If France is the gastronomical capital of the world, then Lyon is the gastronomical capital of France. It is also the third largest city in France. It is known as ground zero of French Nouvelle cuisine invented in the 60’s by Paul Bocuse- one of the greatest chefs in the world. Nouvelle cuisine was the movement towards lighter sauces, freshness, delicateness, a reverence for natural flavors and ingredients, increased focus on presentation, and the ability to break the rules of ‘classic’ cuisine.
In addition to gastronomic pursuits, banking, chemical, pharmaceutical, technology and biotech industries are rooted in Lyon.
We arrived on a Saturday knowing full well that the French National Football team would be playing Ireland on Sunday afternoon. As soon as the car reached the outskirts of the city, the travel became a slog of bumper to bumper traffic, causing a quick note to be sent to our AirBnB host and the delay.
She met us at the parking garage, supplied the pass and soon we were following her through the streets of ‘Old Town’ or ‘Vieux Lyon’ to Place St.-Jean where her units are located. The streets were thick with a sea of green shirted Irish fans. Here are a couple of photos:
The old town is pedestrian, except for service vehicles and a rogue Taxi or lost tourist. The narrow streets are full of outdoor dining tables:
The typical Irish fan, has a great many ‘likes’ and they tend to come together in a reproducible way any where in the world. First you need the fan (preferable wearing green), then you add a pub (it could have an Irish name, like say, the James Joyce pub down the street here), then add a football match in which the national team is playing in, next step to have beer, more beer, and even more beer, then the final result is Irish ‘footy songs.’ So here we are, about every 50 yards, there is a pub that is mostly green with 10 to 30 Irish fans drinking and singing ‘footy songs.’
So what is a ‘footy song’? Take a song like the Beatle’s “Yellow Submarine” and change the lyrics to reference how great Ireland is, or how great the team is, or how great the fans are. For example, “we’re goin’ play at the neighbors house, we’re goin’ play at the neighbors house, we’re goin’ beat the French. [rinse repeat].” Or the ever popular, “Stand up for the boys in green, Stand up for the boys in green, Stand up for the boys in green, Stand up for the boys in green.” This last one, can morph to a cheer for just about anyone. For example, when the crowd at a pub near a road intersection grows too big and the police come in and start re-routing traffic around the area, the chant becomes, “Stand up for the French Police, Stand up for the French Police, Stand up for the French Police…” This is not to say the French fans don’t have easy access to flairs and wigs. They just don’t start doing it days before the match. And in the end, France won and the Irish fans still drank and still sang until 3am in the morning.
We walked to the food center of the universe, Les Halles de Lyon, the gold standard for covered food markets in France (since 1859) and lunched on prawns and escargot, while Chef Paul Bocuse, the godfather of Lyon cuisine, looked over us from across the street. That shaved pig leg featured in the photo below is the most expensive ham you can buy in the world- from Spain- amazing flavor.
Both the Soane and the Rhone rivers cross Lyon. Their confluence allows access to the freshest ingredients from the Alps and Provence to stream in daily.
Wealthy bankers and businessmen of the silk industry began building beautiful Renaissance style homes in what is now the Vieux Lyon. This was the commercial, administrative, and religious center of town and has the same feel as The French Quarter in NOLA. The Airbnb we stayed in was one of those Renaissance mansions converted into apartments. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3517871 This area is known for their traboules– hidden passageways under and thru townhouses (unique to Lyon) that allowed the city’s silk weavers – the canuts– to carry bolts of fabric safely to the river and market for shipping. These traboules were also used by the French Resistance during WWII to elude German street patrols. Oh, that Hermes scarf you’ve been admiring, has been made in Lyon since the 1930’s.
We may not have had a single post that didn’t contain something religious, so here is the church in the “Vieux Lyon” and the Basilica de Notre-Dame-de-Fourviere on the hill overlooking the city. The locals call this church ‘the upside down elephant because the building looks like the body of an elephant and the four towers look like its legs. You can walk or run up the hill to the Basilica, or take the funicular:
By Tuesday the streets were deserted and swept clean. 
On our way out of town we made a second loop by Basilica de Notre-Dame-de-Fourviere to view another Black Madonna. The legend is that Saint Pothin (1st Bishop of Lyon) brought a statue of the Virgin with him to France in the year 150. In 1168 a chapel housing the statue was constructed on a hilltop. The original black Madonna statue was destroyed by the French Hugenots in 1562, and the current one dates from 1598. It is the most elaborate black Madonna I’ve seen to date and the chapel is stunning.
J’aime la France!
