France 2024 Bike Tour – Lyon – Ride, Walk & Talk

Lyon – Ride, Walk & Talk
Transcript
Our short stay in Lyon was actually towards the end of our 24 day cycle tour in France.
However, in fairness, it was the catalyst for the whole trip, so I felt it only right that we start the series with this one.
Over the coming weeks I hope to edit the other movies covering : Getting there, Avignon, Annecy, and Home Journey.
The primary reason for visiting Lyon was to participate in a reunion with Gill’s University languages friends (apologies for my non-French pronunciations, I don’t speak french) and we managed to spend some time with Gill’s pen-friend, from when they were 14 years old.
So Lyon, we arrived at the train station Lyon-Part-Dieu, with our Estarli folding e-bikes, more about these in the other movies. The station seemed like a work in progress form the outside.
But, the artist impression definitely looks more appealing.
Having met Blaundine at the station we cycled to the Parc de la Tete d’or, Or the Golden Head Park. Spending some time wondering around the park whilst the ladies caught up on many, many years of gossip and reminiscences. It is quite some park with sculptures dotted around every corner and I’m pretty sure we only saw a fraction of what it has to offer, maybe another time.
There are a number of amazing murals or frescos in Lyon and not least is the famous Mur des Canuts is worth a visit.
Originally painted in 1987, then updated in 1997 to reflect changes and again in 2013, which is the current incarnation of the fresco.
Look carefully and you can even see me pretending to sit on the bottom step.
Next stop was after a climb up to the fabulous Basilique Notre-Dame, affectionately nick named the “upside down elephant” due to 4 towers looking like elephant legs.
The impressive brass map of the city gives a good idea of what we were looking at ….and as usual can’t go far without seeing roman ruins.
Although it was a short visit we did manage to sample some of the abundance of lovely cafes and shops in the 1st and 2nd Arrondissement, or districts.

We did manage to sample some of the excellent cycling in Lyon and as you will see.
Cycling in Lyon is a pleasure, with plenty of cycle paths and well marked roads, shown by all of the green lined cycle routes on the map.
We manage to take in a short cycle route to Ile Barbe along the Soane river and back. Setting off early to avoid the traffic, but shouldn’t have bothered as the cycleways were easy and safe to navigate.
The upside was we found the excellent Jocteur le Boulangerie de l’ile Barbe – to enjoy breakfast coffee and pain aux raisin, the choice was amazing, this was before we headed over the bridge to the island.
We continued across the bridge to the East side of the Soane and then followed the river until the Tunnel.
The 2k tunnel is a brilliant short cut between the two rivers with a dedicated cycle path. In fact there are a number of tunnels and all have cycle paths.
Our last day in Lyon was the actual Reunion lunch which was held at the Lyon Musee des Confluences. The building could be mistaken for a Millenium Falcon from Star wars, but you will notice Lyon is architecturally quite a contradiction between Old and New buildings.
Lunch was excellent and we managed to get some of the obligatory selfies while walking off the excesses.
Our walk back to the centre was along the old quayside which gave a glimpse into the moder architecture and as we got closer to the centre you could experience some of the wonderful traditional buildings that Lyon has to offer.
What a treat Lyon was and I hope we can return and do a lot more cycling! The rest of the movies on this tour are definitely more cycle touring focussed.