Lyon
On the bank of the Rhône river.
Ordinary which leads us to the extraordinary.
In November 2016, I found myself at Lyon Part-Dieu late at night after 16 hours of travel without a word of French studied beforehand. I would spend the next five days in an Airbnb just down the street from Café Comptoir Abel. It was hardly enough time, and yet almost ten years on it remains the most formative experience of my life.
After watching the Parts Unknown episode on Lyon in July of that year, I knew I had to go. I followed Anthony Bourdain's path—eating des quenelles de brochet at Comptoir Abel, visiting the incredible charcutier Reynon, and even unknowingly buying bottles of excellent Guigal Côte-Rôtie, wines I couldn’t fully appreciate at the time.
It was easy to think about Lyon for a long time afterwards. To glamorize a city as a visitor, with little semblance of a real schedule, obligations, or deadlines, sipping on a pastis at 11:30am, is one of the best elements of travel. And, why I decided to go back for a second, third, and fourth time.
Arriving in Lyon for my second visit In November 2021 was an unsettling experience, with most of the world confined to their homes since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. My youth and inexperience from my first visit was traded for a 29-year old with a command of the French language equal to a Quaker parrot. Dinner was at Daniel et Denise Croix-Rousse for my first night, and I was immediately grateful for my teacher Mathilde (I was speaking in French to the server!) and was promptly embarrassed when, at the end of my meal, the server asked est-ce que vous avez un bien passé ? to which I promptly replied non, and caused four seconds of terror in her eyes until I realized I should have said oui, enthusiastically.
I spent almost three weeks in Lyon on this trip, studying French in the mornings and hanging out with my two German friends (both physicians learning their third language, of course) most evenings, making the trip that much more memorable. It was probably the only way my time there should have been.
The interior courtyard and inside the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.
Nearly three weeks in a city, I began to experience the joys and boredoms of le quotidien: walking to Monoprix to buy detergent before heading to class with a stop for deux pain au chocolates on the way. As a visitor, France has a way of captivation around food that I certainly fell for. All of the fixtures (la baguette, par exemple) are formed from seemingly basic ingredients—water, flour, salt—and become something so much more than the ingredients. Ordinary things, leading you to something extraordinary.
It’s a theme that describes so much of the gastronomie lyonnaise: the humble chicken, protected as the revered poulet de Bresse; rosette de Lyon, a cured masterpiece of pork, garlic, nutmeg, and salt; and, the quenelle de brochet, a dumpling of pike fish and potato with nantua sauce, constantly interpreted throughout most of Lyon’s bouchons and some finer-dining spaces.
A quite-elevated quenelle de brochet at Daniel et Denise; a portion of poulet de bresse at La Mère Brazier; saucisson à cuire with lentils; a whole, unopened rosette de Lyon.
Lyon affords even the most solitary traveler a remarkable experience. Walking the Marché Saint-Antoine on Saturday morning? Incroyable. I never saw so many beautiful vegetables, legumes, alliums, fromages, meats, and people in my life. Thank god for the decent IKEA kitchen at my rental. How about a booking for one at La Mère Brazier for dinner? I would have self-graded my French an A+ during this dinner service, and although the staff probably would have disagreed, they were incredibly gracious and accommodating. A table for one, positioned to look at the full room, made it thoroughly engaging and personable. More on that later.
An attempt at magret de canard with lentils and fennel I cooked for my classmates; my apartment for nearly three weeks in 2021.
At the end of my first week of classes, I took a train to Roanne (about an hour away) and ordered a taxi in my basic French, and made my first journey to Troisgros in Ouches for dinner. Dining at Troisgros had been a dream of mine since that first Parts Unknown episode I watched in 2016, and later, Chef’s Table, the latter entirely focused on Michel Troisgros and his family. Heading to Roanne on a TER service—the rolling landscape at the edge of the Loire valley while having a conversation with a Lyonnaise woman in my terrible French—felt like departing reality, a feeling that lasted through dinner and until my return home to Lyon the next day. I’ll devote an entire post to my three visits to Troisgros over the years.
During my third visit, my now-fiancée and I decided that we should get married while visiting the Jardin des Curiosités, overlooking the entire presqu'ile. It’s something I’ll remember forever, along with the 24-hours of suffering from food poisoning after eating a delicious tartare de boeuf which almost derailed my proposal plans.
At the Jardin des Curiosités in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Most recently, I spent five days in Lyon in November 2024 on a small solo trip ahead of meeting my fiancée in Bologna. It was a fitting culmination of all my past trips and a wonderful mix of old and new; the obligatory trip up Fourvière, a spectacular evening at Les Grandes Locos as part of the Biennale de Lyon, and return visits to La Mère Brazier, Regain, and Troisgros.
