It's Spring Break. Woo! We had some trouble deciding how to get out of Paris this week. Amsterdam: too expensive, Berlin: too far, Cologne: maybe boring. Suddenly, it hit us- let's just go to Lyon and eat until we near death. It's close, relatively cheap and I guess you could say exciting. Lyon is traditionally thought of as the food capital of France. The Frenchiest of French gastronomy. Tons of toques, mountains of Michelin stars. It is especially known for its bouchons, old school food served in an old school environment. Red checked tablecloths, conviviality, friendly waiters, communal dishes of pork rinds, salads made entirely of meat. It's classic stuff, right out of your grand-mère's cookbook: fried tripe, stewed tripe, sausages made of tripe. Pig's feet, pig's head, veal head, lamb brains, lentils, quenelles. The mind reels. This article by Bill Buford sums it up nicely.
We arrived in Lyon Wednesday afternoon.
First stop, tourist office.
Place Bellefour. The third largest place in France where, for some reason, they love these sorts of useless, uncomfortable, dusty open spaces. It does provide a good, open view of the hill on the left bank. That's the Fourvière Basilica and Lyon's fake Eiffel Tower visible on top.
Lyon is located at the confluence of two rivers- the Rhone and the Saône. The central part of the city is on a peninsula called the presqu'île ("almost island"). Here is the view of St-Jean Baptiste de Lyon Cathedral, across the Saône.
In the square in front of the cathedral. It was windy.
Interior of the cathedral.
The cathedral is home to an astronomical clock, constructed in the 14th century.
We were there for the 3:00 show.
Later in the day we were at Place des Terreaux, in central Lyon.
Lia and L'Hôtel de Ville.
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