Praline, typical Lyonnais dessert

Fine dining and Lyon go hand in hand, and Paul Bocuse represents both. One might question his lifestyle or the price of his restaurants, but undoubtably, Paul Bocuse is associated with Lyon as much as the little bouchons in Vieux-Lyon. The food hall named after him assembles Lyonnais and French delicacies and Lyon’s elite connoisseurs (and tourists). The types of food you think are too stereotyped to be actually eaten by any French person, there they are, presented to you in this giant hall of food heaven. The eye is soon overwhelmed by the buzzing atmosphere and rows and rows of eye candy while the autochthon gourmet enjoys his huîtres (oysters) with his Sunday newspaper.

the side of bread remains untouched

suspicious looking moldy cheese, the stinkier the better

cuisses de grenouille – frog legs

I was eager to try something and pretend I was a gourmet, so we (three students) ended up splitting a serving of cuisses de grenouille (gourmet food is pricey, after all). The waiter was really nice and did not give us the stinky eye for just ordering one dish and asking for three sets of cutlery, but asked if it was our first time trying frog legs (general nodding, yes, all three virgins) and wished us bon appetit. It was actually quite good, although I suspect it was the garlic/herb/butter crust that did the trick.

We wanted to try the escargots next, but the shop was already closed, so no luck there. Instead, we tried some free samples of foie gras and coke flavored macarons (as in Coca-Cola) which were absolutely delicious.

escargots

photos taken by Max