Top 10 Things To Do In Lyon | France Travel Guide

Lyon, France. Join us for the majestic views from the top of Forvier Hill. Explore with us the stunning Basilica of Notre Dame. Get immersed in Lyon's thriving arts scene and one of the largest renaissance districts of its kind in Europe. We discover some of the secret passageways used historically by silk workers and then trek through ancient ruins that showcase Lyon's importance in the Roman Empire. I'm Judy and I'm Kevin. Welcome back to Find Jean and Marie where we share our lives as full-time travelers and the connections we make along the way. We had one huge disappointment during our trip to Lyon, France and we definitely want to give you a heads up so you don't make the same mistake. It's the gastronomical capital of France and it was founded by the Romans in 43 BC. We tell you our big mistake, actually there's two of them, and we also give you praises for everything at the end. You're not going to want to miss this episode if you're considering a visit to France. Our Airbnb is in Vieux Lyon which is one of the largest renaissance neighborhoods in all of Lyon. It's beautiful and charming. It's got cobblestones for walkways which isn't ideal if you have any sort of mobility issues. Rolling suitcases wasn't so easy and people who are using strollers, I wish them all the luck because it is a bit challenging. But it's beautiful here and there's all kinds of artisans and great restaurants including Bouchon's which we're going to be visiting soon. You're going to want to check those out. So what were our big mistakes? First of all, we had no idea how much there is to see and do in Lyon and we highly recommend that you give yourselves more time here than we did. We really only had about two days to tour the city and you need to give yourself way more time than that. And you want to make sure that you're coming at the right time of year. This is very hot. We're in what month? Early August. Early August. Mid-August actually. Yeah there's a heat wave right now. Maybe it's not every August but it's a little bit intense right now and walking around the city there's so much to see you don't want to give yourself so much heat that you don't feel like doing it. Yeah definitely I would suggest coming in May sometime, early June or September, October. It's probably a great weather and you can do all of the outdoor activities that are here without dying of heat. So I guess we're coming back another time of year. So if you're short on time like we were, here are our top 10 things to do in Lyon. Right in the heart of the city is the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. It's got a huge nave inside and it's even got a 27 pedal organ. Come inside and check it out with us. So one of the things that we had heard about was this astronomical clock. Yeah we were looking for it on the outside at first but nope it's on the inside. I thought it was going to be a huge clock tower. That's not what it is. We're wondering about going I don't see the clock tower. Let's go inside. It's a real working clock that includes the position of the sun and the moon and the earth all together. It's not so huge but it is fairly large and it's got very interesting features. And in front of this cathedral we can see a hill and another cathedral which we're not walking up to. There's a funiculare that we're going to use. That's one of our next destinations. The doors are closing. We made it on the easy way up the hill to the funiculare and we're getting ready to go. They say we're going through a tunnel so not much to see. As soon as you get off the Forvier funiculare you come across the Basilica of Notre Dame right across the street. It's at the top of the hill built in the late 1800s. It's a mix of Romanesque and Byzantine architecture. It's got elaborate mosaics, stained glass and intricate details. The Basilica is a major pilgrimage site particularly during the Festival of Lights in early December. It draws thousands of visitors who light candles and place them in windows throughout the city. So we knew we were going to see mosaics in here but I was not prepared for how gold-laden they were and how they were covering every single wall of the church. It's incredible. The floor is full of tiles and it's amazing looking. Okay so where are we? So we're in this area. Okay. And we're heading over to the ruins. There we go. And you can see that there's two theaters, a big one and a small one. This is the Odeon and this is Forvier. Okay looks close on the map. That'll be great. There's a bit of going down to go back up again after we leave the Basilica. I hope we're going the right way because I don't know. Like you said here's the museum. Oh sure. Maybe through here? Let's see. Oh that's a nice view. Okay we're at the view. Wow. Great view of Lyon in the distance. So kill two birds with one stone. The lookout was just down the hill from the entrance of the actual theaters. These two theaters are very different. This first one seated 10,000 people and was built in 20 BC and it was used for big huge events obviously by the size of it. Whereas the smaller Odeon theater has more intimate productions. It was only built for 3,000. So there were poetry readings and more intimate gatherings where this was big monumental events. And the smaller one was built in the first or second century? Yes, AD. Now this is one of the most modernized versions of Roman ruins that we've seen. You got nice railings here. They've got places for lighting and speakers. So this is really a very in use ancient theater. Yeah even today there are still events that are hosted here. And it was built under the rule of Emperor Augustus and it's one of the oldest Roman theaters in France. You know the ancient Roman concessions area. Popcorn, hot dogs. Definitely one smart aleck Kevin along with you when you're touring ancient ruins. It also indicated that there was a top tier of seating that's