Recently, I took a dreamy trip to France with my mom to celebrate my 30th birthday. We started with a whirlwind stop in Lyon. I had read so much about this gorgeous French city and its reputation for delicious food, and I was eager to check out some of the culinary offerings.
We only stayed two nights and we arrived so late on our first day that we really only had time for one dinner. We were looking for something good that had the feel of a traditional bouchon but with a bigger selection of..ahem..shall we say non-awful (offal) dishes. After reading scores of blog posts and reviews, I settled on Le Canut et les Gones. The restaurant was located away from the center of the old city, by the edge of the Croix-Rousse quarter, which meant that we only saw locals and tourists on the hunt for a stellar meal. I don’t think anyone was disappointed (or hungry) when we left.
In contrast to the amazing meal we had at Le Canut et les Gones, the airbnb we booked was hands down the worst airbnb I’ve ever stayed at. First of all, someone definitely lived there. (I know this is kind of the point of airbnb, but I vastly prefer apartments people use as rentals, not their primary residence.) It wasn’t particularly clean anywhere, but the worst part was the fridge–when we opened it to store a couple yogurts we were accosted with the overwhelming smell of cheese, garbage, and stinky feet. Plus, the fridge was so full that there wasn’t even room for our yogurt…
Luckily, there was so much to see in Lyon that there was no need to spend too much time in our stinky apartment. We mostly just walked around and soaking it all in.
Churches, markets, old roman ruins, silk scarves, charming alleys, interesting wine shops, beautiful cafes, and a bakery on every corner. If our next stop wasn’t Burgundy, it would have been pretty difficult to tear us away.
One of my favorite stops was at Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, a giant food hall/market with lots of bakeries, juice bars, chocolate shops, restaurants and wine stores. Naturally, I was too distracted by all the goodies to take any photos. Ironically, I don’t think we even bought anything–paralyzed by choice!
The ultimate ice cream sandwich? We didn’t try one…we had just stepped out of an adorable gelato shop when we saw this sign…next time.
I’ve already waxed on about what a fan I am of the adorable and delicious meringues at Aux Merveilleux de Fred. (They also make this yummy brioche.) I certainly didn’t want to miss the opportunity to share these little delights with my mom!
I love that they make them right next to the window so that you can watch the whole process. I find the whole thing mesmerizing.
Eating in Lyon
Le Canut et les Gones
Yummy food, bouchon atmosphere, delicious, slightly modern twists on traditional French fare. This was literally the only dinner I had there, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt, but I thought it was pretty darn tasty.
29, rue de Belfort – 69004 Lyon, France |04 78 29 17 24
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