A spring trip to Lyon, France

May 06, 2025

Sun. Warmth. We needed both after our first winter further north than we’ve ever lived. France has always been a country we adore and now that we live so close (3h20 by train to Paris!), we have the chance to explore more than Paris or Provence. We used to spend every Christmas break in Paris but somehow fifteen years had slipped by.

Ahhh, France! I missed this architecture.

We decided to visit Lyon. A big city (plenty to see), a bit further south (warm, fingers crossed), and good food (the NL is not known for its stellar cuisine, sorry!). A week before we left, the forecast was marginally better than Haarlem, a few degrees warmer, some rain. But miraculously, two days before the trip, the forecast changed to upper 70’s with sun!

Moments after we arrived and dumped our luggage at our 6th floor walkup apartment .. whew!

Ominous skies did appear at the end of our trip but we were snuggled happily inside a loft apartment tasting wine while listening to the rolling thunder out the huge open windows (I’m kicking myself for not taking a picture to commit to memory). Later that night, as we ate dinner inside a restaurant down the hill, it absolutely poured! People rushed inside the restaurant to stay dry. It was just like Paris but without the 4 cm sized hail.

Before the rain arrived and the tourists.

Most cities in Europe have become overrun with tourism lately but either we were early in the season or Lyon just isn’t on the map yet but it wasn’t horribly crowded while we visited. It really only felt a bit busy after lunch. We started our outings around 10 every morning and we had entire sights to ourselves. Like the Roman theater ruins built in the 1st or 2nd century high in the hills of Lyon. Deserted, except for one person practicing very eccentric modern dance moves at the top of the Odeon.

Apparently, those tiles in the center of the amphitheater are original. Wow. Just wow. How modern! They also had a very sophisticated tarp system that could cover the entire theater in three minutes.

I also thought these wall panels must not be original but they are!

These spaces are actively used too. Concerts happen here regularly. We climbed up to see the Amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules, another Roman ruin only to find two hot pink shipping containers slapped in the center housing Mexican and Italian takeout. I highly recommend a visit to the adjacent Lugdunum or Gallo Roman Museum. Although the 70’s architecture shows how far a culture can go downhill, the treasures inside are worth navigating the bizarre brutalist design. I get it, the architect wanted to hide the building, but too much concrete!

Perfectly preserved mosaic floors seen throughout the Lugdunum museum.

But the weather was too perfect to spend it inside underground! This was the week that Europe turned green with new growth. It was bursting everywhere. I couldn’t get enough of it.

We each had our top 3 list of things we must see. One of mine was to walk through the Jardin du Rosaire, just below the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière. However, with green comes pollen and two out of three of us suffers from severe allergies (not me!), so I only got as close as this scene below. Yes, ALL of those trees were flowering. We spent one day walking through the Parc de la Tête d'Or and listened to absolutely everyone sneezing. It did eventually get a little bit to me.

I do have to remark on the bike infrastructure in Lyon. It’s there! It exists and people are using it. I think there’s a tipping point that has to happen and it’s close but there is certainly a challenge having such a hilly city. But they are doing the right thing having dedicated bike lanes and clear bike signage.

I must also touch on the art inspiration I found in Lyon. There was plenty. The Roman ruins were enough to feed my sketchbook for a year.

But also the manhole covers. I wanted to capture more of these or even do some frottage but I think people would have thought I was completely insane.

And of course, there was plenty of color to inspire me as well. Though anyone over the age of 40 would probably avoid sitting at these tables below for fear of one wrong chair readjustment landing you on the diner below you. That would be me!

Overall our vacation was amazing. We got some needed warmth and sun, some good food and I was able to meet a friend I only knew from Instagram! I will admit though, it was nice to come back to the Netherlands. Home! I missed the clean and efficient trains, the laid back vibe and less confusion of which language to speak (every time we tried to say something in French, it came out in Dutch!).

Five days was just enough time to see most of Lyon. Next time we will venture into the countryside. For some armchair travel about Lyon, I highly recommend reading Dirt by Bill Buford. The audiobook is a great listen, read by the author with a lot of personality. It’s available at your local library through Hoopla or Libby. Check out his videos featuring some of his recipes he learned while training as a chef in Lyon. I also recommend “A Bite Sized History of France” by Stéphane Henaut and Jeni Mitchell for a good read on France. If you head over to France, let me know and maybe I’ll swing over and meet you there for amazing croissants!