Betty - Day four and five

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Day 4 and 5

We caught the train to Lyon today. We stood on the platform, fumbling with the machine which could not accept our credit cards (a l’etranger) when a guard stepped off the train and waved us in. Intrigued by my haltering French, they took pity on us and sat us in first class and helped us with a ticket on the train.

Lyon is a magnificent city. Is was built between two rivers: the Rhone and the Saone which run east-west and converge at a point at the west of the city, creating a 500-800m wide peninsula. It was originally founded in 43BC by the Roman empire and has had periods of major growth in the 15th and 16th Century. The first Christian church was in Lyon in the 4th Centuty.

We took a walking tour of Lyon which took us into the traboules or passages under the city (which are mostly private with doors at either end) built during these times so the silk weavers and merchants and people of the city could move from shore to shore, leaving the grand, wide streets clear for chariots and other military and civic operations.

Lyon today is an amazing city. It is distinguished, vast, civilized and has a great sense of space. The city is multicultural, has a university and a culture of appreciating science and the arts, a real presence of diversity, goth kids, punk kids, smart fashion and environmentally sustainable planning (like their Velo V bike scheme.) We viewed some huge trompe-l’oeil murals on our visit. Amazing paintings on the side of buildings that really tricked my eyes. We visited the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, which displayed fabrics preserved from the 3rd Century, silks of Lyon from the 18th and 19th Centuries and costume from this time.

An amazing sight we visited twice was the cathedral of St-Jean in old Lyon. Its construction, partly in the Roman times, partly gothic from the 14th Century gives it a combination of both rounded and pointed archways throughout the enormous ceiling. There are stained-glass windows and alters to many different saints. It’s like a menu of ancient celebrity worship up on these walls and in places of hushed virtue such as these, I find myself tripping over sacrilegious thoughts and fight the urge to giggle.

There is an ENORMOUS clock in this church which displays every part and cycle of the calendar and chimes the passing of 3pm every day. We were lucky to witness this incomparable display of clockwork puppetry. At the chime, a guard marches around the top, angels fling their scrolls and batons around, a dove descends on the virgin mary as an angel pops out of a door in front of her and best of all, an old man figure of, yep, it’s the G-O-D himself standing on a balcony, flicking his hand up and down, left and right. I am not Catholic and it took me a minute to recognize that this was a blessing at first - I thought he was giving us all a backhander. I had to muffle my laughter.

One true Lyonnais experience I was hell-bent on having was eating at a Bouchon. These restaurants are a local speciality. More casual than regular French dining, but very popular and difficult to get a table, we were very lucky to get a place at the Café Des Federations (as recommended by a local foodie.) A bouchon was originally an inn where you could stop and clean your horse and get well-fed on things like pigs-trotters and other hearty dishes. We started with an aperitif of “communard.” They actually mix Beaujolais with crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) for this yummy starter. Then onto pork crispy nibbles, a salad with ham and mustard, an incredible lentil dish and then onto the main. I asked for the “vrai plat, typicement de la bouchon.” They served up the breaded tripe. Actually, it was quite yummy. And then a cheese plate to die for. Oh God. I am going to die from being stuffed to death. Serves me right for eating foie gras.

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Photos

All of Lyon
See the two rivers, Rhone and Saone, running through the city.

Streets of 'Vieux Lyon'
the Old Town

Les Cafe des Federations
The Bouchon

Comments

[Raf]

Salut, thanks for the beautiful descriptions of Lyon and its food. I admire your courage for eating tripes! Normandie (where i come from) is also well-known for its tripe dishes but i've never been able to get used to it?

[LAS & JAK]

G-O-D you ate T-R-I-P-E!!!!
I'm sure the French recipe was much more edible than my granny's - hers was kinda furry, beige and rubbery (and I suspect cut into neat squares with scissors), served in white sauce with parsley. The memory of it makes me cringe even now.