The residents of the city are called Lyonnais. Lyon has approximately 483 thousand inhabitants, but it is the largest conurbation (like the GTA) outside of Paris with an overall estimated population of about 2.9 million people. "Economically, Lyon is a major centre for banking as well as for chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. Lyon also hosts the international headquarters of Interpol, Euronews and International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lyon is ranked 2nd in France as an economic centre and convention centre on some measures. Lyon was ranked 9th globally and 2nd in France for innovation in 2010. It ranked 38th globally in Mercer's 2010 liveability rankings."
My first tourist experiences in Lyon were conducted by my friend, Fanny, starting at the Place Bellecour where the tourist offices are located.
Bellecour is often used as the site of gatherings for festivals and features a statue of Louis XIV. Place Bellecour is the largest square in Europe without any obstacles (as well as the largest pedestrian square in Europe) and it serves as the focal point for Lyon.
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| Lyon Confluence — Aerial view © Herzog & de Meuron - Michel Desvigne Paysagiste/SPLA Lyon Confluence. Originally appeared on Lyon Confluence |
From here, we set out to explore Presqu'île (2e arrondissement), the area between the Rhône and the Saône Rivers, via the rue de la République. We saw the Théâtre des Célestins (which used to be a convent) and continued until we came across the Saône:
Our adventures led us to rue Mercière, a touristy restaurant street where we stopped for some glace (ice cream):
The square is also home to the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the Hôtel de Ville, the back of which can be found in Place de la Comédie where there are more spectacular fountains and l'Opéra Nouvel. It was great catching up with Fanny, and our day ended with an early dinner at a restaurant on the rue de la République.
A few days later, I went out exploring with my housemate, Morgane. Our main goal was to see the Musée des Beaux-Arts, but we couldn't help taking a quick detour to this bookshop:
I love books. When I go bookshopping anywhere other than Amazon, however, my favourite books to look at are children's books. I could go broke in my search to find suitable books to use in the classroom and this store had wonderful children's books, including a favourite of mine: Le Petit Prince. I soon realized why: Lyon is the home of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry... the author of The Little Prince. Saint-Exupéry is also the person for whom the Lyon airport is named because he was a celebrated pilot. Promising to come back once I've developed a budget, Morgane and I continued to the Musée.
Deciding we were not feeling extremely ambitious, we decided only to do one étage of the museum this time (it is free for students under 26!), we opted to start with the paintings.
When I was a kid, I thought that museums were these severely boring places where people just stood around looking at things. As I have developed some appreciation of art, I now realize that you make connections to the artwork while you are in a museum. My favourite style is impressionisme and my favourite artist to date is Camille Pisarro. There was only one room featuring impressionism, and only two of Pisarro's works at this particular museum, which was a bit disappointing, so I contented myself with making the most of the hilariously cheesy works from other time periods. Here are some examples:
It turned out to be quite the entertaining afternoon. I'll have to see if there are any more impressionist works hiding elsewhere in the city.
In conclusion, I'm thrilled with my choice of Lyon, and can't wait to see more of it during the next few months!
Deciding we were not feeling extremely ambitious, we decided only to do one étage of the museum this time (it is free for students under 26!), we opted to start with the paintings.
When I was a kid, I thought that museums were these severely boring places where people just stood around looking at things. As I have developed some appreciation of art, I now realize that you make connections to the artwork while you are in a museum. My favourite style is impressionisme and my favourite artist to date is Camille Pisarro. There was only one room featuring impressionism, and only two of Pisarro's works at this particular museum, which was a bit disappointing, so I contented myself with making the most of the hilariously cheesy works from other time periods. Here are some examples:
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| Check out the « angels » on the bottom right. |
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| The men in the bottom right-hand corner are wearing the latest 16th century fashions (including the fleur-de-lis) at the resurrection of Jésus. |
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| I was just jealous of his curls. |
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| Sorry for the poor quality photo, but get a load of the sea monster that coughed up Jonah. |
In conclusion, I'm thrilled with my choice of Lyon, and can't wait to see more of it during the next few months!
Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fr.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Bellecour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_des_Terreaux
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