Lyon, the often missed French city

Lyon, a Gallo-Roman settlement situated a few hours from Paris, Avignon and Geneve is often a city one waves to as they pass by the on the train. This time we decided to take a direct line and spend a day and night in the city on the way to Geneva.

The old ville has been renovated as a pedestrian area with fantastic shops and gastronomic restaurants every ten yards. Spending a week there and you still would have more places to eat than time. The Gallo-Roman remains to modern architecture, not forgetting Romanesque and Gothic buildings - Lyon has preserved its ancient districts echoing with memories of its 2000 years of history.are as good as those seen in Paris and the vibrancy of the city is felt throughout.

RomanAmphitheatre   - Taking a Rest

Arriving on Sunday it seemed that everyone was walking, riding bikes or scooters, on roller blades or just hanging out in the old village by the grand Rhone River.

Sitting down for a leisurely lunch we enjoyed pizza, pasta, salad and of course a glass of wine. The sun in February was shining for us as we wrapped up in a sweater and vests and indulged ourselves by eating outside.

Plodding along up the hills, we endured the great climb up behind the river into the old village and tto the great white Fourvière Basilica on top of the hill. The garden route was bare of leaves in February but one could only imagine the foliage in the springtime and summer. Looking down on the Saone river and the historic districts we realized how high we climbed.

Arriving down into the old town we stopped for a drink and to rest our weary legs and talked about how surprised we were what a great town Lyon was to visit.  Next time we will stay longer and make sure we come on a day the shops are open.