Old Lyon France

On Sunday afternoon we strolled through the streets of ‘Vieux Lyon’ (Old Lyon) soaking up the atmosphere.  The narrow cobble streets are lined with many medieval and Renaissance houses.

We walked over the Saône River to the magnificent fountain located in Lyon France's central square (Place des Terreaux) which was created by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdiand  who also designed the ‘Statue of Liberty’. 

From the river we could see the beautiful Basilique Notre Dame.

We popped into St.Jean church and admired the astronomical clock. 

Lying beneath and between these buildings are 315 traboules (secret passages) which link 230 streets and add up to 50km. Some date back to Roman times, whilst most were constructed by canuts (silk weavers) in the 19thC to facilitate the transport of their products between river to manufacturers.

 

We decided to eat a different kind of local delicacy ‘ brioche praliner’, a little less adventurous but very tasty! 

 Many of these are now cafes and traditional restaurants called ‘bouchon’ where you can eat all different parts of a pig. 

Along our wall we came across one of the city’s ‘tromp-l’œil murals. This one is called ‘Bibliothèque de la Cité’ which features five storeys of shelved books.