Lyon, a city of boundless gastronomic delights, offers a rich blend of haute cuisine and simple traditional dishes. The city, too, offers grand contrasts — a thriving business district and an old town with the largest Renaissance center in France, hidden in narrow, dark cobbled streets. At dusk the Plan Lumiere illuminates more than 230 buildings and monuments offering breathtaking vistas as diners stroll towards bouchons (Lyonnais bar/bistros) and starred restaurants to feast on such regional specialties as quenelles sauce nantua (fish dumplings in a crayfish sauce), veau sous la mere (tender veal fed only on its mother’s milk), poulet de Bresse, beef from Charalais, lamb from the Auvergne, and the delicious St. Marcellin cheese. Here charcuterie is king, and Beaujolais, along with the wonderful wines of the Rhone Valley, is queen.

Come celebrate these riches with us as we join Chef Jean-Marc Villard for an unparalleled gastronomic adventure in Lyon. Jean-Marc taught for more than 12 years at Paul Bocuse’s celebrated cooking school in Lyon and will teach us to prepare all the Lyonnais specialties in the state-of-the-art kitchen of Restaurant Contretête, Chef Christian Tetedoie’s (one star in the Michelin guide) second restaurant in Vieux Lyon. In addition to hands-on cooking classes with Chef Jean-Marc, we will visit Les Halles, the bustling indoor market; the artisan market on the banks of the Saone; and Bernachon Chocolatier, producer of some of the finest hand-made chocolates in all of France. Wine visits to Beaujolais and the Rhone Valley and a guided tour of Vieux Lyon will round out our extraordinary sojourn.