France (Winter 2023) - Lyon (Day 3)
The first activity of Day 3 was to move to a hotel closer to the center of the city. Now that it was the last day of the festival, a lot of people were leaving on the Sunday and room rates got more affordable.
Bar Le Fer A Cheval (Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse)
We started day 3 back at the food hall, this time to eat a meal. While waiting for the restaurants to open, we bellied up to the “horseshoe” bar in the middle of the food hall for some coffee. They left a brioche in a basket but that turned out to the “coperto” item so we turned it down. At first we thought it was free with the coffee.
It seemed like everyone was already drinking in the morning so we decided to join in. A bartender in Amsterdam told us that it seems like the French don’t regard drinking white wine as “drinking” so that morning wine doesn’t really count. I had another pastis. Sometimes the carafe of water they give you to mix with is pretty fancy.
Resto Halle (Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse)
This turned out to be a fun stop. As we were asking to be seated, this group of local kids at the bar (I say kids but they were probably 30 yrs old or so) grabbed us and shoved wine in our hands and wanted us to hang and drink with them. They just kept pouring wine into our glasses and wanting to chat with the Americans. They were super friendly but also it was also super obvious they had been up clubbing all night and it was 11 AM at this point. I asked them when they started partying last night and they told me they started at 9 PM and really needed sleep but they were determined to keep the party going. I did buy them a bottle of sparkling wine to thank them for the wine but then they started pouring that for us as well.
I had not eaten anything all morning and there was only so much more wine I could consume so at some point I told the partiers thanks but please let us eat or I may have to end my day at noon.
I came here because I wanted to try the dish called tablier de sapeur. It’s a local delicacy and basically it’s a big piece of fried tripe.
It was ok. I think it is all about the sauce that goes with it. Otherwise it is a crispy but chewy piece of meat that in itself doesn’t have that much flavor to it. I could at least check that off my list of Lyon foods to try.
Basilica of Notre Dame of Fourvière
After lunch, we headed across the river to old town to see the church on top of the hill. You can take a funicular up to the top but since it was a nice day we decided to hike up the stairs and switchbacks. It was a long walk and would have broke a sweat on a warmer day.
From the top you get sweeping vistas of Lyon and you can also enter the cathedral itself.
Théâtre Gallo Romain de Lyon-Fourvière & Odeon of Lyon
Not far from the cathedral on the hill are a couple of ancient Roman amphitheaters also overlooking the city. There is a museum up there as well that we did not go into with exhibits about the ruins and the ancient history of the location.
I still get amazed that places like this just let you walk around on the ancient marble floors and touch the columns and stuff. They have a plaque that details out all of the different places in the world where colored marble came from which demonstrated the breadth of the Roman empire. Those guys got around.
Les traboules du Vieux Lyon
In the old town, there are a handful of doors that you can enter that lead you to the old traboules. These are the old passageways used by silk and textile workers to transport their goods.
They ask you to be quiet when in the passages as these are still active residences and people live above the hallways. The doors that you are allowed to enter usually have a sign marking it as such.
James Joyce Pub
Needing a break and a drink in old town. We stopped here for a pint. As I’ve said before, the Irish gift to the world is day drinking. The Irish pub always seems to be reliably open anywhere in the world.
Lyon’s rivers at night
Le Passagere
The east side of the Rhone river in Lyon is lined with boat bars. This being the off-season, not many were open but you can still find a few. This was one of them and it was a fun stop.
Being on a boat somehow makes it a more lively atmosphere. There were a group of kids next to us doing these disgusting shots called a “goldfish.” I don’t recall all of the ingredients but I think two of them were Tabasco and Kahlua. Hard pass.
They also had these big clear bouys of infused liquor hanging from the top of the bar that people were enthusiastically ordering.
Velcroc
This was a bar right on top of the riverbank where the boat bars are situated. It was a young crowd in this place. Not too much seating inside but you can see how this place would be popular with the outside seating during warm weather.
Wallace Snug
This is a bar in the city center that turned out to have a great whiskey selection at pretty reasonable prices. It was a great spot to sample whiskeys and grab a snack to end the night. Pretty good beer selection available here as well.