Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
12-foot-tall ceilings, new factory buildings were needed and the new weaving center grew
up on this hill. In 1850, it was churning with 30,000 looms.
You are standing over the Saône River, which, along with the Rhône, makes up Ly-
on's duo of power rivers. The Saône drains the southern area of the Vosges Mountains in
Alsace and runs for about 300 miles before joining the Rhône, barely south of here. The
PlaceBellecoursideoftheriver(behindyou)isthedistrictofPresqu'île.Thisstripofland
is sandwiched by the two rivers, and is home to Lyon's Opera House, City Hall, theat-
er, top-end shopping, banks, and all of my recommended hotels. A morning market sets
up daily under the trees (upriver, just beyond the red bridge). The simple riverfront cafés
(buvettes)
are ideal for a drink with a view (best at night).
Speaking of bridges, all of Lyon's bridges—including the one you're standing
on—were destroyed by the Nazis as they checked out in 1944. Looking downstream, the
stately mansions of Lyon's well-established families line the left side of the river. Across
the river, still downstream, the Neo-Gothic St. Georges Church marks the neighborhood
of the first silk weavers. The ridge behind St. Georges is dominated by a big, dirty build-
ing—once a seminary for priests, now a state high school—and leads us back to Mary.
• Walk across the bridge and continue two blocks to find the funicular station and ride up
Fourvière Hill to the basilica (catch the train marked
Fourvière
, not
St. Just
). Sit up front
and admire the funicular's funky old technology (€2.60 round-trip, Métro/tramway tickets
valid). Or you can skip Fourvière Hill and go directly into the old town
(Vieux Lyon)
by
turning right at
St. Jean Cathedral.
