Unexciting Lyon

Once one has been in a handful of towns in France, very soon it is evident that all the cities and towns are established on some body of water. In the case of Lyon, it has two being at the confluence of the Rhone and the Saone rivers. It has long been a population center, evidenced by its not only one, but two Roman theaters. Today it is the third largest city in France. It has been on our list for a few decades. I'm not exactly disappointed, but definitely not charmed.

Lyon proclaims itself to be the capital of gastronomy. This immediately signals a paucity of cultural venues to me, which is confirmed by the much lauded architonic murals, not that I didn't enjoy marveling at them. Furthermore, Lyon also touts itself as "city of light" (it hosts a light festival). However because of the energy situation the normally 400+ buildings lit at night now become only 100+. We even noticed a difference between Saturday and Monday (though it was a long holiday weekend).

We enjoyed walking along the rivers. Towards the confluence, what used to be industrial has been redeveloped with ultra modern buildings. Lyon certainly seemed a very liveable place.

The Roman Theaters.






In the city center, Place Bellecour, Place de la République, and Place des Terreaux with the famous Fontaine Bartholdi are places to hangout.










On the high spot above the town next to the Roman Theatres sits the Basilica whose interior is covered with Byzantine-style mosaics and has an esplanade with views over Lyon.






Some photos from our "confluence walk" with boats and architecture. First down the Saone River.










The actual confluence.


The Confluence Cultural center.




The walk back to city center along the Rhone.






The architonic murals.
















First, a mural of the Building Citroën; and 2nd, the actual Building Citroën




Night walks










Around town.






The "parish" church near our hotel is the UNESCO-listed Basilica of Saint-Martin d'Ainay. It's beautiful!


More around town.