Checked out after the stroll & walked to the train station. It might look strange in Singapore to drag your luggage on the streets but in Paris, every1's doing it.
The TGV train left Gare de Lyon on the dot & it's not packed at all. So we'd the luxury of having 4 seats instead of 2. It took only 2 hrs to reach Lyon's Gare Part-Dieu as it travelled at a speed of approx 320km/hr. Our hotel was just opposite the station so again, it's very convenient. But we're having lotsa doubts... we paid €70 for the 1st nite in Paris & see what kind of room we had. This 1 in Lyon was €50/night...!
Once we stepped out of the station, we felt the warmth & scorching sun that we'd to take off our windbreakers. The weather was so different from Paris!! Checked in & the room turned out to be A-Ok! Air-con? Yes! Was a simple & perfectly clean room, nothing much to ask for... Looked like it'd been undergone a renovation recently. What a relief! Hubby thought it's the best deal room & I couldn't agree more.
Settled the luggage, got changed quickly & off we went, eager to visit the 2nd largest metropolitan area after Paris & 1 of the oldest cities in France. Took the métro to Vieux Lyon, the old quarters of Lyon. We're totally charmed by this part of the city... Most of the buildings there were built during the French Renaissance. Walking through the lanes with rows of Gothic & Renaissance houses on both sides was like walking through a tunnel of time... for a moment, we're somehow connected to the life & prosperity the city underwent during the 16th & 17th centuries. It's truly amazing & indescribable!
Visited the traboules which are narrow passages linking the street directly to the inner courtyards. The interesting part is that there are people living in all these houses. Both touristic & residential area. We found notices everywhere especially in the traboules to remind visitors to respect the privacy of the residents as these places were supposed to be private properties & some traboules actually need to have an entry code. But most of the residents allow visitors to walk freely during the day.
Lyon is well-known for being the gastronomic capital of France & the Michelin 3-star restaurants. Not that we're interested to dine in 1 as we're far from affording it! But truly there're so small cafés & restaurants around that we didn't know which to choose! Sometimes too many choices may not be good especially when we know none of them.
After settling our lunch @ 1 of the restaurants, we continued our walk. Found the entrance to the Fourvière hill which is the beginning of a very loooong flight of stairs. We hesitated for a while before taking up the challenge. Were so short of breath & to make it worse, we couldn't stop laughing at how each other looked & yet we motivated each other to move on. By the time we completed the stairs climb, I saw stars! Before I could fully catch my breath, we're already on another lengthy slope. You may not be able to imagine or see clearly in the pix but from the distance between the ground & la Fourvière, it's not difficult to gage how much we'd hiked!
Perhaps due to the lack of oxygen in our brain, we made a slight detour to our original destination. However, the scenery & the magnificence of it we enjoyed was undoubtedly worth all the efforts.
After the terrace garden @ Fourvière, we adjourned to the very famous cathedral - Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière. Standing at the foot, it looked truly awesome!! No picture can really describe the sight & feeling... looking @ historical monuments like this, we always wonder how could they have built such huge buildings with sophisticated carvings???
We enjoyed the surroundings & took time to walk around. It's quite warm & very windy... we'd hoped it could be cooler.
Then we slowly walked down, back to Vieux Lyon. Also visited Saint Jean Cathedral & we're so impressed by it. From there, we walked to River Saône, then stopped at the city center, Presqu'ille, which is in-between the 2 rivers. Thought we could do some shopping but only realised that the shops weren't opened on Sundays. It's good to be in retail business in France - work till about 7pm on weekdays & Sat, no work on Sun!
So we decided to return to hotel by foot. Passed by River Rhône & we just needed to walk straight all the way. It's like a "ghost-town" everywhere... Wanted to get some mineral water on our way back but no supermart was opened. Suddenly we appreciated our retailers in Singapore.... Eventually managed to grab some basics @ a petrol kiosk near our hotel.
Back at our hotel past 7pm & needed to settle our dinner. Without much choices, we dined in at the hotel's restaurant. A simple dinner with a main course & a drink (beer for hubby & wine for me) each & cost nearly S$80!
And then, rested our tired legs early on our 1st day in Lyon!
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