Oh Lyon! You were a true treat, and really amazing to be in.
It is the third largest city in France, after Paris and Marseille. It is located in the east of the country, a little south from the centre. What's important is the geography. Two rivers Rhone and Saone flow and meet there, Lyon grew on their junction. Not so far on the east from the city the mountain range of the Alps start to tower over the land. They are not really visible in the city itself, but the terrain is rather filled with hills anyway. The region of France in which it lies is called Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Besides that Lyon is a part of the Unesco herritage site - it is cramped with historic attractions, museums, sites. Tourists are supposed to be flocking to this cultural hub of eastern France, but I completely missed this impression. For me Lyon was a true pleasure to visit, seemed so authentic and true to its traditions and culture.
Actually, I probably enjoyed it more than Paris because of that. I do compare these two cities, because both of them have plenty to offer, but Lyon doesn't have those disadvantages that Paris has. Lyon isn't tained with the overwhelming crowds and all that touristy cliche. And really, it might be smaller but it is as beautiful.
Once again I travelled with my dear mum who loves france to the core and spoke french with basically every person we encountered. Our tour started in our accomodation near the Perrache train station.
In a typical french manner, the plan of the city consists of broad avenues and vast plazas. Perrache train station lies on that peninsula between Rhone and Saone, and there is a wide pedestrian street (peripendicular to the rivers) that connected the train station with the main square of the XIXth century Lyon - Bellecour. The further from the train station the richer the area was. As could be observed judging by the buildings and the venues.
Bellecour which I mentioned earlier is the central square. Not the historical centre but the literal heart of the modern city. Always bustling with life of both tourists and locals just casually hanging around.
I loved the sight of the ferris wheel, but sadly it was dissembled right the next day after our arrival. I was dissapointed. At least I took a few pictures.
The Vieux-Lyon (old town) lies on the western bank of Saone, so we crossed the bridge and headed to the old quarters in order to find some food. Tourist attractions equals food, right? We were not mistaken, there was plenty of food, but as we were there we did obviously stroll around the area enjoying the narrow alleys.
We loved the colourful and fairy-tale-like Vieux-Lyon so first thing the next day - we got back there.
From there we headed off directly to our second stop for the day. From the old town there's an easy way up to La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere. It is a church overlooking Lyon from a very tall hill with a splendid panorama.
I said easy. If you don't mind stairs, off course.
The temple itself looked pretty powerful. It was a relatively modern church (comparing to gothic french cathedrals) but it made an impression on me.
Here are the few shots from the Cathedral. I don't have any good photo from the outside because my lens was too narrow to capture the whole of it...
By an utter accident we went for dinner to a venue called Brasserie Georges. It was right by our accomodation, near Perrache train station. It reminded me of those old fancy restaurants, with long long tables and elegant decour. They even had an authentic music mashine that performed happy birthday live to the guests!
Later on we discovered that this was one of the oldest Brasseries in Europe and oldest and largest in Lyon for sure. It served food and beer since 1836, its is even before Perrache train station was constructed. I am not fond of making dinner recommendations online, but dining there was an experience worth having. I totally do reccomend.
Later on we discovered that this was one of the oldest Brasseries in Europe and oldest and largest in Lyon for sure. It served food and beer since 1836, its is even before Perrache train station was constructed. I am not fond of making dinner recommendations online, but dining there was an experience worth having. I totally do reccomend.
The following day we crossed Rhone to see the eastern part of the city. Be basically just walked by the promenade and then headed off to la Part-Dieu train station.
This is a funny story. Once we were in Brasserie Georges the previous day, a man started up a conversation with and when asked about recommentations he told us to visit Ile Barbe - a tiny island on Saone far north.
The sight was gorgeous and picturesque. Sadly, we couldn't explore because even though there were supposed to be restaurants on the island it apparently was a private property and it was closed already.
Nevertheless, it was worth to go all the way there just to see something as visually appealing and different from the central Lyon.
However, I did have one last treat before I landed in Warsaw. I was lucky enough to have a window seat on the plane. We passed the Alps. Just look:
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