It wasn't much of a drive today and by 10:30 Emily had found our hotel, despite the fact that I wasn't following her instructions very well. Our hotel - The Roosevelt - is on the left bank, in the downtown residential district - a great location actually - and even better, they had off street parking. So with the car safely ensconced and with no room yet available, we headed off on foot to the commercial and historic centre of Lyon.
This is the first real walking we've done since we landed so it felt pretty good. We quickly discovered that not one but two rivers flow parallel to each other through the centre of Lyon - the Rhone and the Saone. The downtown shopping district is located in between the two rivers and as in most big cities, is a bustling area.
We continued across the Saone and headed up into the historical district. Two very notable features in this area are visible from all over Lyon - a mini Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame de Fourviere.
We decided we should hike up to see these places. The climb was steep. Did I mention that we haven't had much exercise? The climb became steeper. I was starting to think that I should have passed on the walk and opted for the car. The climb became steeper just as we encountered a statue of Jesus, holding his hands out to the beleaguered. It would have been a good place to die, but upward we continued and finally, both of us soaking wet with sweat, we staggered on to the summit. All this for a religious experience!
The view was pretty rewarding from up here and the day was actually starting to clear up. We took a few moments to check out the interior of the church. As we sat in a pew, we stared around amazed at the amount of money and time it must have taken to decorate. I whispered to Dawn that I'd like to say a little pray. Actually, I really said, "Let's get the hell out of here."
The trip down the hill was considerably less painful and crossing back over the Saone, we found a nice restaurant in the heart of restaurant alley for lunch. Today's culinary delight was moules frites for Dawn while I had a salad with baked St. Marcellin and then a duck leg with couscous and finally a hearty chocolate cake. I walked a lot, OK?
Apparently our walking was not complete, so off we went across the Rhone in the direction of the closest Galeries Lafayette. By the time we got there we were too tired to shop, so Dawn just bought a little scarf and back to the hotel we trudged. The rest of the afternoon was spent resting up for our next walk, this time to Brasserie de l'Est for dinner. This is one of Paul Bocuse's six restaurants in Lyon. He has really helped make this place a centre for gastronomy and therefore attractive to people like us.
So, how was our Paul Bocuse experience you ask?
First of all, this brasserie is in the Gare de L’Est railway station, which appears defunct. When we arrived at 7:30 it was relatively empty, but by the time we left at 9:30 it was full to overflowing and this is not a small brasserie. The main thing that distinguished this brasserie from others is that, although it was noisy and informal, the chefs in the kitchen were in full chef garb, with various hats differentiating the underlings from the big guys.
The interior of the restaurant was done in railway theme, with a large miniature – does that make sense? – train rolling around the top of the walls of the restaurant. There were also many posters of classic railway movies and memorabilia.
Dawn had the pre fixe tonight consisting of a market salad, then a fillet of fish on a bed of red peppers, finished by a strawberry tart. My three courses – like I needed them – were the house Caesar salad, followed by veal’s liver and mashed potatoes and finished with a vacherin with raspberry, lime and mango sorbets. I’m going to have to run behind the car tomorrow and since Dawn is not likely to drive, that’ll be interesting.
It was a great night out and other than some issues with internet at the hotel, we had a fabulous day.
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