Vieux Lyon

Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) is one of the coolest parts of the city. It's the old (duh) part of the city sandwiched between the hill with the old roman ampitheatre and the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière (The big church on the hill in one of the images below) and the Saône river. It is mostly cobblestone streets, plazas, really old buildings, and the occasional cool statue or fountain. It is also home to some of the best bars and restaurants in Lyon, and one of the few places where things are actually open on Sundays. When George and I start looking for a new apartment, we will look here.



I really like the architecture and style of old Lyon. The buildings are old, and occasionally in need of some repairs, but that is part of the charm I guess. Although there are actually roads running thru this part of the city, there are few cars on them, and the streets are very walkable and generally lined with small vendors.


The hills behind old Lyon are mostly park and green spaces, which is cool too. Lyon is a pretty dense, urban area, and is definitely lacking in grass and general greenery in my opinion. Although I do currently live just across the street from the largest park in Lyon (Parc Tête D'Or), my daily walk to work is mostly concrete.



Old Lyon is also home to some odd, and cool, and somewhat scary old pathways and traboules, that are quite fun to explore and photograph (and extremely crowded on the weekends). Many of these passages cut thru the buildings to allow you easy, and covered, access from one street to the next, and views into the awesome cool courtyards some of these builds have.



This weekend George and I will dine at Mexico Lindo in Old Lyon, and I have been assured by many that this is the best Mexican restaurant in all of France (or at least Lyon). I'll let you know how it goes.