Destination: Lyon, France (October 2018 Edition)

Bonjour!

During this past vacances de la Toussaint, I kept it pretty simple by staying put in France, just as I’d done the year before. At least from these past two years, I haven’t really gone all-out with my travel days, as I was still getting used to la rentrée for teaching, and I wanted to save up for trips that would happen later in the year. That said, I decided to return to Lyon again, just as I’d done last year, to get out and enjoy myself not too far from my city.

Compared with last year’s visit to Lyon, I only opted to stay a weekend this time around. What was also different was that I booked and stayed in a hostel for the first time in the city, which was a bit strange since I’m so used to either Couchsurfing or renting an Airbnb– however, neither options were available (nor within my price range) this time, and I didn’t mind so much to stay in a hostel, just for two nights.

With that said, I headed out around noon on Saturday to catch the train to Lyon with a friend, a fellow lectrice, who would just be doing a day trip that afternoon. We met up with another friend from our city at Part-Dieu before we headed to my hostel, where I was only meant to drop my belongings off (as it wasn’t quite time to check-in), but I was surprised that I could check in once I arrived, which made it a lot better.

After quickly dropping my belongings off in my dorm room, I went with my friends to la Halle Tony Garnier, a massive event venue where we were planning to check out the salon des vignerons indépendants, which is essentially a wine-tasting exposition that contains over 100 different independent wine makers from all over France, offering visitors a taste of their products. I’d gone last year, and I had a good time that I wanted to return this year– and that I did! Plus, the event is free (with an “invitation” to be printed from online), so all the better!

As we went around 15:00, it wasn’t a surprise that the venue was absolutely packed with people. After getting our complementary wine glasses for the tasting, we spent the next hour or so weaving through the rows of different types of wine from different regions of France. There were many, from Alsatian Riesling to Burgundy Pinot noir, as well as non-wine products like champagne, cognac, and crémant. My friends and I had a good time trying samples of each, although we definitely couldn’t taste all of them!

Perhaps it was the overwhelming crowds that day, or maybe we were just getting tired from walking around, but we eventually left the venue after an hour or two. While I didn’t stay as long as I’d done the year prior, I still got to enjoy it with good company. Granted, I was tired from traveling that day, so I headed back to my hostel early, and I rested for the remainder of the evening.

The following day was my only full day in Lyon: I wasn’t really in a rush to see anything in particular, as I’ve visited the city countless of times, and I’ve already seen many of the main landmarks. It also happened to be a Sunday, so many places would be closed for business (e.g. boutiques, restaurants, stores). In any case, I headed out around 10:00 to check out Vieux Lyon once more, as I figured out what to do with my day in town.

Surprisingly, Vieux Lyon was actually full of tourists that morning: herds of American and British tourists (probably from cruise excursions) were ambling on the cobblestone streets of the historic center, and plenty of shops, restaurants, and boutiques were open for business. I’d forgotten that Lyon was touristy, and so things were bound to be open, even on Sunday!

I puttered around Vieux Lyon for a bit, revisiting some traboules (“secret” courtyards that also doubled as passageways from one street to the other) before heading south towards Perrache where I arrived just on-time for Brasserie Georges to open for lunch. I’d gone to this restaurant over two years ago, and I’d been meaning to return. It’s one of the oldest restaurants in the city (dates back to 1836), and it still retains its classy, 19th-century decor with its golden walls and frescoes throughout the large, hall-like dining interior.

As it was Sunday, it was also when many people– friends, families, couples– opt to go out for lunch. I was lucky that I showed up right when it just opened at 11:30, as well as the fact that I came alone to have gotten a seat quickly. Within 25 minutes, the restaurant was already packed, and there was still a queue after I finished and left. Despite the bustling weekend, I was glad to have food at one of my favorite places in Lyon.

I opted for a three-course set menu, which was reasonably-priced at 22€. The lentil salad was refreshing (albeit a bit too cold for a chilly, rainy day), the rabbit leg tender (a bit on the lukewarm side, though), and the praline floating island was sweet and just light enough so as not to make me super-full in the end. The experience was well-worth it, and I happily went on my way afterwards.

Following lunch, I decided to head out to the musée d’art contemporain (MAC), located north of the city near Parc de la Tête d’Or. It was perhaps a five-kilometer walk from the brasserie, but I didn’t mind it, as I could also burn off my caloric lunch. Plus, it was a scenic stroll along the Rhône river, which was all the more lovely.

Arriving at the MAC, I paid 6€ (reduced price) to check out the modern art inside. However, I wasn’t aware that it was geared to showing only temporary exhibitions all throughout the museum, and I happened to visit when a Bernar Venet one was going on. I knew nothing about this French conceptual artist, who’s known for experimenting with action painting, especially with tar. Admittedly, I didn’t find it so interesting, as I’m more of an Impressionist/Realist fan, but I was glad to have finally checked out this museum, as well as see what it had to offer.

I didn’t have anything planned until that evening in town, so I decided to head back to the city center, where I eventually met up with a Couchsurfer with whom I’d proposed to hangout: we got a drink near Place Bellecour and got to know each other. We had some good conversations on politics, learning languages, and our experiences living abroad– it was a good time, even if only for a couple of hours, and I left in good spirits to head over to see my friend in the evening for trivia night: we didn’t win by any means, but it was enjoyable to socialize and check out the lyonnais nightlife.

I returned to my hostel afterwards, and that was the end of my weekend in Lyon: I would be leaving the following morning to head to my next destination for the vacances, to enjoy myself even more. It’d been a leisurely stay in Lyon this time around: I got to revisit a few old haunts and meet people– friends and strangers alike– and it made for a good start to my week-long break.

More of my October vacances to come soon!