Lyon

4.5 hours by car from Nice (471 Km)

8 ways Lyon outshines Paris

1. Wine: Just about everyone in France loves wine. But in contrast to Paris -- which sips anything fruity put in front of it, but doesn't produce anything of its own -- Lyon brings a bottle to the party. A lot of bottles. Lyon is the gateway to the Beaujolais viticultural region, which fans out immediately to the northwest. From Lyon, you can explore these whispering vineyards yourself. Or you can take the easy route and make a few wise purchases in the excellent wine shops around the city. Cave Chromatique does flavorsome reds and whites, while La Cave des Vins Magnifiques is hardly short on confidence when it comes to the contents of its stock list.
2. Notre-Dame: Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral is an inimitable French icon, especially if you like long lines and pigeons. Lyon's Notre Dame -- the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere -- is, simply, a more beautiful church. A young maiden (built 1872-1884) compared with Paris's grande dame (built 1163-1345), she sits prettily atop the city's main hill, offering views down to the riverside streets below, and, on clear days, across to the snowcaps of the Alps.
3. Outdoor music: Lyon knows how to put on a summer extravaganza. The Nuits de Fourviere festival sees 60 or so shows -- rock, classical music, drama -- stretched across the warm evenings of June and July. Alumni of this wide showcase include Lou Reed, Bjork and Sting. The 2014 lineup includes French pop stalwarts Phoenix and U.S. indie veterans the Pixies. Better than any band, though, is a setting that Paris can't match. The French capital may have modern venues befitting its size and status, but it can't dance the night away as if Caesar Augustus were still in the posh seats. The majority of the Nuits de Fourviere performances take place amid the sturdy tiers of Lyon's main Roman amphitheater, which dates to 15 B.C.
4. Cinematic history: Paris has been in many movies. "Moulin Rouge." "Amelie." "Midnight in Paris." But Lyon pretty much invented the movies. Or, at least, two of its most famous sons did. Auguste and Louis Lumiere are credited with creating the first film camera (the cinematograph) in 1892. You can pay tribute to their vision at Lyon's Institut Lumiere, with its museum and cinema.
5. Food: Paris is very good at cuisine. It's just that Lyon believes it's better. It may well be. Its restaurants include L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, a fabled temple of Gallic gastronomy which has three Michelin stars. It's overseen by French uber-chef Paul Bocuse, who is now 88, but still a master at his signature truffle soup. Then there's La Mere Brazier, which exists under the gaze of Mathieu Viannay. The restaurant has two Michelin stars, but Viannay is only 46, so can be excused his shortfall.
6. Parks: Paris doesn't have a large central green space -- unless you count the Jardins des Tuileries, which are predominantly surfaced in gravel, and are therefore white. But Lyon has the Parc de la Tete d'Or, which -- with its 117 hectares of grass and trees -- cozies up to the Rhone in the sixth arrondissement. Here, you can go boating on the lake, cycle along winding pathways, or simply lie in the shade and remark on the fact that this metropolitan lung's name -- Park of the Golden Head -- sounds a bit silly in English.
7. Roman history: In numbers, this is basically a tie. Julius Caesar stomped his sandals into the fledgling Paris in 52 B.C.; Lyon had its first date with expansionist toga-wearing proto-Italians when it was founded as Lugdunum a decade later in 43 B.C. But Lyon was the more important city under Roman rule -- a teacher's pet that became Rome's head boy in ancient Gaul. This still shows. Lyon's Roman structures are almost as impressive today as they were in the days of the gladiators -- especially the remnants of its public baths and the giant amphitheater on Fourviere hill at the Gallo-Roman Museum.
8. Rivers: Why did the Romans plonk Lugdunum onto the map where they did? Because the place was ideal for a settlement. West of the Alps, it was a decent stop-off point halfway up France and not too far from the mother city. But above that, because it had -- and has -- two rivers. The Rhone, which is so long that it has to travel from Switzerland, curves through the center of Lyon. So does the Saone. The two meet in the aptly titled district of Confluence. Paris, by contrast, has just one river, the Seine. Ah, c'est dommage.

Лион

4.5 часа на машине и 471 км от Ниццы

Лион (Lyon) — столица масонства и эзотерики, город с идеальной моделью ночного освещения, которую уже переняли Марракеш, Гавана и Санкт-Петербург. Этот коммерческий, индустриальный и экономический центр страны уже более 500 лет процветает, потому Лион и его 2 млн жителей считается второй по величине агломерацией в стране.

Лион — город выдающихся художественных музеев, бурной культурной жизни, веселой клубной и «алкогольной» сцены, не говоря уже о процветающем университете и фантастическом шоппинге. Зеленые парки, очаровательные набережные и исторический центр города — драгоценности Лиона, которые заняли достойное место в списке ЮНЕСКО. Наконец, в Лионе найдут себя даже авантюрные гурманы, которые смогут воплотить все свои самые смелые гастрономические фантазии в ресторанной жизни города — роскошной, пикантной и авангардной.

Как добраться

Международный аэропорт Лиона, расположенный в 25 км к востоку от центра, принимает рейсы из крупных городов Европы, но не из России. Из Москвы, Питера или других крупных городов проще всего долететь до Парижа, а там пересесть на внутренний авиарейс или поезд до Лиона.

