Lyon, known as the second largest city (and maybe the cleanliest) in France has been on my list of places to go visit for a while. I'll admit and tell you that I didn't do much research prior to visiting the city. All I knew was that there was a famous church and lots of bridges. If you couldn't tell by that description alone it means that my sole research was done via Instagram several hours prior to my departure.


Our day started off taking the metro from the station and the funicular (which I would highly recommend doing if you've never experienced going up on steep hill before) towards the Basilica of Notre Dame. This golden church is definetly worth a visit not only for the views inside of the church, but the view overlooking the entire city as well.


After having visited the church, we made our way down the stairs and into the city via foot. An hour or so later, after having enjoyed walking next to the river for quite some time, we found ourselves in Lyon's infamous park and zoo. What's great about this zoo is that it is free to the public (anything free is always a plus). After a lot of obnoxious ooh-ing and ahh-ing we took the bus towards the center of town. Famished, cold, and tired we decided to end the day were many people seek refuge at 4 pm in the afternoon: the shopping mall. After quickly seeing a fashion show, grabbing some clothes from H&M and some necessary food from McDonalds we hopped back onto the train back to Montpellier.


Overall, I would recommend visiting Lyon (though I would probably recommend going when its a bit warmer). Lyon was by far one of the cleanliest cities and offered many public restrooms along our walk (which is a rare sighting in France). Though this city is the second largest in France, it did not have the hustle and bustle vibe of Marseille or Paris that I was expecting. Maybe it was the cold, or the fact that it was a weekday, but the town was almost too quiet for my liking.


Have you visited Lyon? Where did you visit?


Until next time,