Lyon, France

 October 23-26, 2025

 


My first and unforgettable floating island with pink pralines. A beloved Lyonnaise speciality, pink pralines are almonds cooked in pink caramelized sugar. Then color is given by the natural dye, cochineal. The first recipe with pink pralines is Gâteau de Saint Genix created in 1860 by Pierre Labully in Saint-Genis-sur-Guiers. The pastry chef incorporated pralines into his dough which melted into his brioche.  

Here it is in a small brioche from Les Halles Lyon Paul Bocuse. 


With that introduction, you probably are correctly guessing the Lyon France is a magnet for foodies. 
Day one both lunch and dinner were the worst of the trip!  I was worried, but things really improved for the next couple of days. 

The most traditional food from Lyon is Quenelles. Pike fish/Brochet in a crayfish sauce is the standard, so I tried it at Giraudet in Les Halles Lyon Paul Bocuse. 

Many others to choose from,  

John opted for pumpkin quenelles with a tomatoes sauce. 


There's interesting architecture in Lyon, some dating back to Roman and early Christian times and also very contemporary buildings in the new Confluence (named because the Rhône and Saône Rivers join) that we enjoyed from our boat tour included with the city pass

 




We enjoyed  both the architecture and the collection at the Lugdunum Museum  that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage setting.





bottom row: jewelry, perfumed holder fish and very early Christian epitaphs. 



For me, the highlight is the Basilica of Notre Dame of Fourvière
 
I loved the inside, especially in the crypt  with statues of Mary from around the world. 


Philippines and Brazil are two of many. 


There were still blooms at the end of October 




NOTES:  
Getting around  We purchased 2 City Pass cards for 110 Euro for 3 days. This allowed us to use all forms of public transportation as well as entrance to museums, and tours. We enjoyed the boat tour  and the Lugdunum museum. 
 
Lyon was tough. Two relatively expensive meals from highly rated restaurants were very disappointing. John has read what a foodie place this is, but we haven’t successfully navigated to that. The last restaurant was good enough, but we did better in Avignon. In the end, I decided to stick to bakery meals. There’s always sandwiches, quiches, pizza; as well as some even have take away to reheat meals. 













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