problem. Thanks, for the comprehensive reports and beautiful shots. I go to France every other year for business and your reports have really inspired me to get out of Paris next time around, the moment my work there is concluded.

=R=

There's so much to see in France, it's pretty daunting. I've only been to Paris, Alsace and now Burgundy & Lyon. But I'd love to visit, in no particular order of preference, Bordeaux, French Alps, Normandy, Brittany, Toulouse, Loire Valley, Provence, Biarritz, Lille, Champagne...it just goes on. We were thinking of flying into Brussels next time and do a loop with Brugge, Lille, Champagne and Verdun (the war memorial is supposed to be staggering). That's a doable trip while we're still working. But what I'd really love to do is live there for six to twelve months or so when we're retired and just chill and absorb it all.

These American vacations are brutal, you try and relax but then you feel the need to experience as much as you can because you only have such limited time. We're getting much better about not overstuffing the itinerary and letting serendipity take over, but there's always that nagging sense that you've got to make each moment count.

Just curious, how well can you get around outside Paris with, let's say, a spotty ability to converse in French?

I'm assuming you did the trip by car outside Paris, or did you use trains?

Thanks.

rickster wrote:Just curious, how well can you get around outside Paris with, let's say, a spotty ability to converse in French?

I'm assuming you did the trip by car outside Paris, or did you use trains?

Thanks.

We took the train this trip, and then hired a driver for a couple days in Burgundy. Drunk driving penalties are much more severe in Europe, I think if you're 0.02 you're legally drunk. Mandatory jail and huge fine. If you're renting a car and you're in the wine region you better have iron discipline.

I'm self taught in French, far from fluent but I know enough to get by. I grew up bilingual with English and German so my brain processes other languages pretty well. Before every trip I'll brush up on the language, I've found these Behind the Wheel series to be simple and effective.

But to answer your question re the language - I'd say Netherlands or Germany or Switzerland don't bother, the Germanic countries speak better English then we do. I'm fluent German and they'll cut me off and talk to me in English because they're so eager to practice, and show off, their English.

But the Romance countries are a different story. You can get by in Paris without any French, but the French - their English she ese not so good. And they know it. Your waiter will appreciate it if you spare him the embarrassment of having people hear him speak his bad English. If you throw yourself on the grenade and speak your bad French, you'll help him maintain his public dignity - and you'll get better service. And once you get outside of Paris, you'll be fortunate to find one person on the staff who speaks English. We went to dinner with another couple we met at the hotel in Beaune, and it was painful to watch the interaction between the husband and the waiter. They got what they wanted but it's kind of a major buzzkiller for the whole meal.

As a tourist you don't need to know much to get by. All you need is a 2 year old's vocabulary, because in essence you're very similar when you travel. You're a Need & Want machine - so in French main phrases that you'll use over and over is je voudrais (I would like) and nous voudrions (we would like). Then insert your noun - un boteille vin rouge (a bottle of red wine). Un carafe d'eau (a carafe of water). Un Salade Lyonaisse. You'll have the menu right in front of you as a cheat sheet, just say je voudrais and point to the wine you want, they'll figure it out.

You know the rhythm of a restaurant meal anyway, so if the waiter comes up at the beginning of the meal and starts prattling away and you catch the word "boisson" (a drink) or "apperitif" you're 99% correct if you guess he's asking if you want to start your meal with a drink. So just calmly say, "Oui, deux kir s'il vous plait" and give your wife a smug smile as he clicks his heels and snaps to.

After you sip your apperitif and finalize your battle plan, you close the menu and make eye contact with your waiter. He'll come by, and just tell him, "Nous sommes pres" (we are ready) and he'll straighten up and get his pen and pad ready. Point to the wine you want on the wine list. Order for you wife is, "pour Madame..." and then tell him her entree and plat principal. And most importantly, you go "Et pour moi..." (and for ME!) tell him your entree and plat. If you want to split a dish tell him un boeuf Bourgogon communite' (community), that's their phrase for splitting the dish.

In a pinch, when you're hunting for a noun or verb, a good rule of thumb is that if the English word ends in ..able or ...ible or ...tion or ...ile it's going to be the same in French 90% of the time (amiable, facile, tradition, etc etc) So when you get more comfortable you can improvise and you'll see what sticks.

Voila, tres facile!

Very Helpful. Thanks.

rickster wrote:Very Helpful. Thanks.

De rein.

Oh, get the google translate app too. It's fast, it's free, and it's fairly accurate. So if you're thinking of ordering a steak and suddenly youre panicked and its "dammit, how do you say medium rare" you can pretend you're important American businessman and start typing away furiously. Much easier than back in the day when you had to sneak a look at your phrase book below the table.