A portion of the 17th Biennale de Lyon at Les Grandes Locos, a repurposed SNCF maintenance station throughout the 20th century.
Getting to and staying in Lyon
The bank of the Saône river.
If you’re flying to France, the best way to arrive in Lyon is catching a TGV INOUI service from Charles de Gaulle airport. Even after extensive train travel in France, the novelty of landing in Paris, ordering a cafe allongé, boarding a train within the airport train station, and arriving in Lyon two hours later still amuses me. Services to Lyon Part-Dieu are frequent, while the lower-cost TGV OUIGO services also stop at Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport—this is fine, but you’ll need to find a way to the city center via Part-Dieu, via the Rhônexpress, with tickets close to 17€.
While Airbnb has lost its luster over the past several years, I still find it to be a great first source when looking for places to stay longer-term in Lyon. Additionally, if you’re planning to stay longer, it’s great to rent directly from an immobilier; see this one who I had a wonderful experience with in Lyon for an extended stay.
Staying on the presqu'ile north of Perrache is a solid choice for your first visit; while the city is small and walkable, it’s great to be centrally located for accessing the entire city. And, while the metro is fast, reliable, cheap, and convenient, you may find that walking is the easiest way to explore the area. (Well, aside from Croix-Rousse and Fourviere depending on your mobility.) On my most recent visit, I decided to stay across the Rhône in the 6ème arrondissement near Foch station; away from the presqu’ile, it was a quiet, residential, and a little more luxe, known for being the city’s more residential bourgeois quarter.
Eating in Lyon
La Mère Brazier
A Lyonnais institution, famously reopened by Mathieu Viannay (Meilleur ouvrier de France, 2004), will be the gastronomic highlight of your first visit to Lyon. This is not secret information—Bill Buford’s account of working at La Mère Brazier (and his other Lyonnais adventures) are profiled in his magnificent novel Dirt, a must-read for anyone planning a trip to Lyon. More on that another time.
The 98€ lunch menu is a stupendous value, comprising three courses of your choice with far more arriving at your table throughout the afternoon. My fiancée and I celebrated our engagement with lunch here. Whether for dinner or lunch, there is always a take on Mère Brazier’s artichaut et foie gras, a classic brilliantly reinvented by Viannay. The ris de veau is spectacular, served in a grenobloise style the last time I visited. For those that are able, the poularde de bresse en deux services is a showstopper; the chicken presented whole, with the legs and thighs cooked longer for a second service. It’s probably better for a celebratory dinner. The wine selection is also outstanding, as expected, and reasonably priced—it’s probably best to order by the glass as a solo diner.
The customary welcome with a tranche of pâte croûte (or pâte en croûte); another brilliant interpretation of artichaut et foie gras; the ris de veau with parsnip; a hazelnut soufflé.
Boulangerie Les Frères Barioz
When I returned to Lyon for my second visit, this boulangerie was a stop every morning on my way to school. The viennoiseries are spectacular (look at the layers!) including the pain suisse, a gluttonous combination of creme patisserie and chocolate. I recently paid $5.75 + 10.75% tax + 20% service fee at one of Chicago’s best bakeries for a croissant; they’re about 1/8th the cost here.
Selections from Frères Barioz over the years; pain au chocolat, croissants, et pain suisse au chocolat.
REYNON traiteur
Watch the Parts Unknown episode on Lyon, and you’ll see Bourdain attempt to stuff sausages at Reynon—thankfully, all the saucisson sold here are made by much more deft talent. For all of your charcuterie needs, this is the place to go. I love their classic saucisson sec, while you can also purchase the classic rosette de Lyon, or both if you’re there for a long time. Their saucisson are hung on the walls around the store, and it’s a ton of fun to pick your own piece of encased meat.
The classic saucisson sec from Reynon; the store is worth a visit, and you can also buy the classic rosette de Lyon.
Regain
We enjoyed a nearly-perfect weeknight dinner at Regain after a day visiting Beaujolais, and even our tartare-averse friend thought the tartare de veau was fantastic. The dinner menu in four services was a steal at 55€. My second visit was during lunch and was even more of an outstanding value. It’s a beautifully-appointed restaurant, especially if you’re able to sit along the windows.
Lunch selections at Regain in November 2024.
Troisgros
If you’re into this type of thing, Troisgros in Ouches is worth a visit at least once in your life. I’ve been fortunate to go three times, each a distinctly-unique experience. I have much more to say about my three visits to Troisgros, now under the deft talent of César Troisgros, and will link that once published.
