Our next stop in France was Lyon. Lyon is the 3rd largest city in France, with a population of just over 500,000. It is at the confluence of the Saone and Rhone rivers. The area we stayed in is between the two and just north of the confluence, known as Presqu’ile, meaning “almost an island.”
The city is known as a foodie city (which says a lot because France is basically a foodie country) and played an important role in the French Resistance during World War II.
Our Airbnb was interesting, and our host gave us good tips for local food – a food market and a cheese shop that Kevin went to (I unfortunately am lactose intolerant). The apartment was filled with art and music, much of it relating to concerts that they used to hold in the apartment at the grand piano (still in the apartment but locked during our stay) and created by an artist friend.
We enjoyed walks by both rivers, particularly the Saone.
We also went to the Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) neighborhood to wander a bit in the alleyways and to see a traboule, a passageway that link the streets of the old town. They are aboveground but hidden behind doors. They were originally created to shelter silk goods, an important historic part of trade in the area, when they were being moved from one stage of production to the next. During World War II, the French Resistance used the traboules to hide from the Nazi’s occupying the city and to pass messages amongst themselves. Some are open to the public even though there is access to people’s homes within the passageways. The sign of on the door of the one we entered asked for silence while inside for that reason.
As we left Lyon, we had one of the best meals of the trip in, of all places, the train station! Many smaller train stations in Europe only have sandwiches, pizza slices, or other quick meals (some good, some not), but this one was a French restaurant with multi-course meals. We only had an entrée and beverages, but the fish dish we ate was outstanding.
