Sailing up The Rhone and The Saone to Lyon and Paul Bocuse

The Lyon flag surrounds our ship in the Rhône and the old city Fourvière, known as "the hill that prays", on the west bank of the Saône in this surprisingly lovely and bicycle-friendly city. Click the image above to see the local Eiffel Tower above Fourvière.

The surprising gift of Lyon; Part two

By Walter Brooks, photographs by Patricia Brooks

W

ith both the Saône and Rhône rivers running through its heart, Lyon is blessed with a rich 2,000-year-old history and is the second-largest metropolitan area in France with many of the same charms as Paris but is far more compact and accessible.

Click on this and the photo below to see them in all their glory. Artists sketch the boats on the Saône.

 The same scene seen from the River Royale on our way to dinner at Paul Bocuse's restaurant.

Paul Bocuse welcomes every guest. Click  the photo to see the restaurant as we sailed past the next day.

The Place Bellecour is one of Europe's largest open spaces. It's worth clicking the photo to see it larger.

Lyon is famed for its Trompe-L'Oeil on public buildings. Here Pat is the only "live" thing in the photo. Click Pat to check out its reality.

The old city west of the Saône. Click for our ship.

The scene along the river is typical Provence, and if you click the photo you'll really see it better.

With its great opera, chic shops, river cruises like Uniworld, world-class museums and even a tall metal structure built in 1893 which looks like the Eiffel Tower, Lyon is older than Paris, has more Roman ruins and, as most travelers who have dined in both cities will tell you, better food.

The city which lies in a peninsula between these famous waterways, is said to have “more restaurants per square metre than any place on earth.”

Old Lyon stretches out along the west shore of the Saône and invites tourists with its Florentine architecture. Quartier Merciere and the surrounding area form the central commercial district, offering a number of cafés and shops.

Visitors will want to view the collection of Egyptian fabrics at the Historique des Tissus; the masterworks of Rubens and El Greco at Musee des Beaux-Arts; and the history of cinematography at the Lumiere brothers’ house.

You get a kick if you click

The photos on the right give a small idea of the beauty which is Provence. Please take the time to click on each to see that scene or a surprise substitute photo by Patricia Brooks.

The "peninsula" part of Lyon which lies between the two rivers is where you find the huge public squares, open air markets, shops galore, restaurants and many small cafés to seat for an hour and watch the passing parade.

It also is crisscrossed with enough bicycle lanes to make this a wonderful city for bikers. Uniworld is planning to include a bike option with this cruise through Provence next season.

The crew this year was so accommodating, that the minute they heard I loved biking they brought fourth from the bowels of the ship a brand new mountain bike belonging to their Lyon representative Jean-Marie and insisted I use it at every port we visited.

One of the world's great restaurants

Paul Bocuse is famous beyond description. Among the equally famous who have worked with him are Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, Craig Claybourne and dozens of highly regarded chefs.

The 85 year-old Bocuse is considered one of the finest cooks of the 20th century, and one of the first and most prominent chefs associated with nouvelle cuisine. Since 1987, the Bocuse d'Or has been regarded as the most prestigious award for chefs in the world.

On the River Royale cruise we left Lyon one evening for the hour's sail to his restaurant north of the city.

The ship docked in front of his bistro, and we were regaled with a three hour tour de force the dimensions of which are embarrassing to relate. Suffice it to say the bacchanalia ended with three separate dessert, each with three taste treats.

But the staff was perhaps best of all

At this time, after dozens of cruises and 150-plus countries, it takes a lot to impress Patricia and myself, but the River Royale crew did just that.

To begin with, the River Royale is like a small, but posh, boutique hotel with but 66 cabins so there were just over 100 guests aboard. The cabins are spacious by cruise standards. The staterooms are about 160 square feet and offer generous storage space for clothes and belongings. The sliding French-style balcony doors on the top deck and wide picture windows on the deck below let you enjoy the sights of the ever-changing scenery.

Amazingly Uniworld even thought to build every type of electric outlet U.S. travelers need, and then they added wi-fi though out the ship. We've added a few of their photos at the bottom to thank them for their professional service.

The hotel manager on our ship was Eric Christophe, and a more charming, urban, witty and helpful host would be impossible to imagine.

Each evening he regaled the small group of assembled guests with an account of what to expect the next day. Eric is young, handsome and Gallic. He also has the ability to arch one eyebrow exactly in the middle like an inverted V to make a point during his talks. Look closely at his photo on the left for a "half-arch" and imagine the full effect.

I've never before seen it done with such aplomb.

Even better, he is completely self-effacing both about himself and his countrymen.  One afternoon he gave a slide talk about the ship and it's contretemps with the notorious French business sense, an oxymoron if there ever was one.

It was the kind of openness and honesty one seldom experiences in travel writing, but one which endears all when one encounters it aboard.

Take our advice and include Uniworld for your next cruise. In its case "the native are friendly."

Below from the left; Julien DELAY Maitre D', Christian BASEL Cruise Manager, Eric CHRISTOPHE Hotel Manager, Roger DEMMER executive Chef and Pascal RECH 1st Captain.

• Read Part One of this cruise, "A week in Provence" here.
• See the offers from Uniworld here.