Lyon - The Best City in France?

10/04/2025 - 15/04/2025

A church on a hill, an art gallery with Monet and Rodin, beautiful bridges over a river, cafes, restaurants, bakeries serving delicious pastries, vibrant, youthful energy filling the streets and great public transport - no it's not Paris, it's Lyon. Quite possibly my favourite city I have visited thus far. Beautiful architecture, a great geographical place for a city bordered by two rivers creating a Manhattan-like centre (much smaller however) and Roman ruins fascinated me, ticking a lot of boxes for what makes a city "cool" to me. My time in Lyon will also always be special to me given the amazing time I had with Pierre and Myriam, some new friends I made, thanks to family-friends back in NZ, Marty and Antoinette. 

I arrived in Lyon from Nîmes and found my way to another shitty French hostel. Now my gripe with French hostels is not because they're dirty, uncomfortable or unsafe - thankfully. All of them I have stayed in need to pick a lane. They are trying to be a hostel, as well as a hotel and a bar/restaurant. This creates a vibe that as solo-traveller/backpacker is not particularly conducive to meeting people. You have a real mixture of types of travellers there which doesn't lead to "ready-made" connections the same as the hostels I stayed at in Thailand, Spain and Portugal. Thankfully, more social hostels are on the horizon for me in Budapest and Rome, and onwards. 

My first day in Lyon I wandered (well clambered) up the hill overlooking the city to see possibly one of my favourite churches I've seen, Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière. An interesting Byzantine-styled exterior was distinct from other styles of churches through Europe I'd seen, and the interior was extremely intricate and decorative. After this I met up with Pierre and Myriam, meeting them for the first time at a cool bar on the banks of the river. We had a great time, and as I walked back to the hostel rather tipsy after two strong beers, I felt more socially fulfilled and energised than I had the rest of the previous week. A good feeling to say the least. La Musée des Beaux-Arts was on the agenda for the next day, with some cool paintings. I particularly enjoyed some of the impressionist works. Lunch was a bahn mi in Parc de la Tête d'Or, looking at some giraffes, zebras and turtles (there's a free zoo in the park!), and reflecting, thinking and people-watching. It was great to see such a large green space for the people of Lyon with so many people out enjoying the sun - big ups for community vibes, keep bringing people together! Another hike up the same hill where the church was to see an excavated Roman amphitheater on the site of the old Roman city of Lugdunum filled the rest of the afternoon before a delicious kebab with roasted veggies and a (half) bottle of red wine sat in the park, washed down with a beer on the riverbank following. 

Meeting Pierre and Myriam the next day at their apartment, I had the true pleasure of playing guitar and eating an amaaaazing chicken cordon bleu, cooked by the wonderfully talented chef, Pierre. Fuelled by lunch and an espresso (bien sûr), we took the metro to a cool little museum on the history of Lyon in the Second World War and the role it played in the French Resistance. Another coffee (which I finally managed to pay for after they had shouted me everything up to this point), and we wandered around Vieux-Lyon (Old Lyon) with some brilliant historical commentary from Pierre, my own personal walking tour guide. A couple of beers were consumed ahead of the main event of the day: dinner at an authentic Lyon restaurant. Steak with a red wine sauce and mashed potato was the main, with a bunch of starters, plenty of wine, and a French spirit that I can't remember the name of, but I do remember it was fucking strong. Given Myraim was still hungover from the previous day, she had an early night while Pierre and I stayed up discussing 70s rock and our travels around the world, playing the guitar too loudly and waking up Myriam (sorry Myriam!) and drinking rum and coke. Another one of the best days of this trip so far, and a huge huge thank you to Pierre and Myriam for their generosity, hospitality and friendship. It couldn't have come at a better time. 

Another stellar meal cooked by Pierre dusted off the hangover cobwebs the next day, before I jumped on the train bound for the city of Strasbourg. Strasbourg definitely felt more Northern European than the other French cities I'd visited, with more German style medieval architecture, which makes sense given the city had flicked between the Germans and French for centuries, with the city part of Germany up until 1919. A very cute city, with a lovely waterway and even lovelier cycleways. The fourth best city in the world for cycling apparently. I took advantage of this and cycled out to the German border and stood on my very first (but certainly not last) international border. Another unique experience for a little kiwi. I then cycled to the European Parliament building and had a look around there which was very informative! The largest parliament assembly building in the world, it was cool to see where a lot of EU law is legislated. Coffee and reading filled the afternoon, and I even met two American girls who were on a semester abroad in Strasbourg, and we spent a good couple of hours yarning about politics, America's cultural imperialism and what NZ is like. Another valuable exercise in just saying hello to people! 

For the first time in the 48 days since I've left Aotearoa, I will be seeing someone I know. Aboard the ICE train to Munich, I am to be welcomed by my aunty, Audrie, when I arrive in a couple of hours. I'm looking forward to that hug.