Today is the day we say “au revoir Dijon” and “bonjour Lyon.” My beautiful and demure Better Half is still under the weather, but she says she feels good enough to make the trip. Her stomach hasn’t been its normal self for the past two days, but hopefully the trip will be, shall we say, uneventful.
Au Revoir, Dijon
We said good-bye to our wonderful apartment and the owners who had been so nice during our stay in Dijon. In Lyon, we’re going stay in a hotel. It will be interesting to see how spoiled we’ve become, staying in relatively large apartments in Paris and Dijon instead of hotel rooms.
We took a taxi to the train station, punched our tickets, waited a little while for the train, and the next thing we knew, we were on our way. I was excited to be going to Lyon. Dijon was neat because it’s a small town in the heart of Burgundy, known for its wine and food. But Lyon is a big city – the second largest city in France after gay Paree – and it’s even more of a foodie town than Dijon.
Lyon is located where two rivers come together – the Rhône and the Saône. The Rhône starts in the Swiss Alps, and flows west to Lyon. The Saône comes down from the north and combines with the Rhône, which then turns south and goes all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.
Les Arrondissements de Lyon
Just like Paris, Lyon is divided up into sections called “arrondissements”. One of the main ones is the 2nd Arrondissement, which contains the area known as “Presque-Ile”. “Presque Ile” means ”almost an island”. It’s the piece of land sticking out, (almost like an island), where the Rhône and Saone rivers come together. And that’s where our hotel is located.
There’s a hill overlooking the two rivers. This is where people are thought to have first settled in this area. (It’s where the 5th Arrondissement is now). People lived here before the Roman army showed up in 43 BC. But they either didn’t hang around, or probably wished they hadn’t, because when the Romans showed up things could get ugly.
The Romans thought this was a great spot, so they built and built and built – as the ancient Romans were wont to do – until they had a sizable city they called Lugdunum. Because of its central location right between everything north and everything south, and its location on the two rivers, Lugdunum became the largest city in what is now south- eastern France.
One other arrondissement worthy of note is called “La Croix-Rousse”, (the Reddish-Brown Cross. It’s named after a large stone cross that was put in this area long ago). This area was silk-weaving central, back in the day when the finest silk and woven goods in the world were produced in Lyon. In its heyday, in the 19th century, almost half the population of Lyon was directly employed in some aspect of the silk weaving industry. (More on that later).
Lyon Part-Dieu
The large area east of the two rivers is the new part of Lyon. It’s called “Lyon Part-Dieu”, which roughly translates to “God’s part of Lyon.” (The area had been called “Part-Dieu” for hundreds of years). Lyon Part-Dieu is a large area that was totally rebuilt in the seventies and eighties. The train station we’re going to come into, Gare de Lyon Part-Dieu, is in this part of town.
(I’m sure you remember that “”gare” rhymes with “car, and that it means “train station”. When you say “Gare de Lyon,” you smash it all together so it’s just two syllables, so it sounds like: “gardelyonh.” You’ll want to practice this, because we’re going to be going to Gare de Lyon Part-Dieu several times. Just don’t forget to add the “Part-Dieu, or we might end up in the wrong train station, eh?)
When we arrived at Gare de Lyon Part-Dieu, it was about 2:00 in the afternoon. We grabbed a taxi to take us to our hotel in Presque-Ile. Lyon Part-Dieu looks pretty much like any big city, except that it has a tram line running through it to connect everything. We went past “La Part-Dieu,” which is supposed to be one of the biggest shopping malls in Europe. Hmmm… we might have to check that out later if we have time. Could be interesting.
Le Crayon
The buildings in Lyon Part-Dieu aren’t anything to write home about, but there is one that does stand out. It looks like a big pencil. And that’s what people call it: “The Pencil.” Or in français, “Le Crayon.” We went right by The Pencil, and sure enough, it looks just like a really big pencil. Its real name is the Crédit Lyonnais Tower, but “The Pencil” is what seems to have stuck.
Our taxi crossed the Rhône river onto the “Presque-Ile” part of town. All of a sudden everything started looking much nicer. Lots of neat-looking old buildings and big trees. It looked a lot like Paris. This is more like it. Now let’s find out what Lyon is all about, eh?
To be continued…
Featured Image: Lyon, Part-Dieu. Note the building known as “The Pencil” on the right. Frédéric Ducarme/Wikimedia Commons
