Looking for Lions in Lyon

LYON - A weekend trip to France's 'Second City' for the weekend of its famous Fete des Lumieres, a city-wide display of various lighting attractions, shows, and avant garde installations. Lyon is a very fun and diverse city with lots to offer, and when you throw in an estimated 4 million people there to take in the light shows, it becomes even more festive.

The light displays are spread out all over the city, some grandiose such as the one that bathes a good portion of the city from high atop Lyon's landmark Saint Jean Cathederale. And some just plain odd, such as the row of giant desk lamps in one of the main shopping areas. A single over-sized lamp display also greeted us at Part Dieu station when we got off the high-speed train (a nifty way to go in France, especially since we have station not far from our house). Board train in Aix at 5:10, arrive Lyon 6:50, plenty of time for an 8PM reservation at a tiny restaurant recommended by Toni's French teacher

Hotel de Ville lit up for the festivities

From the train we made a bee-line to check in at our hotel, located not so conveniently outside the center of the city -  thanks to our typical procrastination in booking a room combined with the overflow crowd that visits the city for this event. Upon check-in we realize that, despite its location, our hotel is the site where Parade de Lumiere was to happen - right outside our 6th floor window. As appealing as that sounds, there's good food to be had (and restaurant reservations were harder to come by than hotel rooms). We opt for the restaurant instead and head into the center ville.

Lyon is a city of neighborhoods, divided by two rivers and protected by a couple of big hills.  The place where we have reservations is on top of its largest hill in an area called Croix Rousse. It's a small hole in the wall named La Belle Etoile, a local favourite and off the beaten tourist path. It's also close to Installation #57, a giant illuminated egg, which would be our first stop on the tour of lights. We're anxious to set out and explore, but only after a traditional and very delicious organic dinner which was offered in a menu consisting of just 3 choices: beef, pork or fish (Lyon, by the way, is considered the birthplace of classic French cooking and the godfather is a guy named Paul Bocuse. We'll go to one of his joints tomorrow. The city has some outrageous number of Michelin starred restaurants and is home to the Bocuse d'Or, considered to be the world's culinary Olympics).

Sufficiently fed, we head out into the cold. Luckily, we have no where to go but down. Literally. We descend steep streets and alleys toward the center of the city, passing several light displays of varying quality and oddities, as well as numerous stands selling much needed body-warming vin chaud ( a warmed wine concoction) at just about every corner. The streets are jammed pack with frolicking revelers and the vin chaud is flowing.

The ferris wheel - great views from the top

Lindsey & Havana in the wheel

The next day we hook up with Isabel and her daughter Havana, our friends from when Isabel and husband Perry lived in TCI. They live in Bourgogne now, about an hour from Lyon. We had stopped to see them this past summer on our venture from Brussels to Aix so it as good to catch up and compare notes on life in France (Isabel is Candadian, and fluent, so her perspective is a tad different).

Right next to the hotel is a giant park, complete with a zoo (somewhat lame, but free, so we can't really complain). Lots of monkeys, some other big stuff (elephants, bears) and a few big cats, but ironically no lions (for some reason we always end up at zoos, which is making us something of conneisseurs on this genre of attraction). We meander through the city's old town, surviving a disastrous MacDonald's experience amidst the maddening crowds, and kill time before our reservation at Le Sud, the Bocuse restaurant Isabel had booked at the very un-French (but only available) time of 6 o'clock. The highlight was a ride on the giant Ferris wheel in one of the main plazas in town.

Lights on the Rhone

After an excellent dinner - steak tartare for me - we head back into the fray to take in some more light shows...and vin chaud. We decide to brave public transportation to get back to the hotel, by passing a cool-looking fire display in the zoo/park.

All in all,I give Lyon 2 thumbs up. We didn't get chance to spend time in any of their famous bouchons, pub-like establishments that are renowned for great food and drink, so we'll have to make a return trip.