Lyon

We woke up early on Monday morning to get an 8.25am train out of Barcelona. Six hours later and we were in beautiful Lyon. We landed with the coolest Airbnb, complete with palm tree printed wall paper, beautiful high ceilings and windows opening onto a very typical French street. We were so happy to have ended up at such a lovely spot and we spent lots of time enjoying it over the next few days. We both caught bugs in Moscow and it really lingered for Dan so that by the time we arrived in Lyon, we were pretty sure that he had bronchitis. As Dan was sick and I had a work deadline coming up, we spent a lot of time doing not very much at home.

On our first evening in the city we walked a short way to dinner at Le Comptoir du Vin. Our meal couldn’t have been a better welcome to France. The atmosphere was so good – very local and very casual (by the time we left, the chef was smoking cigarettes with diners behind the bar). The food was great too. We ate steaks with a delicious mustard sauce, beautiful salad leaves and crispy roasted potatoes. Our meals were served with thick slices of bread that we watched our waitress cut from a huge loaf on the restaurant bar. We shared a carafe of wine (“un pot”) and for dessert we had a baba au rhum. The baba au rhum at Continental Deli in Sydney is one of the best things I have ever eaten and while this version was not quite so incredible, it was delicious – a rum soaked brioche with a drizzle of berry coulis and a thin custard. Sated and happy, we practically rolled home to bed.

On Tuesday morning we had plans to head to a nearby brunch spot but when we got there we realised that it is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We headed to a back up option only to be told that they do not serve food before midday. We had sort of better luck at option number three (La Boîte à Café), ending up with perfect coffee and an impressively good scone. Still hungry but realising that breakfast in France is rarely more than a coffee and some bread or a pastry, we decided to be patient and get an early lunch instead. We occupied ourselves by doing a very long walk through the centre of Lyon, along the river banks and through a well known food market at Quai Saint-Antoine. Food markets are so beautiful in France and this time of year seems particularly lovely, with late summer and early autumn fruits and vegetables to be found (artichokes, figs, stone fruit and raspberries as well as mushrooms and oranges).

We had lunch at a bouchon called Au Petit Bouchon Chez Georges. It was warm and cozy inside and we enjoyed chatting to a French American couple sitting next to us. But we did make a strategic error, going for a set menu lunch instead of ordering a la carte. None of the dishes that we ate were particularly good and as we watched the meals come out, we thought the other options looked so much better. The next day we had lunch at a contemporary, modern bistro called Bel Ami that was much more satisfying than Chez Georges. We again had an amazing set menu, this time for less than twenty euros. The fresh fig tart that we had for dessert was particularly delicious.

Dan slept in on Wednesday morning while I went for a walk. I love being out and about in a new city early in the morning. I picked up croissants and pain au chocolat from a boulangerie and more fantastic coffee from La Boîte à Café and we had a delicious breakfast at home.

As he was sick and I had work to do so we spent the afternoon at home, snacking on some delicious pastries that I bought at a boulangerie near our Airbnb (we were on a mission to eat as many croissants as possible while we’re in France). Again foiled by opening hours, the restaurant we had planned to visit for dinner was mysteriously closed. After lots of walking and stressing about every restaurant in Lyon closing before we found somewhere to eat, we ended up at Le Pailleron for a very traditional French meal. Lyonnais food is delicious but soooo heavy and I’ve found that being a vegetarian in France is much harder than anywhere else on our trip, with the exception perhaps of Mongolia.

We didn’t have time to do a tonne on our last day in Lyon – just pack and head to an early lunch. Thankfully we were able to squeeze this in, as lunch at Chez Paul turned out to be a highlight.  Although bouchons originated in Lyon, so many of them seem to serve almost exclusively tourists now and they risk stagnating. But although no doubt Chez Paul sees its fair share of tourists, the food was good and the vibe was fun. When we sat down there were already three enormous bowls of salad at our table (a delicious white bean, a beetroot, and a lentil salad that even Dan ate enthusiastically) and we simply helped ourselves as we pleased. Our mains were great (a braise and a steak) and for dessert we again got to help ourselves from an enormous creme caramel and huge bowls of stewed apples and prunes in red wine. The prunes were incredible and I will never understand why people do not eat prunes more enthusiastically. They are so good. We finished up our time in Lyon with an excellent coffee at Slake and then it was off to the train station for our train to Saumur, a small town in the Loire.