We’re solidly on Phase 2 of the trip now as I’m currently riding the TGV from Lyon to Paris. It took a little while to adjust from a life of hiking every day to exploring a city, but once we got in the groove I really enjoyed my time in Lyon. Zoe had insisted that we make Lyon a part of the trip after learning in her French class that it was considered the food capital of France. It certainly lived up to it’s reputation for us!
I’m going to start with what was not only the food highlight of the city, but also a social one. Molly had a friend recommended that we eat dinner at Le Café Des Fédérations so we booked a table there for last night. It is one of many bouchons, small locally owned restaurants, serving traditional Lyonnaise food. The menu was fixed, but with 8 or so options for dinner. Shortly after we were seated a group of four men from Lyon were seated next to us. They attempted to take a selfie, and Zoe stepped in to take it for them. From there they guided us through the rest of the meal.
Molly took pictures of everything we ate, so I’ll let her give the play by play. I will say that I was feeling pretty full after the second course, a huge Lyonnaise salad, sausage stuffed brioche, and a lentil dish. My main, quenelle de brochet sauce langoustines, was delicious. The sauce tasted like one of the best lobster bisques I’ve ever had and it was topping fish dumplings.
As we reached the 6th and final course one of our new friends ordered the baba au rhum. It was served with a pitcher of rum that was intended to be poured over the top. However, after pouring it on he and his dinner mates passed the pitcher around and drank the rest. The waiter was more than a little miffed, and told us not to share any of our rum with they. Of course, I followed their lead and had a couple shots of as well.
Dinner the previous night was at Brassiere Georges. Again, check Molly’s blog for pics. She and I had intended to share two meals, a steak and “The Imperial”. The brassiere had been founded as a brewery and one of the main foods they served was sauerkraut. They even hold the record for world’s largest sauerkraut! So, of course we needed to try a sauerkraut dish. The Imperial was billed as sauerkraut accompanied by about 6 different meats including “a full knuckle”. Our first, very formal, waiter seems to have been so put off by Molly’s order that we never saw him again. Instead, a younger, less stiff guy took over our table for him. Again everything was delicious.
Of course, there were also breakfasts, lunches and snacks. A Lyon burger and fries with melts delicious cheese for lunch the first day and a BLT with more melts French cheese the next. A raspberry filled pastry that was my favorite of the trip so far, an apple pastry, and pain du chocolat for breakfast. And even a stop at a chat (cat) cafe for lemonade.
In addition to food we also saw the sights of Lyon. The highlight was the Lugdunum museum. Lugdunum was the name of the city during the time the Gauls and Romans lived here. The museum was full of artifacts from early in the cities history (2000+ years ago early). Again, so interesting to compare what was happening here to the Four Corners region.
