From Beaujolais to Nice, My 2018 France Vacation - Day 3

Today we met Wladimir’s wife Virginie who took us for a stroll in the old Lyon district. We decided to start early so that we could avoid the crowds from the cruises, who were now becoming one major source of tourists visiting the city. Our first stop was Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere.

We deliberately took the subway to experience how the locals would do their commune. The train was quite decent but the overall system was a bit confusing, and we had to change to another line before arriving at the tram station to take the short ride uphill.

Located on the Fourviere hill overlooking the city, the site had always been a spiritual centre in Lyon, with a church built in the Middle Ages honouring Virgin Mary and St. Thomas of Cantebury. When the black plague devastated Europe in the 17^th century, the ritual began with the mayor going to the church to offer prayers to seek protection for the city.

In 1870, when the war with Prussia was raging the Lyonnais prayed and promised to build a big church to honour Mary if Lyon could be spared. The prayer was answered and in due course the construction started in 1872, and by 1897 the church was formally recognized as a basilica.

Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we could not stop ourselves from gaping at the grandeur of the interiors. The basilica had a high ceiling and three cupolas, beautifully decorated with sculptures, stained glass windows, mosaic, all showing the life and stories of Virgin Mary. Everything was a master piece of art and you could easily spend a whole day looking and admiring all the wonders.

Leaving the basilica we saw a metal tower reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Checking with Virginie, she told us it was designed by the same person, Gustave Eiffel. She further shared the interesting story that in order to show its power, when the tower was built and found higher than the basilica, the church decided to add an anti-thunder rod to beat the tower in height.

After savouring the view of the city from the hill, we took the walk back to the old city, via the walkways in the park, during which Virginie told us the city was now a centre of scientific research mainly because of the famous scientist Louis Pasteur, who decided to set up the labs and work in Lyon. The city now had a high-security lab for disease control housing the deadliest virus on earth.

In no time we were back at the old city, and we only knew by then how close everything was located together. The path leading down from the basilica in fact came to Rue du Boeuf, the same street where we had dinner the night before. But instead of taking the painful walk up all the steps, Virginie made it much easier for us by going downhill which we were deeply thankful.

We then arrived at Brochier Soieries, a shop specializing in silk fabric since 1890. The family had dedicated to keep the 16^th century Lyon traditional industry alive. Now in the fourth generation, they also had close collaboration with a lot of artists (like Picasso and Monet) to recreate their creations on fabric.

Going inside Virginie took us to the back of the shop where they showed how the patterns were manually printed onto the fabric, as well as how the silk were woven in the first place. It was fascinating and we both liked the designs very much. In the end we bought a scarf of their renown pattern for my mother, and another for Ivy, featuring the design of street artist Jake (€445).

Ivy then asked the owner how to properly tie the knot of the scarf, and seeing how interested we were on his goods, he gave us two sets of special edition coffee mugs from the same street artist for free. Thanking him, we continued the city tour with Virginie. And to our surprise she opened a door of a building nearby and asked us to go in.

Passing through the dimly lit passage we ended in a courtyard. We saw circular brownish orange coloured tower with spiral staircase, completely different than the design of the neighbourhood. Virginie told us that these were in fact Italian architecture. As Lyon was already a trading hub during the Renaissance, it attracted a lot of Italian merchants, bringing along their local culture.

We also saw that these buildings were still inhibited, and wondered whether tourists like us walking into the courtyard would cause a lot of disturbance. Virginie told us that the city council had ‘sponsored’ the tenants with lighting and cleaning by making some of these passageways public, but travellers were always expected to respect the privacy and kept noise to a minimum.

These passageways also served as a convenient shortcut between the parallel streets in the old city. With one building adjacent to another, if one had to go from one street to the next the only way was to go to the end of the block. But with these ‘shortcuts’ it solved that problem handily. A smart design but to navigate these labyrinth might not be easy for an outsider.

Further on the street we visited a few interesting shops, including one souvenir shop also featuring as a museum for the puppet characters Guignol and friends. Guignol was modelled as a worker for the silk industry, with quick wits and sharp comments on politics and current affairs, well-liked by both the children and adult since the puppet shows started in 1804.

