Spending time in Lyon

[Valley Girl of VA]

After our cruise, we added a few extra days in Lyon as that seemed to be the one point that many made - they just didn't know what a great city it was.

 

We stayed at the Hotel des Artistes, one recommended by Rick Steves and one we would recommend as well.

 

Here is our blog on Lyon: https://airlandandsea.wordpress.com/2016/12/08/lyon-the-gastronomical-capital-of-france/

 

Jane

[HDS]

Jane, I share your enthusiasm for Lyon. We thoroughly enjoyed our two days pre-cruise. We stayed at the Citadines Presqu'lle in a studio apartment which had heating but no aircon; fine for us in September but maybe not so good in high summer. Fabulous situation between the Saone and the Rhone, huge choice of restaurants right outside and a delightful fresh food market a block away on the Saone.

I recommend a visit to the tourist information centre in Place Bellecour, an easy walk from Citadines for maps and information. To orientate we took the hop-on hop-off bus once around the city and on the second trip exited at the Roman theatres, walked up through the theatres and caught the next bus at the cathedral.

Public transport is well mapped and very easy to use. I recommend taking the subway to visit the Mur des Canuts which is much better than the small mural seen on the regular cruise ship bus tour.

The Art Gallery in the former convent has a small but interesting collection of Impressionists and Moderns and lunch on the terrace there was delicious.

Lyon is a delightful city to explore on foot, there are walking paths (watch out for cyclists) on both rivers and the streets and squares of the older area are lined with interesting buildings. I loved the quirky modern buildings in the Confluence area that we saw from the bus. There were a few places near the railway station that I didn't want to linger but at no stage did I feel unsafe walking alone in daylight.

I'm not a shopper and I travel light but what I saw in the shops between Place Bellecour and Place des Jacobins was very tempting.

[Valley Girl of VA]

Thanks for adding your detailed information. As much as we loved Lyon we were in a blur much of the time as we had received word that my husband's brother had been in a mountain bike accident and at that time we was a paraplegic and not sure about recovery. I remember lighting a candle at the cathedral in his name through my tears. I am happy to say that after two months in the hospital, fusion on three os his vertebrae and intense physical and occupational therapy that he was able to walk out of the hospital. Right side is still extremely weak and very little use of right hand. Recovery, of what will recover, will take a year or longer.

 

Jane

[pinotlover]

Lyon is the gastronomical capital of the world. Incredible restaurants to choose from. For we foodies, the many wonderful tourism places to visit are just excuses to walk off all the fabulous food we eat!

[jpalbny]

Thanks for adding your detailed information. As much as we loved Lyon we were in a blur much of the time as we had received word that my husband's brother had been in a mountain bike accident and at that time we was a paraplegic and not sure about recovery. I remember lighting a candle at the cathedral in his name through my tears. I am happy to say that after two months in the hospital, fusion on three os his vertebrae and intense physical and occupational therapy that he was able to walk out of the hospital. Right side is still extremely weak and very little use of right hand. Recovery, of what will recover, will take a year or longer.

 

Jane

 

Wow. Terrible news at any time, but even more so while you're so far away and unable to be there. What a helpless feeling! Glad to hear that things are progressing in the right direction. I hope your next trip to Lyon is better.

 

Lyon is the gastronomical capital of the world. Incredible restaurants to choose from. For we foodies, the many wonderful tourism places to visit are just excuses to walk off all the fabulous food we eat!

 

Try as we might, that never works. There is just too much good food to eat while on vacation, and we want to try it all!

[Host Jazzbeau]

Lyon was also a silk capital of the world, and there is still some silk-related activity that we found fascinating. Near the Presqu’ile Metro stop -- where the ship's tour may take you to view the Opéra, Hotel de Ville, and Place des Terreaux with a huge Bartholdi sculpture showing Marianne [the symbol of France] riding a chariot with four horses -- is the Atelier de la Soierie where they still do silk screening. We were able to watch a couple of demos and even saw the artist screw up with 6 scarves printed off-center. [Guess they went to the clearance basket!]

[Valley Girl of VA]

Jazzbeau - Atelier de la Soierie actually came onto our AMA ship to talk about the process. It was very interesting and we had an opportunity to purchase some.

 

Jane

[HDS]

Jane, I hope your brother-in-law continues to recover and you continue to have good memories of Lyon.

[Valley Girl of VA]

He is doing remarkably well but still has a long way to go. I do not think he will be returning to work though. We saw him about 2 weeks after the accident when we returned form our time in France and it was sad to see that he couldn't do anything or feel anything but a few weeks later he could ring for the nurse using a call button placed by his toes on his left side. He's lucky there are so many items that are voiced activated, like a cell phone and a computer. He's come so far but still has much work to do toward his recovery.