Lyon: France’s gourmet capital

I’ve just taken Lyon’s cable car up to the top of Fourvière Hill, the perfect spot for a bird’s-eye view over this majestic city. The ancient funicular dates back to 1878, but has recently been renovated with gleaming new coaches, a little like the city itself, which is going through a renaissance, suddenly staking its place as one of Europe’s hot new weekend hideaways. Lyon boasts both Unesco World Heritage status and cutting-edge architecture by the likes of Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel and Santiago Calatrava. Traditional bistros are booming, alongside a new generation of creative young chefs in elegant fine-dining restaurants.

Culture lovers can choose between Old Masters displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts and avant-garde installations that regularly transform the Museum of Contemporary Art. Throughout the year, there’s always a surprising event energising Lyon, from biennales dedicated to dance, music and art, a cinema festival, classical concerts or techno raves, culminating in the famous Fête des Lumières at the beginning of December, when four million visitors marvel at the city spectacularly lit up for four nights.

Looking down, it’s clear how Lyon has logically evolved from the grandiose Roman ruins that mark its beginnings up here on the hill, running below to the bank of the Saône River with the grand mansions of medieval Vieux Lyon, and across to the baroque splendour of the Presqu’île neighbourhood. Then the metropolis stretches from the other side of the mighty Rhône River to the modern, 20th-century business quarter of La Part-Dieu and a whole new city-of-the-future, under construction at Confluence, where the Rhône and Saône merge.

The Romans rapidly made Lugdunum the capital of one of their Gaulish provinces, and if the French had followed their famed Cartesian logic, then Lyon, not ­Paris, would still be the French capital today, perfectly positioned in the centre of France’s “hexagon”. But it is only now that La Ville des Gones – The Kids’ City, as Lyon is known – is emerging from the shadow of Paris to become France’s fashionable new ­destination.

A local guide, Jérôme Fayet-Trevy, tells me that “tourism has suddenly taken off here. Lyon is being discovered by both the French themselves and foreign visitors, and I suspect we Lyonnais are all rather perplexed by this. Tourists used to be concentrated in Vieux Lyon, the historic centre, but now they realise that this is more than a day-trip destination and that it is worth taking time to explore the whole city.”

The one thing that everyone agrees on is that Lyon is France's capital of gastronomy, and I decide to head straight off on a foodie pilgrimage to the flagship restaurant of the world-famous chef Paul Bocuse. Lyon may be the birthplace of the likes of Le Petit Prince author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and the Lumière brothers, inventors of modern cinema, but the 88-year-old chef towers over ­everyone. You can book a table in one of his numerous, reasonably priced brasseries dotted all over the city, or the new gourmet restaurant of his cooking school, while all of Lyon meets for weekend shopping in the teeming food market, Les Halles Paul Bocuse (102 Cours Lafayette; www.hallespaulbocuse.lyon.fr), a cornucopia of stalls selling foie gras, oysters, truffles, cheeses and irresistible macaroons. You can even take a selfie of yourself with the great man – not in person, but in front of his mural at Place Saint-Vincent, probably the most-photographed of the 200 evocative frescoes that decorate the city.

But I can't resist the ultimate gastronomic treat: a 10-minute taxi ride for lunch in Bocuse's L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges (40 Quai de la Plage, Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or; www.bocuse.fr; 0033 4 7242 9090), which has been awarded three Michelin stars for an incredible 49 years. I can only describe the experience as travelling back in time, from the delightfully kitsch decor and impeccable old-school service to dishes that have no connection to current cuisine trends but are simply out of this world – unforgettable pike "quenelle" dumplings in a sumptuous crayfish Nantua sauce; a delicate truffle soup from a presidential recipe dating back to 1975; and a never-ending dessert trolley where the waiter persuades you to sample everything from crème brûlée and île flottante to a wicked chocolate cake.

Although Monsieur Paul, as everyone refers to him, still comes in every morning, the chef Christophe Muller oversees the day-to-day running of the kitchens, and explains that “here you will find the traditions of French gastronomy, no new fashions or fads like Adria’s molecular or Noma’s foraging. All chefs eventually return to the basics of cuisine that Monsieur Paul has always practised – the preparation of sauces. I remember when I recently cooked in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, no one could understand why we started our day preparing sauces early each morning – but that is the secret of Bocuse’s ­cuisine.”