gone. There also was a roof on top of all of this. Because this was such a more intimate theater it was used for music and that helped with the acoustics. And also you can see some really beautiful mosaic tiling. So one of the things that you have to check out when you're here in Lyon are the secret passageways. And this one connects one street to another. The only thing is you have to be very quiet because these are buildings that people actually live in. And this one is called the long passageway. And it takes you through a series of residences and shops. And it's very fascinating to walk through it. You think that you might be walking through somebody's home and there's a sign to direct you on what to be doing. But you're safe. So we began our passage through 54 Rue Saint-Jean and now the end is 27 Rue du Bouff. Now of course you can go either way. It's interchangeable. One of the nice things about Lyon is that the river has plenty of places you can cross it. Some towns when you can't get across it for one bridge. Here we have two walking bridges. One over there and one that we're on right here. And outside of those are bridges for vehicles. So plenty of options. No worries about getting across the river. So we're coming back from breakfast and we come across this very interesting building, La Fresca del Lionese. I don't know. I don't speak French. But it's literally a history lesson painted on a building which is so cool. So it has various famous people. Poets and navigators and geographers and cinematographers. It's quite interesting. And then they have painted them in various spots and you get to see which ones they are when they lived. And it's nice that they give us a key because I don't know hardly any of them but this helps. You at least look up who they are and what they've done. We weren't familiar with Auguste Cam and Louis Lumiere but they are cinematographer inventors that lived in Lyon. So that's pretty cool. So of all of these 30 people we know of one because we looked it up, right? It's two. Yeah, brothers. Yeah. All right. No. No. Oh, I thought I know someone. Marcel, Marcel. Uh, no. No. No. Nice try. This entire square dates back to the 16th century. It was originally named after a Dominican convent but the convent no longer exists. But the square still has the name. The fountain is decorated with four different statues representing four different Lyon artists. An architect, a painter, an engraver, and a sculptor. The architecture surrounding this fountain is very lovely. Classic French style. Really reminds me of our favorite streets in Paris. So the designer of this fountain, which I did not know, is also the designer of the Statue of Liberty, which is pretty cool. And this public square was originally a fortified area outside the city walls in the 13th century. And so it was functioned as defensive space. In fact, it was transformed into urban space in the 17th century. It hosts markets, public events, and historically even executions during the French Revolution. So you better behave. So here we are. It's a new day. We're at the Musée des Beaux-Arts and we're trying to get in there and check out some of the paintings, sculptures, and some of the artifacts from Egypt and Greece, I guess. We love museums and we don't have enough time always to spend in them but we put aside time today to view two museums. We just finished at the Museum of Fine Arts here in Mignon. What did you think of it? I thought that it had some spectacular parts and some parts that were a little bit less. I thought that some of the areas that we've seen before, like Egyptian and Greek artwork, probably a little bit lacking here. It's not the place to go for that but... It's listed as one of the highlights and maybe if you haven't been to some of those countries then this will wow you a little bit more than it did us. You know, Egyptian, go to Turin. You know, enjoy the full effect of it. Or go to Egypt. Yeah, go to Egypt too. The great things from Matisse and Monet and Cézanne and Rodin were a lot of sculptures, very interesting Renoir Picasso. I think it's worthwhile. I really do. I just don't get caught up in some of the parts that may be disappointing. Keep going up the upstairs where all the paintings are and if you like sculptures there's some really sweet ones downstairs. Yeah, and it didn't take very long. No, an hour. It took less than I expected it to. Obviously you can take as long as you want. It's a museum and there's so many things to see and learn. I did try to book a masterpieces tour directly with the museum but they were all booked out for today. They're not available until late next week. So if that's something that you want to do, which I think it probably is a really good idea, then you might want to book ahead and not just show up. And general admission is easy. It's just tying down trees. So just plenty of tickets for that. And you do that online as well. Or they recommend you do. We're here in Beau Lyon at the Musée de Cinema et Miniatures. And it might seem that visiting a cinema museum would be more appropriate for Hollywood than it would be in Lyon, France. But not really. Because the Lumière brothers in 1895, Auguste and Louis, invented the first motion picture camera and projector. And so this is the perfect place to celebrate them and learn more about special effects and miniatures. I think some of the things here are in 112th scale. So I'm curious to see what everything is going to look like. The outside looked good. So let's go inside. Four floors? Four floors. Start in the basement. All right. Here are the real sets from the movie. The perfume adapted from the novel. I'll say that it looks very lifelike. I'm pretty impressed with how textural everything seems. Matches the dinosaurs you've met in the past. No, that's you. You know, I set myself up for that. I could tell that was coming. Harry. Harry Potter. This is rubber? It is actually a glove worn by