So in my years in the USA and in Europe I've been on quite a few trains and none of them reminded me of the Hogwarts express (funny because I'm going to the WB studio tour soon) until now. Cars with 8 plush seats. Definitely Hogwarts.
So the station Part-Dieu was a bit past the really modern part of Lyon with skyscrapers and whatnot so I had to walk quite a ways and cross a bridge to get to the main square of Bellecour to get a map at the tourist office, objective number one. I just really like having physical maps as much as maps on my ipod help quite a lot it's also a souvenir! But really my sense of direction and ability to get around places has increased by like 100000%
First crossing the Rhone river
And I found the square so easily! Later in the day this place was completely filled.
The prettiest macdo I've ever been in! I decided not to eat anywhere nice or traditional because I did so in Dijon and Lyon is so much bigger it was easier to eat on the go for times sake.
And the second river, crossing the Saône into Old Lyon!
And then my walk up hill began, it wasn't too bad not half as steep as walking up the Citadel here but once I got through the gardens it was very steep
First stop: the incredible ancient roman theatre ruins! It's giant and I was just in awe. They're still renovating columns and such at the moment as well.
Climbed up some more and at last I found the Notre Dame basilica de Fournière
The view is simply incredible
And then I entered the church, it's incredibly tall and it was built in the late 1800's
Some churches have giant glass windows but this one had an incredible ceiling
As well as mosaics
The metallic tour of Lyon
I exited through the gardens and then through an Abbey
Residents of Lyon are called "Lyonnais" old Lyon was full of old cafes and restaurants with traditional dishes
These were ruins of the first medieval christian church in Lyon
So many tiny little museums all over the place, this one was of cinema
So Guignol is those old french puppet shows (think Punch & Judy) and they originated in Lyon, you can see shows, buy some and see the little museum
Old Lyon smelled like old leather and books, with tiny little streets and shops and cafes it was so lovely
Back to the other side of Lyon
Place des Terreaux
Museum of Arts
The town hall
Opera house!
Hotel de Ville
In another little square with a fountain, "Imagine a city without ads"
STARBUCKS! Yes there are starbucks in Paris but it was always out of the way etc. I ordered in french and they spelled my name correctly! With an S instead of a Z
So many parks
"African plains" carousel outtside the gigantic park in Lyon, "Parc tête d'or" called the park of the golden head because legend says a golden head of Jesus and treasure is buried somewhere in the Park.
This place was huge I didn't even get through all of it, a lovely place to lounge or to bike through, it reminded me a lot of the painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Seurat
They even had a little zoo you could walk through!
Heard like the sound of a million tinkling bells looked behind me and it was giant hipster bike ride going on
And even someone being pulled by a bike on like a board with wheels...
Really the carousel of Lyon! I've found every one in all the French cities I've been to so far
All in all a gorgeous day I got to see a lot of this lovely city! I'm still exhausted from all the walking and I leave for London tomorrow!! And I get 2 hours to wander a bit around Paris so I'm quite excited! This break has been so lovely, it's crazy how I only have 24 days left in France.
À plus,
Liz
