Getting there:
Lyon was the last stop of our road trip and
it was sad returning the car at Lyon Perrache Gare.
For those coming from Paris, frequent TGV
trains are available between Lyon Part Dieu station and Paris Gare Lyon (2hrs
journey only) . As usual, it is advisable to buy your tickets in advance from SNCF
website.
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| River Saone |
What to do:
1. Go bouchon-hopping
What better to do in the
city known as gastronomical capital of the world than to eat. Lyon is known for
its many bouchons, which refer to restaurants that serve traditional Lyonnaise
cuisine.
See where to eat for some
recommendations.
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| Bouchons are everywhere along rue de tramassac |
2. Take the funicular and visit the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere
The Fourviere hill is where
the Roman first set up camp when they arrived in Lyon and the crème de la crème
of this place is the Basilique Notre Dame which is visible from almost anywhere
in the city.
In my personal opinion,
there are 2 cathedrals whose interior are the most stunning and Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere is one of
them (the other being Basilique Notre Dame in Montreal, Canada). In fact, this
cathedral has the most dazzling interior in a cathedral I’ve ever seen.
Aside from the Cathedral
which is the main attraction at Fourviere, there is also the remains of roman
theatres (Theatres Romains de Fourviere). Till date it is still in use for
concerts which is pretty interesting.
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| Roman theatre |
3. Explore the traboules
The traboules are narrow tunnels
that weave through the old narrow houses and once used by silk workers to
transport fabrics through the city. Now, it is part of an insightful walking
tour on this history of the city. You can get a map from the tourist office and
sign up for a walking tour with them. Do it in advance as the tours are very
popular!
Although it is possible to
navigate and explore the traboules on your own, a tour is recommended as most
of the traboules are still part of a residential building (like our room at Mon
Hotel Particulier) hence you will need an access code to open some of the
doors.
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| some are open passageway |
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| others require an access code as they are residential buildings |
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| for example where we stayed |
4. Visit the Miniature and Movie Museum (Musee des Miniatures et Decors de
Cinema)
This was a surprising gem
found in the old town of Lyon! The little museum is tucked away along the
cobblestone streets of the old town, it is easy to mistake it as another
souvenir shop as the entrance is very small.
It is a must go for movie
fans, as the array of artifacts and the props used in movies on exhibit here is
mind blowing! The museum collection ranges from sets of a movie, actual scripts
used by actors (with correction by hand visible), old design manuscripts and
sketches, prototype and actual figurine models (including a life size Alien
Queen!), costume and make up props (some were quite eerie like body parts), and
the impressive miniature displays used for scene shooting.
Spammed across 4 floors, it
took us much longer to cover the grounds but every section were extremely
entertaining!
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| original design sketches |
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| Models used for filming |
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| Miniatures used for filming - this is in fact a tiny shoebox size! |
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| Very impressed by how realistic they look |
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| Miniature used for night in the museum |
5. Walk through old Lyon and visit the St Jean Cathedral
6. Window-shop at bellacour
Where to eat:
There is no lack of restaurant guides on
Lyon, you can even obtain a bouchon listing from the tourist office. Some typical bouchon dishes include: Andouillette (pork
sausage made from intestines and other blended offal); fish; quenelles
(ground creamed fish dumplings), grilled fillets etc
A good area to hunt for bouchons is in Vieux Lyon where are dozens of
bouchons. Most of them are located along rue de Boeuf and rue de Tramassac. Just pick any along these roads and you can hardly go wrong. Based on recommendation by our B&B
host, we walked to rue de Boeuf and decided on Les Adrets!
Another highlight of our honeymoon in the
city of gastronomy is to dine at a 2 Michelin starred restaurant - La Mere
Brazier. Reservation was made 2months in advance via thefork.com and
anticipation was high after enjoying all the delicacies around France for the
past 3 weeks.
*PS: Credits go to my kind sponsors for the event :)
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| grand entrance |
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| Tables all set to go |
Mon Hotel Particulier - Don’t be mistaken by its name, it this is
not a hotel but rather more like an air-B&B room. In fact, it is a studio
room in the wall between 2 storeys.
It is located in the heart of Vieux Lyon
and very convenient for tourist. In fact, it is part of the traboules
passageway – we have a traboule right under our room!
You will need to call the owner when you
arrive to meet up to get the keys. Despite emailing to confirm a time in
advance, I still had to call them twice and waited about 20min outside the main
door. The room is located between the 2nd and 3rd storey
and accessed via the central spiral staircase. Yes there is no elevator! So
beware if you have heavy luggage. There is a small landing mid-steps and that’s
the room.
It is furnished in a modern manner, with a
double bed, small bar top and shower facilities. After a quick introduction and “check-out” instructions
(where to leave the keys behind), we were left on our own to explore the
bouchon guide in the room.
As mentioned it is a residential building,
so we often meet local children playing in the small courtyard in the afternoon
and French mothers along the stairway. For those who will like to experience Vieux
Lyon like a local, this is a pretty good deal.
Night view of the Rhone to bid farewell.
Oh Lyon I hope we meet again someday... my taste buds miss you already
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