Day Thirteen: Wednesday, October 15th Lyon
It is overcast this morning with afternoon sun expected and a high of 16 degrees. Our plan is to take the bus to Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse at 102 Cr Lafayette. The walk is estimated at thirty-four minutes so we will take transit. We walk down our steep hill to a bus stop where we can catch the C23 bus to Les Halles.
We discover that tomorrow we can take the C23 bus to the train stationt so great news. This will be much more convenient and cheap than a taxi or Uber ride. Bus every eight to nine minutes. Cost is 2.10Euro per person. Yeh! But Lana forgets to validate our tickets after we purchase them! She got flustered because she looked up how much one zone would cost and had what she thought was exact change. Then the bus driver asked her for more money so she got confused. Whoops!!
We take the C23 bus to Les Halles. It will be interesting to explore a different part of the city. It takes only five minutes by bus to our destination. Get ready for the food porn pictures! Lana is loving walking the many aisles to check out this upscale and diverse foodie heaven. She purchases from tea and truffle potato chips. Lots of pictures of the products; meats, cheese, prepared food, baked goods, pastries, seafood and many restaurants that have seating outside their kiosk or in private rooms. We enjoyed checking it all out.
Map of the food hall.
More paté in pastry!!
Pistachio sausage in brioche!!
Rosette and other French cured sausages.
Paella is very popular here.
The french version of meat and potatoes for lunch.
Praline bread--notice the strange red/pink colour of the nuts?
This is why--the sugared Almonds are dyed a very vibrant red hue. It's these nuts that are ground up to make that almond tart--hence the strange glowing colour!!
Black truffles which Lana loves. She treated herself to 1 bag of truffle potato chips!
The most amazing looking bread! And you don't have to buy the entire loaf in France--you can ask for half and they cut it.
Another of Lana's french favorites--Chouquettes. Choux pastry with large chunks of sugar on the outside. A little sweet treat to nibble on.
Lana orders a lunch special of Plat du Jour--braised lamb shoulder served with potatoes AND pasta with alfredo sauce! The staff are super efficient with good English skills. Pretty busy as we sit here. When we were first seated it was right by the kitchen door so Lana asked for us to be moved - assertive skills are important. Staff have been trained to upsell whenever possible. We were curious about the brown bread that always comes with every meal and every restaurant. In this particular restaurant it is "pain complet" which is whole wheat brown bread.
We had a great meal. Very big portions and filling. At 13:15 our small area is packed with fellow diners. Total for our lunch = 70Euro which by any standards is super expensive.
Randy's Greiller de la Belle Aurore at 24Euro. It's another example of a Chef's Pillow and is a Lyon term. Huge portion--at least 15" across--came on a large wooden platter for show. Apparently, this was a favoured dish when the place was more highly rated.
Dessert of Apple "something". Delicious, but we could not figure out what this ice cream was?
Shortly, our table will be full of diners all sharing the same meal except for one personal choice of main course.
Our pic from our dining table. The interior is all wood with red-checkered table cloths.
Randy's red wine with lunch was a good pairing, but expensive and a small pour.
Lana's Plat du Jour of lamb shoulder
A sunny day as we walk back to our apartment rather than taking the bus. Lana goes into some clothing stores on the way. We arrive around 14:15 and our first task is doing some laundry in the apartment. We use the twenty minute express cycle. This will be our last time needing to do any laundry on the trip. Just an observation that dryers in Europe take much longer. Lana has a good nap and I get caught up doing my Trip Advisor reviews and emails.
We wanted to remember our Airbnb elevator as it was incredibly small. I took the stairs!
Our reservation at Chez Paul is for 19:30. T'his spot was recommended by our Airbnb host Charlotte as an authentic Bouchon experience. Located at 11 Rue du Boeuf so about a brisk fifteen minute walk. Pretty much the same walking route as many of our other food destinations. We are the first people in line and sit at the end of a long table with eight others. This is communal dining and the authentic old school Bouchon experience. You pay 32Euro per person and extra charges for any booze/water.
The couple next to us were from Finland and had lived in various parts of the world. Super interesting people. Our bill comes to 73Euro as we were charged 9Euro for a small serving of wine. Yikes! When paying at the cashier he wanted a tip "to recognize the service". Very awkward silence from me as I am not tipping in a country where you do not tip. Au revoir monsieur!
My pichet of red wine that was pretty expensive for the amount of wine.
As the menu indicates you get your choice of a main course, otherwise, all dishes are shared between the table.
Cooked pork meats with white beans, ox muzzle, potatoes and lyoner sausage salad. beetroots and lentils. Oh yeah, plus the traditional brown bread.
Lana's main course of chicken in cream vinegar and tarragon sauce.
Randy's main course of ox tongue served in a piquant sauce. Really good and much like when my Mom made it at home.
Dessert of Caramel Flan.
Dessert of prunes stewed in red wine and cinnamon.
There was also a third dessert of homemade apple sauce with lemon that Lana thought was delicious.
We walked back home of course and arrived around 21:50. Yup, these much later dinners in France mean getting home late and having a stomach full of food. Best thing though is walking back home. A beautiful night for a walk. Tomorrow we catch a train to Dijon. Total steps = 12,300 and nine total floors.
Looks like Mona Lisa has gone mobile as well!!
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