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I've just returned from a short trip to Lyon, staying with in-laws, so thought I'd share the info with you BOTL's, should you find yourself in this wonderful city.
There are 3 Tabacs in the city that are also listed as Cigar shops (Cave a Cigares).
I visited all 3 so that you don't have to!
The first I visited, and the best, IMHO, Tabac Gabet, is located at 23 Rue Merci?re, 69002 Lyon, France.
Owner Claude Gabet is enthusiastic, passionate and very eager to let you peruse the medium walk-in humi (think 1/3 size of JJ's) with CC's along the left side and NC's on the right).
The organisation of cigars is somewhat chaotic but a decent selection of all the usual suspects and some LE's and RE's.
I picked up singles of QdO French Regional, a MonteCristo 4 and an HdM Petite Robusto for 30€ - all tobacco prices are fixed by the French Government and vendors are permitted to charge a premium only on rare products.
Claude went to great effort to pick the best of each box for my 3 singles, at the same time lamenting the poor quality control of CC's, showing me some poorly filled Cohiba Siglo III's. He then went on to sing the praises of the UK cigar industry and our sampling lounges, professed his admiration of Margaret Thatcher, before condemning France as a crazy communist country that only allows him to make 7% profit on his tobacco sales, this number backed up by his monthly accountancy report which he was eager to show me, I suspect partly to convince m he wasn't trying to rip me off.
I really wanted to return to purchase a few more sticks but public transport strikes on Monday and a manifestation for the same cause as aforementioned strikes made this impossible.
Second store was Le Diplomate at 99 Rue du Pr?sident Edouard Herriot, 69002 Lyon, France, a stones throw from Place Bellecour and less than 10mins walk from the first store.
Entered the shop, after a rather awkward exchange with a woman (staff, owner?) who was standing in the doorway, obviously aware of my presence but seemingly oblivious to my wanting to come in! Classic French faux-obtuseness. Sacre-Bleu
Tried to engage the male-owner and asked if they sold Rafael Gonzalez Perla, was told no but that they had many other small cigars in the humi. Asked permission to walk-in, told yes and then left to my own devices in the narrow humi. Much smaller selection than Gabet's, owner disinterested in whether I bought anything, but kept walking past the humi keeping a beady eye on me. I felt very unwelcome here so left after a couple minutes and didn't feel that I could even ask to take a photo.
Will not return.
Third store was Le Narval – Lugdunum cigares 11, avenue de Grande Bretagne 69006 Lyon
Located 5 mins walk from Parc Tete D'or which is a lovely big public park with a free zoo, rose garden and boating lake. Ideal if you wish to get out of the dusty heat that Lyon can impose on you in the warmer months. Grab a smoke and a beer, look at the giraffes and the bear and then take a peddalo out on the lake!
The tabac itself is a seemingly very old claustrophobic shop, run by an elderly couple (I'd guess in their 80's), who were pleasant enough when I asked to see their cigars, but the humidor itself is a small, sliding glass door cabinet on the rear wall. It didn't look to be particularly well looked after, half the sliding doors were open and I couldn't see any obvious signs of humidification. To be fair, I was in a bit of a rush (taking 2 year old daughter to the zoo) and hadn't expected to visit this store, so I didn't have a chance to look at the stock. I did get the sense that there might be some aged stock here, whether it's in a good condition is another question. i will try to get back here on my next trip (TBA).
There are 3 Tabacs in the city that are also listed as Cigar shops (Cave a Cigares).
I visited all 3 so that you don't have to!
The first I visited, and the best, IMHO, Tabac Gabet, is located at 23 Rue Merci?re, 69002 Lyon, France.
Owner Claude Gabet is enthusiastic, passionate and very eager to let you peruse the medium walk-in humi (think 1/3 size of JJ's) with CC's along the left side and NC's on the right).
The organisation of cigars is somewhat chaotic but a decent selection of all the usual suspects and some LE's and RE's.
I picked up singles of QdO French Regional, a MonteCristo 4 and an HdM Petite Robusto for 30€ - all tobacco prices are fixed by the French Government and vendors are permitted to charge a premium only on rare products.
Claude went to great effort to pick the best of each box for my 3 singles, at the same time lamenting the poor quality control of CC's, showing me some poorly filled Cohiba Siglo III's. He then went on to sing the praises of the UK cigar industry and our sampling lounges, professed his admiration of Margaret Thatcher, before condemning France as a crazy communist country that only allows him to make 7% profit on his tobacco sales, this number backed up by his monthly accountancy report which he was eager to show me, I suspect partly to convince m he wasn't trying to rip me off.
I really wanted to return to purchase a few more sticks but public transport strikes on Monday and a manifestation for the same cause as aforementioned strikes made this impossible.
Second store was Le Diplomate at 99 Rue du Pr?sident Edouard Herriot, 69002 Lyon, France, a stones throw from Place Bellecour and less than 10mins walk from the first store.
Entered the shop, after a rather awkward exchange with a woman (staff, owner?) who was standing in the doorway, obviously aware of my presence but seemingly oblivious to my wanting to come in! Classic French faux-obtuseness. Sacre-Bleu
Tried to engage the male-owner and asked if they sold Rafael Gonzalez Perla, was told no but that they had many other small cigars in the humi. Asked permission to walk-in, told yes and then left to my own devices in the narrow humi. Much smaller selection than Gabet's, owner disinterested in whether I bought anything, but kept walking past the humi keeping a beady eye on me. I felt very unwelcome here so left after a couple minutes and didn't feel that I could even ask to take a photo.
Will not return.
Third store was Le Narval – Lugdunum cigares 11, avenue de Grande Bretagne 69006 Lyon
Located 5 mins walk from Parc Tete D'or which is a lovely big public park with a free zoo, rose garden and boating lake. Ideal if you wish to get out of the dusty heat that Lyon can impose on you in the warmer months. Grab a smoke and a beer, look at the giraffes and the bear and then take a peddalo out on the lake!
The tabac itself is a seemingly very old claustrophobic shop, run by an elderly couple (I'd guess in their 80's), who were pleasant enough when I asked to see their cigars, but the humidor itself is a small, sliding glass door cabinet on the rear wall. It didn't look to be particularly well looked after, half the sliding doors were open and I couldn't see any obvious signs of humidification. To be fair, I was in a bit of a rush (taking 2 year old daughter to the zoo) and hadn't expected to visit this store, so I didn't have a chance to look at the stock. I did get the sense that there might be some aged stock here, whether it's in a good condition is another question. i will try to get back here on my next trip (TBA).