In July I took a week long trip to a few places in Europe with Byron, a friend from New Zealand.

We started off with an early morning to catch a 7am Eurostar train direct to Lyon from St Pancras in London. The train was direct to Lyon and only took 4 and half hours which was pretty amazing considering the distance. The train was quiet and comfortable and it was nice to watch the countryside slip past. Things got especially interesting as we passed through the vineyards if Burgundy with steep hills on either side of the track. It was tough to stay awake though and we were both properly sleepy by the time we arrived around midday.

Not many people on the Tube at 5:50am as we travelled to St Pancras station

We had booked an apartment through Airbnb for two nights in the old part of town. Apartment is probably too generous as it was really just a single room five floors up a tight spiral staircase. It had everything we needed though and was in a perfect location for exploring the city. After a quick rest we headed out to explore the city.

Lyon is built around the confluence of two rivers: the famous Rhone, and the Saone. The oldest parts of the city are closest to the rivers, with ruins dating back to Roman times and parts of the city having been continuously occupied for more than 2,000 years. Much of the old parts of the city are designated as a World Heritage Site. The city is the third largest in France after Paris and Marseilles; second, if you include the wider metropolitan area. Lyon is considered the gastronomic capital of France (moreso than Paris!).

We first walked through the oldest part of town called Vieux Lyon (literally old Lyon) with many of the buildings dating back to the Renaissance era. The streets were narrow and cobbled. From there we walked up the steep hill called Fourvière. Here we found the remains of a Roman amphitheatre which was being used to host concerts. A band was warming up as we walked through. It was pretty cool how large the rings of seating were. Sadly none of my photos did it any justice. Atop the hill is a large cathedral called the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. The cathedral is actually relatively new, being built at the end of the 19th century. It wasn't lacking in awe though and dominated the skyline. We spent about fifteen minutes just looking out across the city from in front of the cathedral.

Inside the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

The view from the top of the hill.

The Basilica from below.

Saw this guy on the walk back from the Basilica.

We had dinner in a nice little restaurant called Le Fiston (the lad) which turned out to be amazing. I had Foie Gras with toast to start, followed by sea bass with a Trompette de la Mort sauce (black chanterelle mushrooms, but that doesn't sound as cool), and a chocolate cake for dessert, accompanied with a local Beaujolais wine. Everything was amazing and was exactly what I like most about French food.

It was fairly late by the time we had finished but we decided to go for a walk before heading home. The Euro 2016 football tournament was on at the time and Lyon was a host city. Although there were no matches being played while we were there, there was a large fanzone close to where we were staying so we headed there to watch Germany play Italy. Even though the home team wasn't playing the area was still packed with people. Security was really tight as you would expect with armed police and soldiers patrolling. We had to pass through metal detectors and get frisked before being allowed inside. The game ended up going on and on with two sets of extra times and penalties, but we were too tired to so left at the end of the second half.

The sun was setting as we watched the game in the Fan Zone. The Basilica in the background.

We woke up late the next morning to find that Germany had won the game, beating Italy for the first time in a major tournament. It was a clear hot day and we planned to walk around for a bit and have a look at some other parts of the city. We first headed north towards a large park called Parc de la Tête d'Or which translates to Park of the Golden Head. The park is huge and has a bunch of different sections. Right in the middle is a large lake where people were boating and swimming. There was also a zoo, a botanic garden spread throughout a number of large greenhouses, flower gardens, and sports fields. It was so big that it took us a couple of hours to walk around.

It was a beautiful day

One of the enclosures at the zoo.

After exploring the park we walked back towards the old town and found a Lyonnais restaurant where we both had Andouillette: a traditional sausage made from intestines and tripe. It sounds quite gross but it was surprisingly good with a creamy Dijon mustard sauce.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the southern part of the peninsula where we were surprised to find an ultramodern district with a lot of new development. The very end of the peninsula was quite empty with a lot of old unused industrial land and carparking. I wouldn't be surprised to see more development around here in the future, especially as it is so close to the city centre.

A completely difference look from the rest of the city.

That evening France was playing Iceland and we planned to go back to the Fan Zone to watch. Unfortunately it had filled up hours before kick off so we were forced to find another place to watch. At first we stood with a crowd watching outside a bar but it wasn't very easy to see. Eventually we managed to get inside a pub and found a little bit of space in a corner to stand. The game was pretty one-sided but it was fun to experience the home crowd. We hadn't had dinner and by the time the game had finished most places had closed to we ended up having to get Dominoes...

Flares were lit after France had scored.

We were up early the next morning and off to the station to catch a train to our next destination: Brienz, Switzerland.