Our epicurean adventure in Lyon

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Our day began with "French toast", how perfect for beginning a day in the city known for French gastronomy! I found it a bit sweet, with a lot of brown sugar and honey but none the less it was still delicious. After breakfast we departed for a tour of Vieux Lyon. It was chilly this morning and overcast and we were really worried that we would have our first day of rain, but luck was with us and as the day progressed, the sun burned off the clouds and we had another glorious day!
Our tour was by bus and we left the Rhone to cross the Saone on the way up to Fourviere, where we passed two Roman theatres that are still used, the Grand Theatre and the Odean. Once in Fourviere we had a panaromic view of the Rhone Valley and Lyon. On a clear day (which it was not) you can see the Alps! Switzerland is a little more than an hour drive from Lyon.
The main attraction in Fourviere is Lyon's largest basilica, Notre Dame de Fourviere. What a beautiful church. It was filled with gold and tapestry and mosaic floors and paintings. It was purely opulent and ornate. The stained glass was beautiful as well.
After our lecture we went down to Vieux Lyon and stopped by two buildings with Trompe-l'œil paintings. We stopped and discussed the 2nd building where there were paintings of famous people that have had influence in Lyon and France. I took a picture of Michael next to Paul Bocuse. My favorite was the Little Prince. It looked so real and three dimensional. From here we went on a walking tour of the old city which has "les traboules" which are secret passages hidden behind doors of the little Renaissance facades. These secret pedestrian tunnels were used during the war. Of course, we passed a very good Patisserie - "L la Marquise" and I had to run in for a croissant chocolat and brioche praline. Do I have to tell you they were so good!
We left the group at Place Bellecour to wander the streets again in the daylight. We were headed off for lunch down the Rue de la Republique, a busy commercialized pedestrian area, but we detoured first through the rue Bellecordiere which was lined with cafes. I wanted to eat in an official Bouchon and our tour guide, Pierre sent us off to the area near the Opera National de Lyon. We found Le Petit Flore, cuisine soirgnee, a Bouchon Lyonnais. It was a tiny restaurant with red checkered tablecloths (a trademark of a bouchon) and 7 tables inside. They had about the same amount of tables outside with no available seats. We grabbed the last vacant table inside. The menu was written on a chalkboard: Salade de Lentilles, Godiveau Lyonnais, Filet de Sandre meuniere, Puree Mainson. When the waiter approached I immediately tell him, je no parlais Francais and he explains the Godiveau is sausage and the filet is fish. I order Sandre, Michael godiveau. He asks if we want red, white or rose wine, we order sangre and eau. Everyone in the restaurant is eating one of these two dishes, sharing a bottle of local house wine with water on the table. The place is decorated with signs of the region and pigs. Bouchon means pig. We asked for the toilette and he grabs a key by the door (which had a marrow bone attached) and shows Michael out of the restaurant to a doorway next door. I later used the bathroom which was clean. We each had coffee after our lunch. Of course the service was slow but it was fun watching the locals eat and enjoy their lunch. We realized that the blackboard menu didn't have price and we were a little concerned about the cost of our meal. I found a menu and saw that there were a few prix fix items, nothing greater than 25 E so I was relieved that we wouldn't break the bank. Our meals came with bread and a brocolli puree along with mashed potatoes. My fish was delish and Michael kept saying the sausage was as soft as butter. When we got the bill we were pleasantly surprised....33.50 E, not too bad for Lyon!
We walked around after lunch as we had until 5:15 until "all aboard" and we saw the Jardin public, Hotel de Ville, Fountaine Bartholdi, and the Musee des Beaux-Arts Palais St. Pierre. Along the way we window shopped at every charcuterie and patisserie. Yes, you know us, we stopped at Moinon Traiteur (founded in 1936) and bought pate au poivre and pate canard. Off to the patissiere for our bagette. Then we stopped at the Cellerier halle La Minaudiere and bought chevre au poivre. We were preparing for our appetizers back in our state room. We considered using the rental bikes to get back to the ship but decided that we were fine walking and we were back in time to take a shower and enjoy our epicurean delights with some wine we had bought in Arles as the shipped sailed slowly down the Rhone and then we turned to take the Saone to Chalon sur Saone.
Dinner was fun. We now have a group of friends that we eat with every night. Alex and Andy from Las Vegas and Louise and Alan from NY/Hawaii. Andras is our server and the men have had fun with him every night. I must admit he is a good sport about it. Last night was the Captain's Farewell meal so we had no choices. Neither Michael or I were very hungry after our pate but we were served a lot of food: Caulifower mouse, pate of shrimps (that's how they say it) and smoked salmon (ours was so much better)fois grois and apple (this was incredible!), Chatauebrian with baked tomato and pesto crumbs, a unique vegetable that Michael will have to tell me the name of again and string beans. For dessert there was a parade by the chefs and the kitchen staff with a baked Alaska.
After dinner there was jazz music in the lounge and we began to acknowledge that our trip was almost over. We had to talk about departure times for Sunday.
We sailed all night on our way to our last port, Chalon Sur Saone.

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Photos

Mini Eiffel tower of Fourviere
Cell phone tower

Trompe-l'Å“il
Le petit prince

"les traboules"
Secret passages hidden behind doors of the little Renaissance facades.

My favorite fountain!
Jardin public