Lyon, France

Next up on our trip was Lyon, France. We were all excited to visit Lyon because that is where my brother had spent the last year going to school. We were very interested in seeing where my brother had been living and why he liked Lyon so much! 

We spent a total of four days in Lyon, with one day being a day trip to Marseille, (that post will be coming soon.) and then we had another day trip planned to go to Switzerland, but unfortunately that ended up not working out. We had booked a rental car before we left, but when we went to pick it up there were all these fees and the car was going to be well over $200 for one day! So we ended up just staying in Lyon and doing some shopping and walking around.

When we first arrived, we checked into our Airbnb apartment and then set out to explore Lyon! The nice thing about being in Lyon is we had a pretty good tour guide! Michael knew all kinds of neat things to see and do.

Lyon is the French capital of mural painting and has many interesting murals painted all over the city. This one featured 25 historical figures and characters. It, of course, had Le Petit Prince and the author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

A building in Place des Terreaux.

 Hôtel de Ville (city hall)in Lyon.

 Fourvière on the hill.

On our next day in Lyon, we came across this market set up along the river. We all enjoyed walking through it! There was so many beautiful flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables, and meats and cheeses.

Market in Lyon.

The fruit smelled SO good!

 Bridge over the Saône.

 Palais de justice historique in Lyon.

 The Pink Tower.

We took a tram up the hill so we could visit the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. I somehow managed to not get a picture of the outside, but the inside was extremely beautiful. It was definitely my favorite church that we visited while in France!

 The view from the top of the hill by Fourvière.

We then walked over to the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière. It was built around 15BC.

The theater is still in use and while we were there they were setting up for a summer concert series.

The view from by the theater.

Another mural in Lyon. Yes, the entire thing is a mural! Even the stores and 'buildings'. It was very neat to see!

We all really liked visiting Lyon! It seems so many people view France only as Paris. Meaning, a lot of people seem to think that Paris is the only place to visit in France, then I think you are really missing out! France is SO much more than Paris. 

Lyon was a great city! It isn't very touristy (which is GREAT!), but there is still a ton to do there. I would definitely go back to Lyon and I definitely recommend visiting!