Lunch in Vieux Lyon, Lyon, France

It was only a short 3-night trip to Burgundy but my friends Di and Tam filled it with some wonderful outings, always with an eye to good food and wine, and so it felt like a really good break. My flight home from Lyon on Friday wasn’t until late afternoon and so the plan was to look round Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) in the morning, take a trip up the funicular for a view, have lunch, and then they’d drop me at the airport.

Well, as we know, ‘the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry’ (Robert Burns, translated from Scottish). A bouchon - traffic jam - doubled our journey time into Lyon from their home further north, past Macon, and thus by the time we’d parked in Lyon, the funicular ride and various other plans had to be dropped. Instead we just took a short stroll round Vieux Lyon near the restaurant where a table had been booked for lunch. It was however a lovely little walk. This was a different part of Lyon to where they took me last year and I loved it. I even contemplated that another time I should spend a couple of days in Lyon and combine it with a visit to them.

Vieux Lyon is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon and one of the most extensive Renaissance districts in Europe. It was named an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. The 5th arrondissement - where we were - was created in 1852 as one of five inaugural districts of Lyon and today is the most iconic and a major tourist attraction. Situated on the west side of the city, the 5th arrondissement lies at the base of the Fourvière Hill. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).