We arrived in Lyon fairly early on Wednesday August 17th. I had always been interested in visiting France's second largest city; however, wasn't at all prepared for all it had to offer.
The weather was nice so we decided to make the 4km walk from Gare Part-Dieu to Saint Paul the area of Lyon where we were staying. We took our time walking to the hotel. We had a couple breaks along the way and stopped for lunch in a park.
We checked out some of the city sights as we crossed both the Rhône and Saône Rivers on our way to Saint Paul.
The Hotel Saint Paul gave us a nice little break from hostels. The hotel had a nice room and was located in a great location right on Rue Saint Jean in the old section of Lyon.
Just down the cobblestone lane from our hotel were numerous cafes, restaurants, shops and the Cathedral St-Jean. Just up the hill from there was the very impressive Basilique Notre-Dame du Fourvière.
On Thursday the 18th we made the step climb up to the Basilique. Part of the walk was along a road while some of it was a long a path that went through very a very thick wooded area.
After a little huffing and puffing we finally reached the top and upon entering the massive building spent the first half hour dazzled by the architecture and decorations not realizing we were still only in the basement. Once upstairs in the main part of the church we were really blown away.
After a little huffing and puffing we finally reached the top and upon entering the massive building spent the first half hour dazzled by the architecture and decorations not realizing we were still only in the basement. Once upstairs in the main part of the church we were really blown away.
On our way back down from the Basilique we took a different route, one that led us to the old Roman theater. One thing about those Roman's, they sure loved their theatres and I must say some are very impressive and the Gallo-Romains theatre here is no exception. After a little roaming around here it was time to continue the rest of the way down the hill.
No doubt Lyon rewarded us with some delicious food. The first night we had a typically French three course meal at a nice little outdoor place.
The second night we went a totally different direction and had a great laugh as we ate fish and chips with a few people we met at The Elephant and Castle.
We enjoyed our time in Lyon very much. It had more to offer than either of us had ever expected and was a great way to conclude our time in France.
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