Lovely Lyon

LYON is the third largest city in France, the capital of the region of Rhone and my first area explored outside of Paris. Matt was the vehicule for getting us to Lyon (figuratively, the high-speed TGV train was the literal vehicule). At the end of May, he visited a collaborator’s lab there, giving him another good excuse (besides yours truly) for a fourth trip to France. In addition, his visit happened to coincide with a 1-day conference on viral drug resistance, a topic that happens to touch on both of our research. Thereby, even giving me another good excuse for a “sejour.” And, what could be romantic in the very picturesque town of Lyon than attending a science meeting together?!

To see all the pictures(que) for yourself, link to http://lyonmay2007.shutterfly.com

I aint LYIN’ when I say I was LOVIN’ LYON. (I blame my pitiful play on words on a deteriorating grasp of the English language…) Matt and I took advantage of being on the outskirts of the city for the conference to visit the charming and proper park of Lyon: Le Parc de la Tete d’Or. Despite its name, I encountered not one head of gold, and I think such a thing would be hard to miss! Especially because we allowed ourselves a nice slow meander through the park after our original plans to rent bikes were thwarted. Lyon is well-known for its “Velo’V” rent-a-bike system. The pick-up and drop-off stations would be super accessible, and indeed we saw more Lyonnais on rented city velo’s than their own, if they were only not French-operated. As such, they were convoluted and required special cards and information not available to the standard tourist.*



Matt’s host lab was looking out for us, and put us up in a hotel smack dab in the heart of Lyon. The hotel itself, Hotel Bayard, was a bit of let-down after reading on their website the promise of “period-decorated rooms.” (Matt and I got the 1993 period.) But it was something to be in the heart of Lyon, which is the “Prequ’il” or “almost peninsula.” A slab of land that juts out, dividing the Rhone and Saone rivers. Etymologists may differ but Lyonnais claim that the Rhone is a man, the Saone a woman. You can see the PG-13 rated statue depicting their “meeting” just below.



Lyon has culture up to its red-roof tops and oozing out its traboules. Like Paris and, well, probably every European city, Lyon was founded by the ancient Romans. But, unlike Paris, Lyon has artifacts that have lived to tell about it. The stones in the Lyonnais forum, for example, were not completely ransacked and reincarnated as a city wall to protect from invaders, as happened in Paris. And the city also escaped WWII destruction. As a result, there is a Vieux Lyon district that really IS old.



Just a short walk from our hotel room, across one of the many bridges, and Matt and I could check out the old quarter. In the narrow streets, there are bouchons, literally corkscrews, but really tiny restaurants, a plenty. I have the impression, and I think I am right, that no matter which bouchon you stumbled into, you would end up with a fine meal. Many of the narrow streets themselves are interconnected by these hidden “traboules,” or tunnels between buildings. We never quite ventured into a traboule, mostly because the doors to them are unmarked and we heard you could get lost for the day. A short ride up the very vertical funiculaire car and you ascend to the top of the Fourviere hill, the site of the original Roman settlement, and the forums. As a compliment to the ancient, there are some rather new buildings atop the Fourviere hill: A huge glitzed-out and not unkitschy Basilica and a miniature Eiffel Tower (and they say they do not want to be Parisians!)



The sites were great, the history was great, but who am I kidding??-- Our first priority was the FOOD. As any Lyonnais was quick to point out, their city is the French capital of gastronomy. (Perhaps, in a small way, this is their consolation prize for losing the fight with Paris to be the REAL capital of France.) Our first night we dined at the recommended Comptoir des Marronniers. Actually part of a chain AND on one of the more touristy streets. But, of course, the meal was excellent. Matt had a sublime Mediterranean salad and a very typical dish, cassoulet (in America, it would be called pork and beans). Me, my theme was fluffy: I started with a whipped salmon and egg appetizer and then a mousselet (velvety white fish mousse, much better than it sounds). The restaurant itself was decorated with homages to the region’s culinary accomplishments. For me, their plaque listing the Nobel Prize Chefs took the cake. We sat next to two Lyonnais on official business. They were trying to convince their Japanese guest to some sort of agreement. Of the many doozies they told him was that, if you have only ONE glass of wine with your meal there, you will be regarded as very strange, and possibly on your death bed. ONLY in LYON!

Finally, some other Lyonnais curiosities: The brothers Lumiere who invented the first color film (if I remember correctly) were from Lyon. Supposedly, when they got caught up in some brotherly rivalry, Mr. Kodak scooped their invention and all the money from the patent. Another supposed fact is that Lyon is the origin of murals. True, many buildings had one entire side covered in an elaborate trompe l’oiel scene. Word is that these sides were exposed after really old neighboring buildings had to be leveled. A Lyonnais artist decided murals would be a good way to beautify. Thirdly, besides gastronomy, Lyon may be a capital for miniatures. An entire museum is devoted to miniature houses, restaurants, any scene you can imagine. In other words, every young girls dream!



*An aside: The Velo’V system has been so successful in Lyon that Paris is adapting its own version. I have anxiously been monitoring the progress of the stations, set to open 15 July, one right across from where I live, another right near where I take ballet class. You may wonder why, after my blog about my wonderful new bike, I would need a rented velo. Alas, said wonderful new bike was stolen two days after I posted the blog. So 15 July cannot come soon enough!