The great majority of Lyon's attractions are found on the two opposing banks of the Saône, Vieux Lyon on one side, Presqu'île on the other, all within walking distance. Although tour groups crowd the narrow streets of the picturesque Vieux Lyon, the area has become something of a living museum, with too many tacky souvenir stores, despite its imposing Renaissance palaces and the grand Gothic cathedral. Checking out the so-called traditional Bouchon bistros, I also discover that many here are actually overpriced tourist rip-offs, apart from those displaying the official Bouchon sticker of a Guignol marionette, such as Les Lyonnais (19 Rue de la Bombarde; www.restaurant-lyonnais.com; 0033 4 7837 6482), with a menu that includes classics like a delicate chicken-liver gateau and the hearty "tablier de sapeur" (breaded beef tripe).

The secret attraction of Vieux Lyon are its unique traboules, which are medieval passages that run between streets, leading the visitor into a magical world of interior courtyards, ancient wells and fountains, stone galleries and soaring spiral staircases. Many are open to the public during the day, though visitors are expected to respect the inhabitants by keeping quiet, otherwise the traboules may one day be locked away. The one not to miss is Traboule de la Tour Rose at 22 Rue du Boeuf, which boasts a remarkable pink tower, and although many people prefer to follow a guide, a bit of simple detective work of pushing open doors can lead to some spectacular discoveries.

I cross the Saône over the pedestrian Palais de Justice bridge into the Presqu'île, the heart of Lyon, and this is where the serious sightseeing begins. Place Bellecour is Lyon's biggest square, marked by an imperious statue of Louis XIV, but the real buzzing city centre is Place des Terreaux, dominated by the grandiose baroque facade of the Town Hall. Here, you can sit out on a cafe terrace with a café au lait and croissant in front of an extravagant fountain with magnificent sculpted horses, then visit the adjacent Museum of Fine Arts, housed in a 17th-century former convent, with a collection that spans Rembrandt and Canaletto to Matisse and Picasso. Between these two grand squares runs Rue Édouard-Herriot, a shopping hub for French fashion labels such as Dior, Hermès, Cartier and Vuitton, while tucked away in side-streets are legendary bistros such as the Café des Fédérations (8 Rue Major Martin; www.lesfedeslyon.com; 0033 4 7828 2600) and Le Bouchon des Filles (20 Rue Sergent-Blandon; 0033 4 7830 4044), but also a new wave of affordable fine dining restaurants like Le Palégrié (8 Rue du Palais Grillet; www.palegrie.fr; 0033 4 7892 9484), where the young rising-star chef Guillaume Monjuré proposes a gourmet tasting menu for less than €40 (Dh197).

Foolishly deciding against hopping on the Metro, I set off from behind Place des Terreaux up the steep steps of the Montée de la Grande Côte, which leads up to the Croix-Rousse quarter. It’s quite a hike, but the views from the top are breathtaking. And the Croix-Rousse is a big contrast to the rest of this stately city: a lively, multi-ethnic neighbourhood, historically home to the workers of Lyon’s famed silk industry, today rapidly becoming a hip bohemian hangout, with vintage-clothes boutiques, retro antiques stores, funky young designers and a host of lively late-night bars and cafes. Above all, there’s the morning market, thronged with shoppers, stretching seemingly forever along Boulevard de la Croix-Rousse, with every kind of food stall imaginable. And for a change from traditional Lyonnais cuisine, the market has been invaded by France’s latest trend – food trucks – with Peshawar Express offering north Indian vegetarian curries and tandoori and Aklé cooking up halal Lebanese mezze and kofta.

In the evening, crowds gather in the leafy Place Bertone, either in the fashionable Õ Vins d’Anges, which specialises in Spanish-style tapas, or the old-fashioned Café de la Soie, which silk-workers used to frequent after clocking off. Later in the night, there’s often live music at locales such as Le Bistro Broc.

Being an unabashed chocoholic, I leave one gourmet delight until last: a visit to Bernachon (42 Cours Franklin Roosevelt; www.bernachon.com), a great French chocolatier that makes its own chocolate by choosing and roasting beans. "Because then I have my own secret recipe of different beans from around the world," explains Philippe Bernachon, a gentle giant of a man, "before even starting to be creative in the kitchen." Be warned, though: from the moment that you smell the tantalising aromas wafting out onto the street, it's easy to get totally carried away in this chocolate paradise.

weekend@thenational.ae

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