Thursday, May 7, 2009

Lyon 101

We had looked for Lyon-specific guidebooks at bookstores back home without luck and had been reluctant to shell out the cash for the Lyon Lonely Planet that I found online, so we arrived here with no books at all about this city (rather shocking, considering how many Paris books we brought along!). Thus, a trip to good old FNAC was in order on Saturday. You know how much I hate bookstores, but it was a sacrifice that had to be made.

Here, happily, the main downtown FNAC is located above ground (unlike the stealth FNAC near our apartment in Paris) and its sign is easily visible from Place Bellecour, where we had been on Thursday to visit the tourist information office. We found two Lyon books that seemed good and reasonably priced, both in French: the Michelin guide to Lyon and surrounding areas, and Lyon à pied, a thin book containing about half a dozen different walking tours of the city.

Below are a few pics from Saturday -- exploring a bit of downtown Lyon during the day and again at night (following part of the Ville illuminée [Illuminated City] tour in our new walking tour book).

A unique Lyon landmark -- enormous bunch of brightly painted metal flowers near the Rhône



Pleasant grassy plaza adjacent to the enormous bunch of flowers (we've eaten our lunch of takeout flan and sandwiches on benches in the shade at the end of this plaza a couple times already)



Aaron admiring the Rhône



If you cross this bridge, go a couple blocks straight and then a couple blocks to the left, you will reach the Alliance Française de Lyon!



Ad for Lyon's community bike rental system (seems similar to the Vélib' system in Paris)



Poster caption reads, LYON: The 30 years [1979-2009] that changed the city. The picture in the upper right corner shows the Monoprix where I've been stopping to pick up a few groceries on an almost daily basis on my way home from class. (Grocery shopping without a car is better done in small doses!)



Mailboxes on the outside of the main post office building labeled in 5 languages



Church we passed by on our night walk



One of Lyon's universities, most or all of which are currently closed due to a national strike of university faculty that has already lasted over three months



Night street view near the Rhône

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