France: Eating and Drinking in Lyon

 

The view of Lyon from high in the Fourviere district on the west bank of the Saone River. That's the
 river below and a pedestrian bridge. The black cupola-shaped dome in the upper right is part of the
Grand Hotel-Dieu, and the Dome Bar is housed directly beneath it. The Cathedrale Saint-Jean is
in the lower right. The line of green in the distance are trees along the Rhone River. This was taken
 from the  terrace outside the Basilica Notre-Dame Fourviere.  We rode a funicular up and took
 a lengthy stairway down. 

    We arrived in Lyon by train (from Rouen via Paris) just before 5pm on Thursday, May 22, part of our spring 2025 trip to Europe that took us back to a city we had enjoyed during a 2014 trip to France.  That time we stayed a bit away from the city center at a too-trendy hotel called Mama Shelter. This time we opted for the right bank of the Rhone and the smaller and more charming  Hotel de l'Abbaye, housed in the converted presbytery of the nearby Romanesque Basilica of Ainay.

      The hotel put us within a short walk north to Place Bellecour, a 15-acre (6.2 hectares) plaza at the heart of Lyon, populaton about a half-million. To the west is the Saone River, to the east is the Rhone, to the north are the business and financial districts, and to the south the land narrows until it ends where the Saone flows into the Rhone. When we were here in 2014, the plaza was festooned with orange rocking chairs that were scattered about for people to enjoy. Not only were they gone this time, when Jane asked about them the tourist center person had never heard of them. 

       In addition to Place Bellecour, we could easily walk to the city's gigantic Grand Hotel-Dieu, a palace that now has several restaurants, shops and an InterContinental Hotel. Jane and I wanted to visit the Le Dome, the hotel's famous bar, but we had trouble following the signs to it, so we asked at the hotel desk. The attendent gave us complicated directions which nonetheless got us to the bar (which is an amazing space and friendlier than you might expect). When we left the bar, we took an elevator that deposited us at the hotel desk exactly where we had been standing when we asked directions. Why weren't we told to turn around and push the "up" button? 

      Another touristy destination was the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, a huge food hall with restaurants, butchers, fish mongers, cheese vendors and more.  It's certainly a lively place but we wonder whether many locals actually shop there. We had planned to have lunch at the Halles but instead continued east, over the Rhone, found lunch and a young crowd at Bar des Champ's, and then continued south toward the Institute Lumiere's museum devoted to the brothers who made the first moving pictures in 1895. 

      The story of the Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, is told in the magnificent house that was built by their father, a prominent industrialist. One of the first movies ever made simply shows women leaving one of their father's factories. Anyone interested in the history of photography or film will find a lot to look at here. 

      Another museum required an even longer walk. The Musee des Confluences is at the tip of land where the Saone River flows into the Rhone. Its modern building almost defies descripton, a scrum of many angles without a defining facade. Inside, the exhibits are massive and well curated, dealing with social and environmental issues. I think it's the must-see attraction in Lyon, much more compelling than a traditional fine-arts museum or another French cathedral. I doubt there's another museum like it anywhere.

    One of Lyon's biggest attractions is its food scene, highlighted by traditional Lyonaise buchons, restaurants serving the traditional hearty and comforting food of the region. We found two excellent bouchons near our hotel. At Le Poelon d'Or (the Golden Pan), we were intrigued by a dish that was translated on our menu as "pig feathers." It seemed to be thin and very tasty cuts of pork loin. Other dishes there were pike quenelles and tomatoes with pesto and burrata cheese. And a 29-euro bottle of Moulin a Vent. 

       A more celebrated bouchon is Abel, also just a few steps from our hotel. Abel is rightfully famous for its chicken in morel sauce, which is leagues beyond any mushroom sauce you've ever had. Add a bottle of Chablis and you've got a memorable dinner. I had expected this well-known place to be filled with anglophone tourists, but the people seated near us all were speaking French. 

