Lyon France is a city alive with light, color and flavor.
It’s no coincidence that great advancements in motion pictures were made in Lyon by the Lumiere Brothers and surely no degree of happenstance that the city surrounds you with light and color today.
No less can be said for the city’s food traditions – Lyon is in France after all. Brightly colored treats abound in the patisseries and markets, and the flavors are as vivid as the colors.
Les Halles De Paul Bocuse
Lyon is a city devoted to food at all levels and there is so much variety of delicious food throughout the city. Renowned chef and restaurateur Paul Bocuse was based in Lyon. The main city market, Les Halles de Lyon – Paul Bocuse, carries the late chef’s name in tribute to his culinary contributions.
In addition to fancy restaurants and markets, there are restaurants of every level including bouchons such as Café des Fédérations, which we loved and will write about later. French desserts and pastries are everywhere, and we became partial to Voisin as well as the fantastic Sève.
Lyon At Night
The Rhone and Saone rivers sparkle at night. It’s hard to take a bad photo in this city.
Lumiere Museum
We arrived in Lyon, ready for a city experience and happy to be in one place for several nights. Our first stop was the Lumiere Museum, situated in the former Lumiere home and studio, a grand nouveau art building. Seeing the old film equipment and grainy old movies was a blast to the cinema past.
Lyon B&B
We then headed to our hotel where our hosts warmly greeted us with local wine, savory olives and city maps.
Walk To Dinner In Lyon
There was no rest for the travel-weary, so we put on our walking shoes and headed to dinner via a long walk along the Rhone and up to the Croix-Rousse neighborhood.
Dinner At Le Canut Et Les Gones
We had good food and a nice bottle of wine at a non-touristy restaurant with kitschy decor – Le Canut et Les Gones. We were happy for the long walk home after indulging in three courses plus the amuse-bouche. We mosied back to the hotel after dinner, happy for the comfortable bed and ready to explore the city further.
After less than a day, we already knew that Lyon was our kind of city. In an odd way, it quite reminded us of our home city, Philadelphia. Both cities live under the shadow of other cities (Paris and New York).
Both are underrated cities, with much to offer culturally, culinarily and historically. Definitely our kind of city.
Hungry For More In Lyon?
Check out our Lyon Food Guide and Lyon Coffee Guide for great food and drink options in Lyon.
About The Authors
Daryl & Mindi Hirsch
Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on their website 2foodtrippers. Since launching the site in 2012, they’ve traveled to over 40 countries in their quest to bring readers a unique taste of the world.
Original Publication Date: October 29, 2012
Trish Sebastian
Friday 18th of December 2015
Lyon is LOVE. Dying to go back!
Dannielle Lily
Thursday 9th of July 2015
My mouth is watering at all those treat!
Debra Kolkka
Sunday 25th of November 2012
We had one of the best meals we have ever eaten in Lyon, in an unassuming restaurant. The food markets in the square were fabulous too.
dhu78
Wednesday 21st of November 2012
I'm so so glad you liked Lyon! I'm in the city now, until December, and it's starting to feel like home!
flaneriefeminine
Tuesday 30th of October 2012
Very nice post! And I love the colors of the desserts :-)
Daryl and Mindi Hirsch
Tuesday 30th of October 2012
Thank you! We brought a small cake home to a pastry chef friend, and she was impressed by both the colors and the flavors. They really know how to bake in Lyon.