Lyon, France

Summary

The author shares a personal journey to Lyon, France, inspired by their great-grandfather's birthplace, detailing their experiences, accommodations, and the city's cultural offerings.

Abstract

The author recounts a trip to Lyon, France, motivated by the familial connection to their great-grandfather's origins. They describe a frugal yet comfortable travel style, utilizing the Lyon Express train, a 2-day City Pass for museum access and transportation, and a stay at the Citadines hotel near the Garre Part Dieu train station. The visit included exploring historical sites like the Basilica of Notre Dame, the Ancient Theater of Fourvière, and the UNESCO-listed Vieux Lyon, as well as enjoying local cuisine at a Lyonnaise restaurant. The author's partner, Rhonda, a photographer and garden enthusiast, appreciated the Parc de la Tête d’Or and the city's Renaissance architecture. Despite language barriers, they found the locals friendly and helpful. The trip concluded with a sense of gratitude and a desire to return, especially after losing some of the trip's photographic memories.

Opinions

The author found Lyon

The home of my great-grandfather.

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My great grandfather was born in Lyon, France. It was always my intention to visit Lyon someday. In 2015 a good friend of ours invited us to stay at their home in Cuneo, Italy. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to fly into Lyon for a couple of days before heading to Italy.

Rhonda and I decided to travel frugally but comfortably. We flew into Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport, and took the Lyon Express from the airport to Garre Part Dieu, the main train station in Lyon. We purchased the 2-day City Pass which allowed us to visit a number of museums and use most of the public transportation in Lyon — the metro, trams, buses and funicular.

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I booked us a room at the Citadines hotel which was walking distance from Garre Part Dieu. I wanted us to stay close to the train station as that was where we would leave for Turin, Italy.

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The Citadines hotel was reasonably priced and a convenient staging site for our visit. From there we were able to walk to the funicular that took us up the hill to the Basilica of Notre Dame and the Ancient Theater of Fourvière. We were also walking distance to the Rhone and the many riverfront shops and cafes. We did a lot of walking along the river and in Vieux Lyon (old Lyon) which has the most extensive Renaissance neighborhoods in Europe. The Vieu Lyon is now listed in the UNESCO World Heritage list for its history and architecture.

On our last night in Lyon, we decided to splurge at a well known Lyonnaise restaurant. The food was excellent, French cooking at its best, and the prices surprisingly reasonable. Rhonda and I had food we could not pronounce and would have never ventured to try before!

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Rhonda loves gardens so we had to visit the Parc de la Tête d’Or. This is a very pleasant and peaceful botanical park with walking paths and a lake.

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As I was teaching in a Don Bosco Catholic school at the time, I had to take the opportunity visit the Don Bosco Center in Lyon.

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Although we do not speak French, we found it easy to communicate. The people were friendy and many spoke English. Those who did not were prepared to help with signs and the few English words they knew.

Lyon is beautiful and definitely worth the visit. We hope to return someday and spend more time there to fully take in all the city has to offer. We also have an excuse to do so. Rhonda, the photographer in the family, lost her album of digital photographs of Lyon when she upgraded her phone a couple of years back. This posting had to rely on my photographs which honestly are not as good and do not include the more interesting sights we saw.

I left Lyon grateful that I finally got to see the birthplace of my great grandfather who found his way to Penang, Malaysia in the nineteenth century, married a local lady and started a family line now spread far and wide.

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