     Our hotel has a very casual bar and a very serious restaurant, called Artichoke. We had one dinner here, notable for its excellent pressed fois gras, veal and a Crozes Hermitage syrah. Judging by how some of the other diners were dressed, it seemed Artichoke is something of a special-occasion restaurant.

      One dinner we had been looking forward to was at La Bouteillerie (it means bottle factory), a tiny wine-centered restaurant about two kilometers or a half-hour walk north along the Saone River from our hotel. When we told the host (also the waiter, cook and sommelier) Christophe Noel that we had been there 10 years ago when he had a platform for tables in a street parking spot, he treated us like long-lost friends, even introducing us to friends of his who were at another table. Here we had a simple meal, mainly several nice glasses of wine (Christophe selected each after asking what we liked), a generous cheeseboard and tarte Lyonaise, which is basically quiche. 

      On Monday, May 26, after four nights and three full days in Lyon, we took a two-hour train ride north to Dijon. 

     Here are some photos from Lyon:

The Musee des Confluences in Lyon opened in 2014 in this indescribable building designed by the
Austrian firm Coop Himmelblau. It's a science and anthropology museum that takes on 
a wide variety of 21st-century issues and concerns. Walking from our hotel meant that
we had to take a path beneath this highway.

The interior of the museum is as intriguing
as its exterior.

One major exhibit that we found interesting was on death, with academics and other experts
discussing (in French with English captions) everything from ancient beliefs surrounding
death to today's evolving medical protocols on when to declare that death has occurred.
Visitors sit in separate pods to watch and listen to the videos.

This is the point of land just downstream of the Musee des
Confluences where the Saone, right, flows into the Rhone.

This is one of a number of architecturally audacious
buildings just north of the Musee des Confluences.

This building on the east bank of the Saone River is nicknamed "La Mimolette" after a
cheese that is a similar color. It's also called the Orange Cube. It opened in 2011 and
houses offices and a design showroom. 

Near the Orange Cube is this green version by the same architects.
It's the headquarters of Euronews and opend in 2015.

The sprawling food market just east of the Rhone in central Lyon has vendors selling cheese, meats,
fish, prepared foods and wine, along with restaurants and bars. 

A selection of pates at Les Halles de Lyon. This was a difficult counter to walk away from.

Not all the food in Lyon is traditional
or expensive. 

This funicular connects the bank of the Saone in Lyon's old quarter
 with the Fourviere district atop a bluff overlooking the city.

The main attraction of the Fourviere district is the Basilica 
Notre-Dame. The other attraction is the view of the city.

I did the math so you don't have to. At 1.16 USD
to the euro, this price (per liter) comes out at 7.68 
USD per gallon. That's for the "regular"
gas at the top. Gazole, by the way, is diesel.

Le Dome is the Intercontinental Hotel's magnificent bar at the Grand Hotel-Dieu,
a former palace that also houses several restaurants.

This is the world's first movie projector. The lantern on the right
shown a light through frames of film that were fed by a hand-
turned wheel through a lense. It's at the Lumiere Institute's museum.

One of the more pleasant problems of life in France in general is having to select a pastry
for breakfast. This is a bakery in Lyon.

More food choices at an outdoor market.

River boats stop in Lyon on their tours of the Rhone River.

We sat at sidewalk table a couple of times at
this brasserie on Place Ampere a short walk
from our hotel.

Sidewalk tables outside Hotel de l'Abbaye where we stayed our four nights in Lyon. At 
the left is Basilica of Saint-Martin-d'Ainay.

One of several memorable meals in Lyon was here, at Abel. Buchons such as this are
known for traditional Lyonaise cuisine, which you can think of as comfort food.

When we visited La Bouteillerie in 2014, tables were out on a platform in the street, just as
at many American restaurants during the Covid pandemic. Upon our return a decade later,
a car was parked where that platorm had been, and other than these two tables, all the dining
was inside.  I'd send anyone visiting Lyon to this place to meet Christophe Noel who
will select your wines, feed you very well and make sure your dinner is a happy onee.