Hotel De Noailles Lyon

When you arrives to Lyon by...

by mozart_WA

When you arrives to Lyon by motorway from the south, you see the big petrochemical Rhone Valley(Solaize, Feyzin with Elf factories).You think certainly:this city is crap!!!
It's totally wrong!!Why?Because you aren't go in the city which have some hidden secret.
Of course, like all the French, they don't welcome cordially but,if luckily,you meet an English-speaking,so there,you 'll chat.

My heart stoke is a quarter I know good:Monchat
Old Quarter (XIXth century):little house,decrepit walls ,but a given life quarter:associations...

The quarter that is developping is Gerland with lots of superoirs schools:scientist ENS( Ecole normale superieure)forming very high level enginners
Soon,the literary and social sciences ENS forming university teachers .(Open Oct.2000)
Too,There 's a very dangerous laboratory who studying the great epidemic:Ebola,AIDS...
Here is the Football Team Stadium:Olympique Lyonnais(We said O.L)

Another popular spot is...

by miaou

Another popular spot is SMOKING DOGlocated in Vieux Lyon. With library shelves in the front section you think this place is more like a cafe. At nightime it is transformed into a packed house of locals and foreigners. Great music and darts in the back. And if you're hungry, sneak next door to Digor Kebab - I hope it's still there! Friendly bunch of guys and the best kebabs!

Visit Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière

by vichatherly

Enthroned on the hill's summit is the 19th-century Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière. Rising fortresslike with four octagonal towers and crenellated walls.

Its interior is covered with colored mosaics, and an ancient chapel adjoins the church. A gilded statue of the Virgin surmounts the belfry.

It looks down on Lyon day and night a great sight on the hill

The River Rhone....

by timtrina

And to the other side is the River Rhone - also stunning with it's Parisian architecture - this place just captured our hearts, and there's not a week that goes by that we don't speak fondly of it......

From Rue Victor Huge turn right until you reach Quai du Docteur Gailleton

Former Capital of the Gauls

by alza

"Lugdunum, Caput Galliarum"

After bypassing Lyon many times on my way to other places, I spent a few days there in 2004 and really enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know a real French city. I found it extremely cultured, elegant and at the same time, though busy, rather laid back. Maybe because I had been travelling across France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Northern Italy and Corsica just before ending my trip in Lyon, from where I flew home to Montreal.

Lyon feels a bit like the Frankfurt am Main of France... sorry if the comparison is awkward. :) But it's totally French of course...

In -27, with August as Emperor of the Roman Empire, Lyon became the Capital of the Gauls. The city grew rapidly and became rich and beautiful. Two Roman emperors were born here, Claudius, in 10 B.C., and Caracalla in 186.

I don't know Lyon enough to write a complete introduction to it (but I will go back as soon as I can!) I landed in Lyon in August 2004 and drove immediately from there to Alsace, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Austria again, Italy again, then took a boat to Corsica and a boat back to Toulon, France, before returning to Lyon to take my flight home end of October 2004. That's when I got to know it a bit.
It struck me then as extremely civilised, elegant and pleasant and I would go back on a moment's notice.

I stayed at the Youth Hostel at Fourvière, in Lyon, and had a ball! I ate well and felt very welcomed everywhere I went. Things were easy in Lyon in general, although I still remember it as a puzzle to get around... (probably because of the short time I had there, no time to become familiar with its lay-out.)

I love the presence of the mighty Rhône at the heart of Lyon. The very original and traditional cuisine of the area, the wines there, and the way the Lyonnais in general basically are in general. It's a very authentic city to me.

"Jean Moulin, héro de la Résistance"

I dedicate this page to Jean Moulin, hero of the French Resistance during WWII, arrested in Caluire (Rhône) in the suburb of Lyon during a meeting of Resistance leaders. He was interrogated by Gestapo Chief Klaus Barbie and transferred to Paris where he was tortured. Jean Mouliin died on 8 July 1943, near Metz, in the train that was taking him to Berlin to be further interrogated.

"The Rhône and the Saône run through Lyon"

More generally, I hope to clear the waters enveloping Lyon but as I'm working from memory, didn't really understand the lay of the land when I was there, and am writing with a glass of wine from the Lyon area... I'm confusing myself in the process.

The confluence of the mighty Rhône and of the brown banks of the Saône in Lyon is elusive even to the Lyonnais. The elusiveness is not to be broken like a code before a visit... let the water mystery run its course and you'll discover how Lyon came to be.

Lyon is now the third city of France in size, with half a million inhabitants. It's preceded by Marseille in second place and Paris in first.
The pic is of Quartier Saint-Paul at the northern tip of Old Lyon. Saint-Paul's Church there is one of the oldest of Lyon, its architecture is Roman/Gothic. The district was my favourite for its great bohemian atmosphere, hidden gems of local life that made me feel like I was discovering something at every corner.

It's often said that Paris is best discovered on foot and I agree. I also walked a lot in Lyon and sometimes felt a bit dismayed... but now I know it's because I knew it so little. Landmarks there were not as well known to me as those in Paris so I was wandering... but in retrospect, I can say that Lyon is a city for walkers too.