France (Winter 2023) - Lyon (Day 2)
Montplaisir Saturday Farmers Market
We woke up to the local farmers market in the town square right by the metro station. Being France, all the produce stalls were amazing looking. From the fruit and vegetables to seafood and butcher stalls, everything looked extremely high quality.
One downside of staying in Montplaisir, it is a mostly residential neighborhood so not much here stays open late. It is pretty much dinner service and then everything closes.
Lyon
One thing I like about France is that it looks like France if that makes any sense. Sometimes in certain cities, I feel that this urban area could be anywhere in the world, but strolling the French streets feels like I’m in France.
Lyon itself has a lot of character. It is geographically split by 2 rivers that converge at the bottom so it naturally splits the town into different neighborhoods. It’s not a big city but you can pretty much find anything here in a compact experience - sort of like Florence vs Rome.
Also - baguettes are €1 at the local market
This is how a civilized society should be run
Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse
This food hall/market is a must visit and beloved by locals as well. It is filled with high quality eateries and produce markets. On this morning we just came to stroll around and have a coffee and light snack.
Above are Bresse chickens which some people consider the finest chickens on earth. Only so many are grown a year and must come from a certain region. It has the colors of France in that it has a red crown, white body, and blue feet. There are a few high end restaurants that serve them and here you can actually buy the chicken from the butcher.
Lyon is famous for it’s praline tart so I figured why not try my first one at this fancy high end shop in the market. The tart was €7 but I figured why not go big for the first one. It was good, don’t know if it was €7 good but nice to get the experience.
City Center
After hitting the food hall we walked west across one of the bridges to the city center. This area is bustling with many shopping streets and the government buildings are located here as well.
Rue Merciere
Some people call this “Bouchon Street” because it is lined end to end with restaurants.
It’s also nice that it’s a pedestrian walkway so you can just casually stroll along the small alley and not worry about traffic.
Bistrot a Tartines
It started to rain in the city center and we were searching for a place to eat on the Bouchon street but a lot of places started getting busy. This place at the bottom end was just off the main pedestrian street and had a girl shucking oysters outside. Once inside it seemed exactly what I was looking for. Very authentic feel in this small bustling bistro.
We popped in and ordered the oysters. We didn’t realize that the oysters came with wine when we ordered a carafe. Wound up drinking more brunch wine than we were planning to do that day. We also got a cheese and salami board with some bread and great butter.
Cafe du XXe Siecle
On the other north end of the Bouchon street sits this little cafe. It started raining harder so we ducked in here for beers, coffee and a pastis.
The bartender became friendlier after I ordered the pastis. Maybe he was from the south of France. Pastis is actually one of the cheaper drinks you can get here but it seems to give you some street cred with the locals.
Vieux Lyon
When you cross another bridge going west from the city center you arrive at the old town, Vieux Lyon. These buildings are much older than the city center and a cathedral sits at a top of a hill on this side of town. Many shops and restaurants line the small alleyways here.
Betty’s Bar
Looking for a mid-afternoon break from exploring old town, we found this bar (and yes - more pastis). This place had a very young feel to it. It had two levels and seemed like a popular meet up place for the local kids.
Raclette
Cheese, cheese, more cheese, and some meat. We found this pop up stand in old town. They had sidewalk vendors around town during the festival and these guys were peddling raclette. It’s basically cheese that is slowly softened and melted by a heater bar on a stand and they scoop it out on your food. We opted for the hot dog looking thing. They also had a bubbling vat of cheese and meat off to the side as well.
Fete de Lumieres
These photos were taken over a few nights. Some locals told us that the show used to be better but I have no frame of reference. Basically landmarks all over the city are overtaken by certain artists who put on displays over the few days of the festival. I was amazed by the number of people who showed up to roam the streets. It is all free and it was a fun atmosphere.
Le Paves de Saint Jean
It was hard to find seating in restaurants during the festival. We lucked out at this place in the old town. It was a classic Bouchon serving a fixed menu during the festival. Super friendly owner and waitstaff. We happened to walk in just as a table opened up and they sat us. There was a long line forming just after we sat down.
Due to the festival, they had a more limited menu in order to handle the crowds. So some of the items I wanted to try were off the menu until next week when they went back to normal business.