Lyon is our last stop on our amazing holiday in France.
We arrived in Lyon 2 hours late due to an air traffic controller’s strike. We were great full to get there at all as many flights were cancelled and we had even made plans to drive if needed. We also arrived to a big weather change! From 31 to highs of 20 and an arctic wind.
Lyon is one of the biggest cities in France. It is third after Paris and Marseille but one of our guides told us that the Lyonnaise people like to believe Lyon is bigger than Marseille. A little bit of rivalry there he said. It sits on the junction of the Rhône and Saone River so has a history of being a major trading city. There are many beautiful bridges crossing both river’s.
Lyon is also known for the food. A gastronomic paradise. It has many local dishes which Steve was looking forward to trying. The main reason it has the gastronomic reputation is because the area is surrounded by farms. Walking through the markets definitely proved this. So much variety compared to the other markets we have visited during our travels and it looked so fresh. We wished we had a Airbnb so we could cook up our own gastronomical meals.
The next day we went on a traditional food tour through the old city. Apart from the food it’s always a good way to get our bearings. First we learnt about cheese and how like wine some variety’s are AOP. We then went to a traditional restaurant and tried some of the local dishes and then to a sausage shop. The sausage shop also had a syrup that they developed themselves that you add to red wine. It was nice. Although I’m sure serious red wine drinkers would be horrified! We finished with the local very pink praline tart. It was incredibly sweet.
Lyonnaise foods. This restaurant is a bouchon. A bouchon is a restaurant which are family owned and known for serving traditional lyonnaise meals and for being friendly and cozy. The Lyonnaise people are very proud of their bouchons.
Our tour guide was a historian so he had a lot to tell us about the history of Lyon’s old town. There were many monuments, buildings and churches from the different eras of Lyon and a lot of gothic style buildings.
He took us through the labyrinth of secret passageways that went through the streets of the old town. They’re called traboules and are hidden behind big wooden doors. There are over 400 traboules but only 40 are accessible to the public. They were first built in the 4th century. Most of the streets in the old town are parallel to the river so the traboules were built to allow the people quicker access to the river for water and trading. Later they were used by the resistance during WW2. People live in apartments in the traboules so when walking through people are respectful and are quiet.
The next day we did the hop on hop off bus. Driving around the city there was a contrast of old and new. We hopped off at La Basilica Notre Dame de Fourviere which has become one of the major symbols of Lyon because of its location overlooking the city. It was beautiful inside with ornate paintings and gothic design architecture.
The bus took us via some very interesting modern buildings in a new area built at the confluence of the two rivers. Very different to the old town.
We caught the furnicular down from the basilica to avoid the stairs due our old people ailments-knees, hips, feet and toes.
We had a private tour to Perouge and Annecy the next day. First stop was Perouge which is a walled fortress town.
The church was part of the fortress and has 1 metre deep walls. You can see in the church the holes that were for shooting the arrows out.
The interesting thing about Perouges is that it has been restored and re populated in recent times with around 1000 people now living in the town. It even has a school. It was similar to the other old towns we had visited with cobblestoned paths and some touristy shops. We were there early so a lot of the shops weren’t open. We found out that the town is known for inventing the galette cake which was a surprise because the galettes we had already had were more like a crepe and mostly savory.
From Perouge we went to Annecy. It’s on beautiful Lake Annecy with a view of the alps in the background. The old town of Annecy again has cobblestoned streets and a very touristy feel. It is a little different though because it is built over two rivers feeding the lake and also has winding canals throughout. It is often called the Venice of the Alps.
Our last day we went shopping! Starting with Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bacuse which is a huge under cover market hall with seafood, cheese, sweets, boulangerie’s, meat and this one had restaurants too. Once again an Airbnb would have been great.
I finally found a croque monsieur to try which is basically a ham and cheese toasty but has cheese inside and outside. It was from a boulangerie and microwaved so a bit average.
After the market we went check to out Westfield shopping centre. Just like ours. Lots of shops.
We walked back to the old town to have a poutine for lunch- not French but there’s a bit Canadian influence here and Shelly had been keen to go there since spotting it, but it had been closed the two times she tried.
We finished off our time in Lyon at our local (a sports bar not far from the hotel) watching the replay of the Wallabies and All Blacks game.
We had a wonderful time in Lyon. It was very different again to all the cities we visited. Lots of bike riders so it had bike lanes that were like roads. You needed to look carefully to avoid getting hit by a bike.
Small cars and scooters were common too due to the lack of parking. Some people parked wherever they could fit.
We had many lunches and dinners during our time in France. One restaurant needs a mention. Matre Boueff. A restaurant that specialised in traditional food especially beef. They also had something to entertain you when you were on the toilet.
We also had a wonderful time with our good friends Shelly and Ed, and enjoyed sharing the end of our French odyssey with them.
From Lyon we caught the high speed train directly to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, only a 2 hour trip, and then with mixed emotions caught the flight for our long journey home.