We also visited La Confiserie du Vieux Palais, which specialized in the popular green ‘coussins’. The sweet was a Lyon specialty, with candied almond paste wrapping a chocolate ganache. It was inspired from the ritual of people offering a wax candle and golden shield on a silk cushion to Virgin Mary in the Basilique de Fourviere.

The shop assistant was kind enough to provide us a piece to try, and while the taste was good, it was just too sweet for the Asian palate. We decided to skip this but it would be a nice souvenir to bring back home.

Continuing on the stroll we came to Pralus, a bakery specializing in Brioche aux Pralines, another traditional product. Made from almond and caramelized sugar, with the red colouring highlighting this traditional confectionery. The brioche on its own was terrific in taste, just out of the oven, warm, soft and rich in buttery notes. A must-try in my opinion.

Virginie then took us to Les Adrets, the restaurant we booked for lunch. This was one of the local favourites, located also on Rue du Boeuf. While we came right at noon time when the restaurant just started, within a short period all the tables were occupied, really showing how popular it was, and you could tell most of the customers were locals too.

We ordered the set lunch, with Ivy going for the smoked salmon while I had chosen the gazpacho with ham. They were both delicious. It might look simple but the intensity of all the flavours and the colour of the dish really was fantastic. Another interesting thing to note was that the meal was served with a bottle of house wine and I believed was included already in the price.

For the main course Ivy had the roasted pork loin with cream sauce while I had the Lyon local delicacy, which unfortunately I could not recall the name, but was essentially an egg custard like pudding and paired with an aioli sauce. It was creamy and silky soft, with a nice savoury flavour which paired well with the aioli. No wonder Virginie asked me to try this earlier.

On the dessert I had the creamy goat cheese with a raspberry sauce while Ivy went for a peach sorbet and mousse. The cheese was very rich, and was a perfect match with the slightly sweet raspberry sauce, while the tartness of the fruit balanced the palate. It was a very enjoyable lunch for us.

With the two sets and a bottle of water the total bill was only €37, a very good value for money meal in any standards. Like Le Tire Bouchon we had dinner the night before, I strongly recommended Les Adrets to anyone who wanted to sample the authentic Lyon cuisine and local dining experience.

Finishing lunch we continued to walk around the old city, trying the popular ice-cream shop Terre Adelice. This shop had a very long queue when we passed by the night before, and today seeing the queue was much shorter I decided to get a cup. With more than 150 different flavours to choose, I ended up having peach and raspberry, which were very good, not overly sweet and rich in flavours.

Then we walked to the ferry terminal to take the navettes, a type of passenger boat running the shuttle between St-Paul and Confluences, where we planned to visit. The boat came pretty on time and it was a comfortable ride. Reasonably priced at €4 per person, along the way we could enjoy the views along Saone River. The journey took about 20 minutes.

Unlike the St-Paul area which presented an old city atmosphere, the Confluences had many new buildings showing contemporary architectural designs. It was the area where the Saone and Rhone River met. The famous Musee des Confluences, a science museum, was located there, along with many nice residential and modern commercial buildings in the neighbourhood.

Just across the ferry terminal was the Confluences Mall, which was one of the biggest shopping mall in Lyon. Compared with what we were used to in Asia, this mall was pathetically small however. Honestly there was not that many interesting shops to go by, and the varieties of merchandise were also fairly limited.

Quite disappointed, we only spent a short time walking around and decided to return to the hotel to take some rest. Taking the navettes back to St-Paul was less enjoyable because the shuttle was full of passengers and some had to even stand all the way. Fortunately we got seats but still by the time back at Hotel Silky we were pretty tired.

At around 18:45 our driver came to pick us up from the hotel to Paul Bocuse. Originally I booked the limousine service on Blacklane but they told me one day before my ride was cancelled without reason. If not for Wladimir’s help to arrange our transportation (€90), it would be quite messy for us. This was my first time trying Blacklane but would also be the last.

After a nice ride we arrived at Paul Bocuse, the renown restaurant with Michelin 3-star status since 1965. Paul Bocuse himself was regarded by many as the Pope of Gastronomy and was named Chef of the Century by the Culinary Institute of America in 2011. Passed away in Jan 2018 at the age of 91, he  was really the pinnacle of French cuisine in the modern era.

