A walk round Vieux Lyon

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast at the Grand Cafe des Negociants which I'd spotted out of the taxi window the night before. Being tourists, we had the full petit dejeuner which cost 9.80 euros, whereas most of the locals seemed to make do with just a coffee. You could spot the difference between tourists and locals quite easily as we were dressed for summer whereas locals were muffled up in coats, scarves etc. It was actually quite windy, so I see where they were coming from.

After breakfast, we wandered north to locate our destination for the evening, and there was a certain amount of getting lost and having to get the map out etc. but eventually we did manage to find it, and then we crossed the river over to Vieux Lyon, the old/hilly bit on the left side of the Saone. We soon found ourselves in a charming square with an old-fashioned railway station, Gare Saint-Paul. Then we found some old streets to walk along.

We came to some stairs, which we decided to climb. Halfway up was a little house on the side, where two black and white cats were sitting on the windowsill. I was able to persuade one of them to come over and see us.

The other one wouldn't come closer, and G was convinced that someone would come out with a shotgun and shoot me if I trespassed on their property by going up to it, so it didn't get stroked and rolled around in the sun by itself instead.

View of staircase with black and white cat

After that, we walked along a street gradually winding upwards, and eventually reached the Parc des Hauteurs, which was absolutely idyllic and had an amazing view over the city.

We came to the basilica, where there were lots of tourists, most of whom seemed to have arrived in coach parties. We decided to go back down the hill.

A golden Jesus looking down on the proceedings

At the bottom, we walked along another charming street and then reached Antic Wines, one of the shops on my list. I hadn't realised what a treasure trove this place would turn out to be. We spent some considerable time there and located some choice items to buy, which I can't reveal just yet. Then, just as we were leaving, the bloke behind the counter told us that there was a little room at the back that we could visit, and also more stuff in the cellar downstairs.

Little room at the back

The cellar was reached by a dangerous-looking stone staircase missing the first step but it was worth the effort. It was full of the most amazing rarities - not just Rhone wines but also a lot of champagne, claret and Burgundy. It was all mostly beyond my price range, but very interesting to see that they had it. The sort of place one would return to if one's Premium Bond ever came up.

I was particularly tempted by this magnum of tres vieux marc de bourgogne, but had to resist!

We returned to the main body of the shop to collect my purchases, and found that a small gathering had formed and a chap with a fine moustache had brought along an old bottle of champagne to celebrate his birthday - it was the same year as him (1959 if memory serves). We were offered a glass, and it was very good, with a slight petillance. Another customer said it reminded her of fino sherry, and I could just about see what she meant. The atmosphere was very jolly at this point and the owner made a a comment about how they were also celebrating the fact that Francois Hollande had left the country. A little bit of politics! G was asked whether he was in the trade, and replied that we were amateurs which they seemed to like. Eventually we left, feeling very happy to have discovered the place and it would be top of my list for a visit if we ever return to Lyon, which I hope we do.

We then wandered further down the street and came to a square where there were a lot of touristy restaurants, not really what we were looking for, so we kept going, past a church where a wedding had just taken place, and soon came to a narrow cobbled street called Rue de la Fronde and this wine bar, called La Coulée Douce. The place seemed to be completely empty and had a couple of tables outside in the shade so we grabbed one and proceeded to have a wonderful lunch consisting of a glass of white, a glass of a juicy Fleurie, some saucisson, some Tomme, and a tomato salad. It was exactly what we had been looking for.