A Food Tour in Lyon

On day 3 of our stay in Lyon, we took a food tour.  If there is a “foodie” destination in France, Lyon is it!

This tour was also in the antique district, a short walk from our apartment.  And it started with cheese!

 

This shopkeeper is very passionate about cheese and taught us a lot about the cheeses from the different regions of France and how they are classified.  Cantal entre deux was my favorite.  Have to go back to France to get it. 

We walked past the beautiful Cathedral St-Jean-Baptiste, built between the 11th and 16th centuries.

  

We could see the commanding Basilique Notre Dame on the hill above us.

We had a little lunch at a traditional Bouchon.  Simply put, Bouchons are controlled restaurants that feature only traditional menus and local ingredients.

They served caviar de la Croix Rousse, made with lentils, not fish eggs.

and a cold meat salad with pickles and pickled cabbage.

We used the traboules again for short cuts through the area.

  

  

  

  

A specialty of Lyon are pink pralines, or pralines roses.  They are almonds coated and caramelized with colored sugar.  They are super sweet.  You can buy them in bags as a snack.  We often saw them baked in bread. (Chocolate chips on top shelf, pink pralines on the bottom)

  

This shop keeper invented a dark pink syrup made from Pralines.   Just a little bit added to sparkling water was a treat.  It was also good in Champaign.  We bought a bottle and used it up on our trip.  

  

He also sold meat.  Lots of meat.

And we got a taste of these too.  The sausage baked in bread was especially good.

  

Lyon was the silk manufacturing center of Europe for hundreds of years.  We visited a shop that sold all kinds of silk scarves.  We saw a few silkworms too.  The shop owner thanked us, as Americans, for keeping him in business … his biggest customers are U.S. museum gift shops!

Pretty silk colors and an old weaving loom.

Last stop was a café that pairs dark chocolate with dark beer!

Did not see that coming! 

While we’re on food….on our last day in Lyon we visited the Paul Bocuse indoor food market.  Bocuse is considered the founder of modern French cuisine and Les Halles de Lyon features a huge variety of gourmet foods and local produce.

  

If you can eat it, you can find it here!

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