Johnny Depp in the film. This version made of plastic and rubber was used in most scenes not to hurt the actors. Those are not metal. Those are metal. Well, you tell me. I'm just reading to you what I'm reading. That is hard to believe. Those are not metal. I am incredibly impressed. I can't even tell the difference. Crazy amount of detail. You look at these things. You look at even the little detail on the bolts and the rivets. Everything has like aged touches to it. Magazines. Look at all the magazines. What I don't understand is where are they getting these materials in these miniature versions? Because I would think that even though the size of them is small, it still has to be quite expensive to make these one-of-a-kind items. So that was really incredible. What did you think? Stunning. Especially when we got to the last couple of floors of miniatures. I am just amazed at the artistry, the ability to make things so tiny. Yes, it's such tiny little manipulation that you have to do with... I don't know how they do it. Because they had that one miniature where they had miniatures of miniatures. Like a miniature shop. 144th scale. Yeah. That's nuts. That's beautiful. Definitely worthwhile. I mean, the first floor, the couple things there might not wow you, but keep going. Nine different exhibits. Seeing some of the special effects and some of the costumes and just talking about all of the detail and everything. Really, really well worth the money. One of our favorite things here is that there are outdoor cafes everywhere. So be sure to stop by one or many because the food is pretty good here. So we chose this restaurant because it's a Bouchon Lyonnaise, which is a specific type of restaurant in Lyon and wanted to try their local foods. Bouchons are eateries that serve classic Lyonnaise dishes along with local wines. The foods are rustic and preserve the culinary traditions of Lyon. I have French onion soup, which is called onion soup here in France. And it looks delicious. It came as part of a whole chef's meal, which is three sections. And nicer because they're all supposed to be smaller, which seems like here in France, you can really overeat. They're very generous with some of the plates. That's allowed, right? Grab the cheese. Really good. The bread is perfect. Cheese is so flavorful. This is excellent. It's been a long time since I've had this kind of soup. I think we switched meals. I think you took mine. Yes, I did. Because yours said that it was a steamed potato, which sounded really good. So I was really more in the mood for mashed potatoes. But I don't know. The sausage didn't look kind of what I was expecting. So I'm trying the quenelle of fish and then rice. It's kind of interesting. Not what I at all expected. Yeah, it looks like your mashed potatoes right there. I don't even need the rice. It was very souffle-like. So I'm personally not picking up the fish taste of it, but it does have kind of the consistency of what a souffle would taste like. Okay. The sauce is pretty good. Let's try Judy's meal. Really good in the sauce. I don't think it's spicy or that flavorful. The au jus is definitely good. Maybe that's a selling point for both of these. All right, our last night in Vieux Léon. Yes, all good things must come to an end. But we're at another Bouchon. The first one we went to was just okay. This one was recommended a little bit more. You definitely need to have reservations, although they're letting a lot of people in. But we came in right at seven. So it's filling up very quickly. And yeah, I'm eager to try some of the different foods here that we missed the first time around. And just to see if some of the flavors are a little bit different than what we have had previously. And this deck is shaking like crazy. So every time someone walks by from outdoors and the wine looks like it's gonna spill all over the place. First of all, I'm just gonna say I don't know how this is just an appetizer. That's a lot of food. So what you got there? I have another salad mayonnaise. I feel like we've been eating, I don't know, maybe we haven't been eating heavy. But all the menus we've been looking at have been heavy. And I figured I'd be getting a little bit of your food and really didn't want to be overstuffed. So to be fair, this evening is nice and cool. We're really enjoying some pleasant outdoor weather. The last few days have been so hot. So it's been hard to eat any kind of heavy food. Exactly. I completely agree. It's still a tremendous amount of, I mean, it says bacon, but to me, it really looks like pork belly. Yeah, there was two big meals. I got one of them. You got the one with one with a cheese sauce and the other was a mushroom sauce. Really beautiful. Mushroom sauce is a good choice. Really nice. I wouldn't have enjoyed the cheese at all. I really don't like cheese on steak. Never makes me happy. So what did we pay for our eight days in Lyon in US dollars? Our Airbnb was $805.57, which is $100.70 per day. Transportation cost a total of $265.50 broken down as follows. Riding the Metro was $8.98 per person, including one ride up the funicular. We flew from Houston to Lyon on points plus $76. And then $67.50 per person for assigned seats on Air Canada. Activities cost us a total of $52.58 or $26.29 per person. Bow Arts Museum was $8.80 per person and Musee Miniature was $17.49 per person. We spent a total of $495.70 on restaurant food or $247.85 per person. Groceries were $91.28 or $45.64 per person. So eight days in Lyon cost us a total of $1,674.09, which breaks down to be $837.05 per person or $104.63 per day. Unfortunately, our time in Lyon has come to an end. If you've enjoyed this episode, we hope you'll subscribe if you haven't already. The best compliment that you can give to us is to recommend our videos to your friends and family. Check out FindingJeanMarie.com where you can find out more about us, articles, and our community forum. Until next time.