Thanks for the travel descriptions and the great pictures! Beautiful!

My husband and I traveled through the Burgundy region and to Lyon two years ago and had a great time. We enjoyed the markets in Lyon and really couldn't find a bad meal no matter what we did. I speak French, but my husband doesn't, and neither of us cares much for driving, so we hired a guide for a Burgundy wine tour (Wine & Voyages).

I think you're generally right about the use of French and English, although I was surprised by how English-friendly the Lyon tourist office was (much better than the ones in Auxerre and Dijon). And outside of Paris, I was practically congratulated for speaking French. It definitely puts people at ease when you do.

MariaTheresa wrote:Thanks for the travel descriptions and the great pictures! Beautiful!

My husband and I traveled through the Burgundy region and to Lyon two years ago and had a great time. We enjoyed the markets in Lyon and really couldn't find a bad meal no matter what we did. I speak French, but my husband doesn't, and neither of us cares much for driving, so we hired a guide for a Burgundy wine tour (Wine & Voyages).

I think you're generally right about the use of French and English, although I was surprised by how English-friendly the Lyon tourist office was (much better than the ones in Auxerre and Dijon). And outside of Paris, I was practically congratulated for speaking French. It definitely puts people at ease when you do.

The one institution that refuses to speak English is the train system, at least in Italy and France. I had to buy the ticket from Beaune to Lyon at the local Beaune station. I was like Lucca Brazzi beforehand mentally practicing my script. "Parlez vous anglaise? No? Of course not. Je voudrais...deux billets...pour deux personnes..."

For me half the pleasure of the trip is immersing in the language. That's one of the mind's highest functions and you take it for granted when you're in cruise control in your mother tongue. You need to gather all your wits when you're wrestling with an obstinate train conductor in a foreign language.

Glorious, Eddie! I am so digging this!

Is that a blle of St-Joseph I see peeking out in one of your pix?! Yummmm!

When you get set to do Alsace (where an American is allowed to use his Deutsch) and Brittany, let me know. I know a few trix there.

Geo

Geo wrote:Glorious, Eddie! I am so digging this!

Is that a blle of St-Joseph I see peeking out in one of your pix?! Yummmm!

When you get set to do Alsace (where an American is allowed to use his Deutsch) and Brittany, let me know. I know a few trix there.

Geo

Yes I do believe that is a St Joseph. The wine list was minimalist, you had a choice of one bottle of red and one bottle of white. And then you could get the same wine by the glass or carafe. The other bouchons were similar, but they usually gave you a choice of Cotes du Rhone or Beaujolais.

Not sure how soon I'll return to Alsace, but I'd like to hear about any places in Lorraine.

Fast Eddie wrote:Ok, on to Lyon. . . Although I'd seen pictures in the guide books, they just didn't convey how beautiful the city is. We were both just stunned. It doesn't have the grand monuments of Paris or the sweeping Haussmann boulevards, but it's architecture is incredibly harmonious and it's green and hilly, a wonderfully preserved and vibrant old quarter, and the overall impression was that is was just incredibly beautiful.

Your pictures make it clear, Fast Eddie, that it must be hard for the tourism folks to do justice to Lyon. Or maybe the food just steals the show? I've been to many corners of France over 43 years, but never to Lyon. Now I see (and can practically taste) what I have been missing!

FastEddie wrote:Started with a kir as apperitif while we studied the menu, being Europe of course it's barbaric to serve a drink without food so it came with a snack of charcuterie and an awesome French version of chicharrons (grouchon's I think they're called?). After one bite of these devils a synapse fired and I'm like, yeah baby - bring it on!

I've heard those things called "graisserons" when duck skin is involved. Not sure if that applies to pork, though.

FastEddie wrote:The legendary Paul Bocuse is from Lyon. And upon him Lyon has bestowed the great honor of naming their permanent market after him, Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse (even though he's still alive and kicking). . . You could easily spend a half a day here going from vendor to vendor and having some of this and some of that.

Sounds like a plan. Wonder if the Guide Michelin gives it a "worth a journey" rating.

FastEddie wrote:And now, we present le Chicken:

Now I am uncomfortably envious. But I am also considering your excellent idea -

Fast Eddie wrote:But what I'd really love to do is live there for six to twelve months or so when we're retired and just chill and absorb it all.

I propose a synchronized LTH retirement with each of us renting a home in another province of France, doing intel, and then inviting the others to visit (if space allows) or exchange homes for a week or two at a time - that way we can cover more ground. I need to make use of what I learned in college (French) at some point in my life Now - on to re-watch " A Year in Provence" in case I get any notions about actually buying a home in France!