В городе есть два главных вокзала: Gare de la Part-Dieu (или просто Part-Dieu), в 1,5 км к востоку от Роны, который принимает поезда длительного назначения; и Gare de Perrache (или Perrache), где останавливаются с одинаковой периодичностью и местные электрички, и дальние составы. Малое количество поездов останавливается на вокзале Gare St-Paul, что в старом центре Лиона. Билеты можно купить на всех трех станциях и в центре города, в офисе SNCF Boutique (2 place Bellecour, 2e; 9:00-18:45 — понедельник-пятница, 10:00-18:30 — суббота).

Добраться на поезде до Лиона можно на скоростном поезде TGV с Лионского вокзала Парижа (70-100 EUR; время в пути — 2 часа, отправление каждые 30-60 минут), из Лилля (70-80 EUR, в пути — 3 часа 15 минут), Нанта (70 EUR, 4 часа 15 минут), Бона (20-25 EUR, 2 часа 15 минут), Дижона (20-30 EUR, 2 часа 45 минут) и Страсбурга (45-50 EUR, 5 часов 15 минут).

Есть в городе и крупный автовокзал, принимающий автобусные рейсы компаний Eurolines, Intercars и Linebus (по большей части из Испании) со всей Франции.

Lione

4.5 ore in auto e 471 Km da Nizza

Attraversata da due fiumi, il Rodano e la Saona, Lione è una delle più belle città della Francia. Tra i quartieri della città, si ripercorrono 2000 anni di storia, alla scoperta dell’architettura romana fino alle attuali creazioni avanguardiste, alcune iscritte nel Patrimonio dell’umanità Unesco.

Da poco sono state inaugurate nuove rotte aeree Easy Jet che avvicinano la terza città di Francia (per alcuni è la seconda, se si considera l’agglomerato) all’Italia. Il centro città è raggiungibile velocemente con il treno che parte direttamente dall’aeroporto Saint Exupéry (lo scrittore-aviatore francese è nato qui). Vi da’ il benvenuto l’avveniristica stazione del TGV, opera di Santiago Calatrava. In città ci si muove bene a piedi o con la metropolitana che funziona fino a mezzanotte. I più corraggiosi che hanno voglia di sfidare il freddo invernale possono noleggiare una bicicletta e percorrere le numerose piste ciclabili, tra cui i 5 km che collegano il Parco di Gerland, al sud della città, al parco della Tête d’Or, dove si trova il Centro congressi che fa parte della struttura della Cité internationale, costruita da Renzo Piano.

Il centro storico (Vieux-Lyon), sui pendii della collina di Fourvière, è caratterizzato dai traboules, passaggi coperti all’interno della abitazioni private che permettono di raggiungere una strada parallela fino al fiume. Furono costruiti perpendicolari alla Saona poiché dovevano consentire l’accesso rapido al fiume. L’Ufficio del turismo fornisce una mappa di tutti i passaggi.

Sulla collina della Fourvière si trova un parco archeologico costituito da un teatro romano, considerato il più antico della Gallia. Vi si possono scorgere anche una strada romana e i resti di alcuni negozi. Chi lo desidera, può fare una sosta visitando il Museo gallo-romano o la Basilica di Fourvière, un po’ gotica, un po’ neoclassica e un po’ art-nouveau.

Da qui si raggiunge facilmente l’altra collina di Lione e il quartiere della Croix Rousse, il quartiere della seta e dei tessitori, che proprio negli ultimi anni ha ritrovato grande animazione e dinamismo culturale. I bistrot autentici e le piazze in cui si gioca alle bocce lionesi contribuiscono a fare di questa zona un vero e proprio villaggio nella città.

La Presqu’île, che fa parte del Patrimonio Unesco dal 1998, è il cuore di Lione. Questo quartiere, ubicato fra i due fiumi, è il centro amministrativo della città dove si trovano Municipio, Comune, teatri e opera. Qui sono concentrati i tanti bouchon lionesi, i tipici ristoranti con specialità culinarie locali come la trippa e le interiora di cui vanno matti da queste parti.

La zona est della città è la parte più moderna di Lione. Se amate l’architettura contemporanea non potete perdervi la Maison du Livre, de l’Image et du Son realizzata da Mario Botta. Città natale dei Fratelli Lumière, non partite senza aver fatto tappa al Musée Lumière per visitare il deposito in cui fu girato il primo film della storia.

Wikipedia

Geo Data

• Latitude: 45.7640430 (45° 45' 50.55'' N)
• Longitude: 4.8356590 (4° 50' 8.37'' E)
• Elevation: 180.28 m
• Demonym: Lyonnais / Lyonnaise
• Motto: Virtute duce, comite fortuna (La vertu pour guide, la chance pour compagne)
• Ethymology: Latin: Lugudunum. Celtique: Lougounos. lit. Le Corbeau (Lougon) et Lieu elevé (Dounon). + d'informations (seulement en français)
• Population (2012): 2 214 068
• Density: 10 369 hab./km^²
• Country rank: 3^rd
• Map of Lyon or Lyon tourist map
• Lyon Subway Map
• Touristic guide
• See Lyon on Google Map
• See Lyon on Apple Map
• GPX eXchange format
• Google Earth Pin
• KML Syntax

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