Lyon - The gourmet metropolis
Mik is known to be an epicure. She loves to sit back on her travels and let the impressions sink in. What could be better than a relaxing train ride via Geneva to Lyon? Equipped with a practical trolley suitcase and her beloved weekender bag, she set off for the French gourmet capital for a few days at the beginning of summer.
With more than half a million inhabitants, Lyon is France's third-largest city. But that doesn't change its relaxedness, which it virtually hurls at visitors' feet as they explore. Lyon is relaxed and tempts you to slow down and indulge. Moreover, Provence with its incomparable light, the natural treasures and lush farm gardens of the Ardèche, the vast plains of the Rhone Valley and the endless vineyards of the Beaujolais are not far away.
Lyon impresses with a unique mix of culinary delights, architecture and savoir-vivre. There are, for example, grand bourgeois palaces and squares or the Art Nouveau and Renaissance grandeur of Presqu'île. The narrow peninsula situated between the two rivers Rhone and Saône is the business centre of Lyon. Here you will find department stores, boutiques and restaurants as well as numerous magnificent buildings and cultural sights. And the Rue de la République, the longest pedestrian zone in Europe, runs right through the middle of the central district.
Built from 1165 onwards, Saint-Jean Cathedral is a cultural monument in the Romanesque-Gothic style and impresses with mosaics, shining gold paintings and imposing stained-glass windows. Like an eagle's nest, the white, four-towered landmark of Lyon dominates the Vieux Lyon district. It stands high above the banks of the Saône. In contrast, the pilgrimage church of Notre-Dame de Fourvière appears almost new. It was built from 1872 onwards and, together with other historical sites, has been part of Lyon's UNESCO World Heritage since 1998. The new Confluences district with its contemporary buildings by well-known architects such as Renzo Piano, Santiago Calatrava and Jean Nouvel is a hyper modern counterpart.
But Lyon is above all the gourmet metropolis of France, which makes gourmets rave in high tones. The south-eastern French city has over 4000 restaurants - more than a dozen of them decorated with stars. French celebrity chef Paul Bocuse influenced Lyon's culinary scene for decades, but it's actually the small, unassuming restaurants- called 'bouchons' - that make up Lyon's true gastronomic identity.
As a fashion travel bird, Mik of course always has an eye for beauty. To explore the diverse restaurant scene in the evening and at the same time always have the most important things at hand, her Swiss Made ladies' handbags from Pack Easy served perfectly.
Similar to Spanish flamenco or Argentinean tango, the unique French cuisine is an intangible UNESCO World Heritage Site. So it is not surprising that the 'Cité internationale de la gastronomie' is to be created by 2023. The aim is to bring all areas of gastronomy under one roof, presenting all professions from agriculture to food processing industries and the culinary arts side by side. In the magnificent premises of the Grand Hôtel-Dieu and the Hôpital de la Charité, a unifying forum will be created that will introduce interested parties to areas such as agriculture, nutrition, health, gastronomy and catering.
