Lyon, Day I

The next morning, we took the InterRegio to Geneva and then the TGV to Lyon, France. We arrived with relatively little sense of direction, only basing our orientation on Rick Steve’s suggestions. Since there were about 10 exits out of the Lyon Port-Dieu train station, we struggled to find the direction of our hotel, despite the fact that it was the Radisson, the tallest building in the city. I stopped to ask an official about directions, and then we walked 15 minutes with our bags to the hotel. It was odd, there. When we arrived, the concierge was on the ground floor, but he said that the check-in was upstairs. Thus, we took the elevator, only to find buttons for the ground floor and the 32nd floor. After a brief bout of confusion, we decided to press button “32” to see if this was the right place. Evidently, they don’t use the first 31 floors. Who knew? There was a separate elevator on the 32nd floor to get to the rooms. What a bizarre use of the building….

After having settled our things in the room and laughing at the small cup of mini-bar M&Ms that cost 7 euro, we asked the concierge about good dinner spots and how to buy our day passes. The city of Lyon offers a great tourist opportunity where you can buy a day pass that allows unlimited museum and public transportation access. You can take the tram, metro, bus, or electric car anywhere in the city, and you don’t have to wait in long museum lines. They just hand you your “free” ticket and you walk right in. Easy as pie.



Speaking of pie, we were quite hungry for lunch when we arrived in the city centre – Bellecour. We took the advice of an avid food blogger and tried le Giraudet, an all-natural bistro that sold the famous Lyonnais “quenelles” in a cup and some delicious soups – mom chose a chestnut soup with bitter cocoa powder, and I ordered carrot with curry and coconut milk. I also had a salad with roasted tomatoes, parmesan, and fried quenelles. Our lunch order included one of their hand-made desserts, so I indulged in a chocolate pistachio cake, and mom got fromage blanc with mango coulis (like yogurt with fruit purée on top). We were so pleased with our choice that we bought bottles of both soups to take home.




In addition to museums and transportation, the pass included a free walking tour and discounts on shopping and special tourist activities. We took advantage of the tour and saw the St. Jean cathedral with the moving rooster clock, Vieux Lyon with the museums and Middle Age housing complexes, and streets devoted to the sale of different foods. To explain, since people were largely illiterate during the Middle Ages, they named streets after the good that was sold there; for example, “Cow Street” was where butchers sold all of their beef. They also had a fish street, pig street, cheese street, etc. Since the people couldn’t read, they also put statues of the animals or the foods above the street names to indicate the good sold. Not a bad idea.



We ditched the tour a few minutes early to visit the puppet museum (le musée des marionettes), which had different puppets from all over the world. They showed famous clips from old television broadcasts and performances. They were all unique and expertly crafted with hand-sewn costumes. The end of our museum visit left us hungry for dinner, so we took a stroll in the bouchonnerie quarter. The history behind the name of the famous Lyonnais restaurants is that “bouchonner” means to brush horses, and the workers, after a hard day, needed a place to eat simple food for a low price. Thus, this type of restaurant was named after the profession of its clients, and they remain relatively inexpensive and absolutely wonderful. We went to St. Josef, a recommendation of my French roommate, Marie. I had grilled salmon and my mom had sole with some kind of sauce. For dessert, I had a pear pudding with strawberry coulis, and she had apple tart. After our dinner, we walked around and saw Hippo (a restaurant that reminded us of a funny experience in Paris) and bought French soap from a department store. (I know, the peak of shopping excitement).