
lyon
6 July 2008Everything has officially ended here; since I am staying until Tuesday morning I now have a bit of time with which I can write and things like that. Mostly everyone has left too, so I probably will not be going out every night like I had been. In fact, a Sunday would normally be slow, because most all the cafés and shops are closed, buses run less frequently, and people don’t really walk the streets.
Last Saturday I visited Lyon for a day. Such is the transportation system in France that one can do such things. Two friends and I hopped on a TGV from Dijon, arrived in Lyon about an hour and a half later, and did the same thing to return home. Lyon is one of the oldest cities in France; it was a Roman colony over 2000 years ago (and on the left bank of the river Saône one can still visit Roman ruins). It is the 3rd largest city, and the seat of the Roman Catholic church in France. Anyways, it is probably the coolest city in France - much better than Paris! Although there are close to 2 million inhabitants (and we were there on the first Saturday of the Soldes, the nationwide clothing sale month), the pace of city life seemed a fair bit less hectic and rushed. And Lyon is cleaner, with fresher air (probably because there are two rivers which run through the city rather than one). And Lyon is colorful!

The train station is in the far east of the city, in the business district known as Part-Dieu. The buildings there are kind of ugly and modern. So we got off the train and quickly walked west. Once we crossed the Rhône, things started to get much nicer. The part of the city between the two rivers is called Presqu’île because the run rivers run around it to create a peninsula of sorts. It is the heart of the city of Lyon, with the most stores, apartment buildings and parks. The streets are wide, to accomodate heavy pedestrian and automobile traffic. Similar to Paris, shops occupy the ground floor of apartment buildings, and streets lead from plaza to plaza.
After wandering a bit, we crossed the Saône to visit Vieux-Lyon, where there are many many churches, old things, and the ruins of the Roman city of Lugdunum. We had heard that Lyon is the food capital of France (something I had never heard about before) and that had been part of our motivation for going. So we had been keeping eyes out the whole time for a good-looking restaurant. We found one called La Gargouille (”the gargoyle”) by an old church, with, appropriately, lots of gargoyles on it. We ordered a menu, which for only 15,80 euros brought us an entree, a plat principal, and a dessert. And the food was absolutely phenomenal! Although not better than that one Lyonnais place that we visited in Blois (ironically enough).
Then we just walked around the city more and more. It was fantastic. From up on a hill in Vieux-Lyon, the city reminds me of Florence, with the skyline of red roofs and brick chimneys and church steeples. It is absolutely beautiful and everyone should go, given the chance!!
CLICK HERE to see my other photos from Lyon.










