Lyon, like Paris and Marseille, is split into arrondissements which are districts. We are currently living in the 8th, but right on the border of the 7th and the 3rd. Street names often change from one arrondissement to the next, even if it's the same road, so that was a little confusing when first learning the boundaries. For example, we live just off of Avenue des Frères Lumière on one side of a bridge, but on the other side it's called La Grande Rue de la Guillotière. Each arrondissement also comes with its own Mairie or town hall as well as a mayor. Here's what the breakdown looks like:
The 'downtown' part of Lyon is called La Presqu'île in the 2nd and it consists mostly of shopping areas and restaurants, including a pedestrianized strip on La rue de la République. Le Rhône is the river on the east side of the presqu'île and La Saône is the river to the west. The business district is called La Part-Dieu, for which the adjacent main train station is named. This area is in the 3rd and has the main library, a concert hall, an indoor market and one of the largest malls in Europe. It is also home to what the lyonnais call le crayon, a 42-floor pencil-shaped office building, pretty noticeable in any skyline shot looking west.
During our first 10 days here we did a lot of exploring. Day two brought us to the Presqu'ile to find some brunch. You can take the girl out of Toronto... Anyways we settled on a place called Pain et Cie which translates to Bread and Co. They had a selection of tartines which are open faced sandwiches (Moby and Jill - I thought of you) with a spread of some kind.
I opted for the pesto, tomato and buffalo mozzarella while James got really French on me and ordered the boeuf cru, basilic, huile vierge et parmesan. Yes, he ate raw beef spread on a sandwich. And it was pretty good!
I am definitely open to trying steak tartare now. Also note the bowl next to his plate - it's hot chocolate! Somehow a little more enjoyable when drinking it from a bowl.
After eating we strolled across the Saône to Vieux Lyon, part of the 5th arrondissement and one of the most beautiful parts of the city. There are some serious historical remnants in this part of Lyon as well, including two Roman theatres and ruins, but I'll save that for another post. Vieux Lyon has a steep hill on the top of which is a stunning church called La Basilique de Notre-Dame de Fourvière, la Fourvière for short, that overlooks the entire city. The hill is known as 'la colline qui prie' or the hill that prays, in contrast to the other hill in the city in the 1st/4th, known as 'la colline qui travaille' or the hill that works. This is because the area was formerly home to the silk workers called les canuts. More to come on that part of the city in another post as well!
Next we checked out the 1st where we found a gigantic fresco. Lyon actually has the largest fresco in Europe in the 4th, an area called La Croix Rousse, but we haven't found it just yet.
We then came to Place des Terreaux which has many extended restaurant patios lining the north side of the square on either side of La Fontaine Bartholdi, the Musée des Beaux-Arts directly across to the south and the Hôtel de Ville, built in the 17th century, to the west.
However the largest square in Lyon and one of the largest in France is called Place Bellecour, a giant swath of red clay with a statue of King Louis XIV on a horse in the centre. From the picture below you can see la Fourvière looking proudly down onto the city.
Heading directly west from here over the Rhône you see part of a 5km walkway along the river for pedestrians, runners and cyclists. Just behind that is les berges du Rhône, the banks, where large stone steps are spread out on the slope from the road to the water, perfect for groups of friends to hang out on and perhaps (discreetly) imbibe a beverage or two.
It is a gorgeous place to chill out, watch the sun set, and see the ever visible presence of la Fourvière watching over city life.
No comments:
Post a Comment