Lyon Take Two (In writing, that is)

This isn't my original Lyon post. Blogger didn't save it and I could not be assed to type it out again, as it's close to my self-imposed bedtime. It will be very brief, but that is in no way a reflection of my feelings about the city (loved it!).

Before going to Lyon, all I really knew about it was that it was one of France's largest cities, and apparently the capital of all food. I only selected it because it was geographically convenient to the rest of my journey. As it was, the 6-hour train ride down was a trek, but I got to take in the French countryside and nap a bit (For those of you wondering why it took so long, I couldn't take the TGV because of France's stupid quota for Interrail passengers. Merde.).

The centre of Lyon is situated between two rivers, which is really handy for the geography-challenged like myself. Whenever I felt myself about to get lost, I'd just look at the nearest bridge and be able to orient myself. Lyon is a really walkable city, and although there is a metro, I only used it to carry my luggage.

Gotta say, while Lyon doesn't have the bustle of Paris and London, it has a nice little charm of its own. The Old Town is quite beautiful, and I loved its traboules, which alley routes between the main streets. You'd enter in one location, walk through the courtyards of people's private homes and possibly end up several blocks away. I also popped into the Cinema and Miniature Museum, and you can see some of those photos below.

But my absolute highlight was going up to Fourviere Hill. You get an amazing view of the city, and the Basilique is so pretty, I actually considered becoming a Christian again for a few moments (Just kidding, we all know I'm soul-less.). Right behind the Basilique are these small ruins of a Roman theatre, and while they're certainly not the most impressive ones you can find, they speak of a history there that I didn't expect to find.

On my second and last day in Lyon, I went to a popular market and had escargots. I felt like such a native, ordering in French and eating next to locals who probably go there every Sunday for the same thing. Then the universe rewarded me for wandering around in zero-degree weather on that first day by bringing on the sunlight. Sitting on a bench near the river, reading a book, and soaking up the rays - is there any better way to spend a Sunday?

I left France feeling very proud that I basically ate my weight in bread over the last week. I don't have many concrete goals on this trip, but that was certainly one of them!

(Author's notes: I leave Geneva for Milan on a lunchtime train, so if all goes well, my recap of Geneva should be up tomorrow. thanks for reading!)