When the warm days arrive, the belly of Lyon is best enjoyed seated, glass in hand, between briny seafood platters and the finest houses of Lyonnaise gastronomy.
With the first rays of sun, Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse shift their rhythm. Beneath the great glass roof that has bathed the aisles in light since the 2006 renovation, the bustle of the market gradually gives way to the gentleness of the aperitif. Here, pleasure is never rushed: it is savoured standing at a shucker's counter, or seated for the length of a glass, at the heart of a place rightly nicknamed the belly of Lyon.
Summer is the great season of the sea. At the market's oyster bars, you compose your platter as the mood takes you, oysters and shellfish freshly opened, crustaceans laid out on ice like a still life. It all comes with a glass of chilled white or a bubble of Crémant, in that warm and convivial atmosphere that is the very soul of the covered market.
But the aperitif at Les Halles is also a journey of delicacies. You nibble a rosette or a jesus from the charcutiers, treat yourself to an exceptional piece from the cheesemonger, give in to a sweet bite as you pass. Each house carries on a craft that Paul Bocuse himself came to salute, he who loved to wander these aisles, coffee in hand, a friend to the artisans who built the reputation of one of the most beautiful markets in the world.
A stone's throw from Part-Dieu, these suspended moments capture the whole Lyonnais spirit: a taste for fine produce, a sense of sharing and the art of taking one's time. This summer, treat yourself to an aperitif at Les Halles, where gastronomy is lived as a celebration.