His restaurant was formally called Auberge du Pont de Collonges, with a Baroque theatre outlook in a façade of emblematic colours of green and orange, which could be close to outrageous and overbearing for some. It was once a hotel before Georges Bocuse (Paul’s father) bought it, and it was here Paul started his culinary journey since 1956.

The master of the house, dressed in fine attire, led us through the courtyard and welcomed us to our table. The restaurant was warmly lit, with paintings, photos and nice furniture decorating the whole environment, creating a luxurious yet cozy ambiance for the diners.

With a glass of Perrier Jouet Grand Brut (€20), we were served a nice tomato gazpacho with baked cheese stick while we perused the menu. Probably a no-brainer, we decided to go for the signature Menu Paul Bocuse with wine pairing (€80), in order to sample some of their most famous dishes.

Our first course was Amuse-Bouche de l’Auberge, a smoked salmon with chopped herbs on the brim, looked simple but was great in flavours and taste. A good start for our first Michelin 3-star experience outside Hong Kong.

Next was Lobster in an Iced Pouilly-Fuisse Court-Bouillon, with Ostera Caviar and Celery Cream. Several big chunks of lobster meat were served on top of the traditional poaching broth prepared with white wine, giving acidity and bringing out freshness of the delicate lobster. The celery cream plus one of the most prized and expensive caviar gave an extra layer of flavours to the dish. It was simply gorgeous. I paired it with a glass of Domaine Faury Condrieu 2016.

The third course was Truffle Soup V.G.E. created for French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing in 1975, when Paul was presented the title of Knight of the Legion of Honour. A chicken and beef soup with grated truffles wrapped in puff pastry, it was so inspirational, great in both aroma, taste and appearance. We had seen many re-creations everywhere in the world but now we knew where it was originated. Paired with Domaine Michelot Meursault Narvaux 2013.

The fourth course was Red Mullet dressed in Crusty Potato Scales. Beautifully rendered, the small potato slices were put on the fish to look like the scales, and the crispy texture gave a big contrast to the delicate fish underneath, which is on top of a fantastic sauce, with the balsamic vinegar presented similar to latte art. My favourite in the evening as it offered perfect balance on texture, flavour and body, plus visually stunning. Paired with Claude Riffault Sancerre les Chasseignes 2017.

Next was Beaujolais Winemaker’s Sherbet, served on a metal disk that was used in the old times for wine tasting. We had got a similar one from an previous visit to Clos de Vougeot in Bourgogne and interesting to see one being used to serve the sherbet made from Gamay grape juice to cleanse our palate.

The sixth course Bresse Chicken Cooked in a Bladder ‘a la Mere Fillioux’, with truffles stuffed under the skin of the chicken and cooked in a pig bladder. Coming out like an inflated balloon, it was carved at the table and we were immediately bombard with the phenomenal aromas. The chicken was tender with a delicate underlying truffle note, and provided culinary satisfaction to the fullest. Another great dish. Paired with Chateau Marsannay Marsannay Les Echezots 2014.

Next came the Selection of Fresh and Matured Cheese from ‘La Mere Richard’. A huge basket of cheese was presented to us with many varieties, and it was not easy to choose. Apparently they came from a famous cheese-maker. I was already very full so I only had a small slices from two types of cheese, which were good in taste. Paired with Domaine Semaska Cote Rotie Chateau Montlys 2015.

The next dish was something that really surprised me. On the menu it said Delicacies and Temptations. When it came there were two carts full of desserts of various styles, all beautifully decorated and appealing. The feast on sight was already rewarding but unfortunate I could only sample two because of my already bursting stomach.

Finally it was the Fantasies and Chocolates, and I also ordered a Espresso to help my digestion. Again artistically presented and tasty, it was good that these were of bite size so I could finish them to wrap up for a great meal, and also paying tribute to this great chef who was the icon for French cuisine.

The total bill for the dinner was €676 which was not cheap, but considering the overall experience including quality of the food, service and dining environment, plus all the interesting stories about Paul Bocuse himself, it was well worth coming to this restaurant, to enjoy the culinary luxury and experience the legacy of this great French chef.