FINAL DAY IN LYON

Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse

Success. We made it to Les Halles, the Mecca of Munchies. It's a large, modern building with six or eight long isles of shoppes, all of them displaying their goods as if their proud owners were awaiting a photo shoot for Gourmet Magazine.

 

Fish laid out in a semi-circle on crushed ice, lobsters including—I kid you not—a blue one swimming about in a tank, boxes of assorted chocolates, pastries that defy description, steaks competing for pride of place over perfectly carved chops of lamb, bottles of wines with discrete price tags, tiny restaurants with fashionably slim ladies and gentlemen delicately cutting tiny portions of smoked salmon on a leaf of lettuce, and, of course, displays of dozens of dozens of kinds of cheeses. 

All had prices befitting their pride of place. Karin (maybe we shouldn't reveal this) bought a half dozen macarons carefully arranged in a dainty box, but Bob and Stew bravely resisted temptation

 And here's the kickers. We made our way there by public transportation even though the street out front was completely torn up and traffic was diverted enough that regular bus stops were ignored and temporary ones were placed on opposing streets! You were right, Margaret. The system is excellent. We used the trolly, buses, and underground Metro. The one thing we were missing was a map showing the bus routes. With that, I'm sure we would have had to walk much less, but thanks to Bob's navigational skills (that included a temper tantrum), we managed remarkably well, ending up, as planned, on the other side of the Saône River, having already passed over the Rhône. We thought we might have an ice cream cone for lunch at the Nardone Rene Glacier that according to Rick Steves has the best in town. However, the weather was raw, cold, and windy—so much so that my five layers of clothing felt as effective as holey tee shirt, and somehow the thought of a cone on a “pleasant outdoor seating on the river” did not appeal. We did succeed, however, in making a reservation at the Daniel & Denise - St Jean restaurant for

Daniel & Denise - St Jean, Vieux Lyon

this evening at seven—our splurge for our farewell dinner in Lyon.