It’s our first day in Lyon. We returned to our hotel after venturing out to acquaint ourselves with the immediate neighborhood, but I still had some energy to burn off. I decided to wander over to the part of town called “Vieux Lyon.” (Old Lyon).
To get there, I walked two blocks to the Saône river, then up three blocks to a place on the river where one can cross the river on a pedestrian-only bridge called a “passerelle.” Once over on the other side, you’re in Vieux Lyon – the oldest part of the city. It looks old, too. No modern buildings on this side of the river, that’s for sure.
Exploring Vieux Lyon
The streets in Vieux Lyon are narrow and curvy – that’s the way they made ’em in the 3rd century. They’re made of cobblestones that make walking a bit challenging. The (mostly 16th and 17th century) buildings are fairly tall, at least they look that way, maybe because they’re packed in so close together. The place made me think of what an ancient French town would look like if Disney created a “Medieval French Town” attraction at one of their theme parks, except in this case the town was really real.
The only slightly disappointing thing was that it was clear that this area was set up for tourists like me. Everyone walking around here looked like a tourist. Everyone not walking around was out in front of a business trying to entice tourists to come in and eat something or buy something. No one would have a problem finding a post card or a little “Vieux Lyon” souvenir around here. Every shop window was packed with them.
Traboules
Even with all the tourist stuff, the place was still pretty neat. The winding little streets all run more or less horizontally. But I read that there are these little passageways called “traboules” that snake vertically up the side of the hill. They’re fairly well hidden from view, so unless you knew what you were looking for, you’d never know they even existed.
I had a map that showed where some of the more well-known traboules were located, so I was able to find a few of them. I didn’t want to go in very far, though, because they go right into peoples’ back yards. (Well, no one here has a “back yard” per se, but you know what I mean). Maybe people who live here are used to nosey tourists snooping aaround in their back yards – but maybe not!
I had better get back to check on my still-under-the-weather Better Half, anyway. This was supposed to just be a quick little reconnaissance mission, not an all-day excursion. On the way back, I made a point of walking by the area we had seen before where all the restaurants were. After all, it looked like I was going to be on my own tonight for dinner. I needed to be checking out the possibilities.
I stopped to buy a sandwich to take back to the hotel for dinner, as had been requested. Mmmmm… a nice tomato, mozzarella, and pesto sandwich. I would have gotten one for myself, too, but I wanted to get out and see what all the fuss about this Lyonnaise cuisine was all about.
To be continued…
Featured Image: View down into Vieux Lyon. Patrick Verdier/Wikimedia Commons
