It has been hard not to scroll through the endless embarrassment of incompetence and arrogance, dissing the educated while our government hangs its dirty laundry on the global stage. I wonder how this ends, but it appears never to end, instead continuing to fall down an endless abyss with no bottom. But we are on vacation, so there are things to do and places to eat.
We had dinner at Socces before leaving for Lyon the next morning. The restaurant has a super cool vibe, where old looks new, and I was excited about finally getting here. They were able to make me my favorite drink, a cold cup of Vodka, a big bonus in Paris, although many places are now offering cocktails.
Everything went downhill from there, which is such a bummer. The entire kitchen seemed off, so perhaps something was going on. It was the stale bread that was unacceptable in a city of countless bakeries making delicious baguettes.
The next morning, we got up and went to Lyon—a simple two-hour train ride. After dropping our bags off at our hotel, we went directly to the Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse. Paul François Pierre Bocuse, based in Lyon, is known as “the pope of gastronomy.” The food of this region is called Lyonnaise.
Chez Antonin, which has been open since 1906, was our first taste—oysters from Utah Beach, Brittany, and langoustines.
The charcuterie is taken very seriously.
The pate wrapped in dough tastes as good as it looks. The salami was perfect. Hard around the ends, soft, chewy, and fatty in the middle. Extremely rich.
Saucisson brioche is a soft brioche wrapped around a sausage, Lyon style. I am a sucker for pigs in a blanket, so except for the lack of mustard to dip this into it, it was delicious.
This cheese is regional – rich, creamy, and tart at the same time. We saved this for later.
The pink praline is famous here. They bake it into brioche, or small breads, or on a light cracker. A sugar rush and very sweet.
A glass of chartreuse wrapped up our grazing lunch.
After a bit of rest, we went out to O Vins Anges, an incredible wine bar.
The owner is charming and has been there for 15 years. We had a bottle, a plate of pickled vegetables, bread, and, of course, our cheese that I had been carrying around all day.
The perfect start to our evening.
We hemmed and hawed over dinner. Do we do the Paul Bocuse dinner, which is a major experience, or go to a local Lyonnaisse bistro? We opted for Daniel and Denise, the perfect call.
First course of a seasonal salad, and more local pate.
The second course consisted of chicken and morels (local specialties), a roasted leg of lamb, and a pike quenelle (lightly poached fish combined with eggs and breadcrumbs, shaped into an egg and poached with cream on top). It was fun and good, but I couldn’t eat like this very often.
The following morning was a total bust—we went to Boulangerie (Maison) Henri Gay for croissants. They won the best croissant in France in 2023, and we all found that hard to believe, unless they hit the peak and have taken a serious dive. The croissant was bland, dry, and so uninteresting that nobody ate more than a bite. A major drawback was that we had to make a train so we were all starving.
Once we got back to Paris, we dumped our luggage and went over to Chez Bob de Tunis. This place is old school.
The inside couldn’t be replicated if someone tried.
The menu appears to offer different options, but we are convinced that it is tuna served in various buns or on a platter with bread on the side. Bottom line, delicious tuna mixed with capers, potatoes, lemon, pickled vegetables, black olives (although one had a pit in it – not good), and spicy harissa over the top. Simply good.
We leave tomorrow, and will report on dinner in a later post.
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