Wednesday morning saw us leave the old town and visit Part Dieu, dominated by the distinctive Crédit Lyonnais office block. As you would expect, the industrial heart of the city is nowhere near as pretty as the old town, though some jewels do lurk within. Head to Villeurbane, and you will find genuine Art Deco skyscrapers from 1934. Hard-edged and white in colour, Gratte-Ciel is a stunning architectural development, and one of the must-sees of the city.
Keeping with a white theme, the Fourvière basilica opened its doors to us on Wednesday afternoon. Taking the funicular railway to the top of the hill is recommended (all Metro tickets permit entry), and once you’re there, you can’t fail to be impressed by the gleaming ‘white elephant’. So-called because it looks like an upturned jumbo, the building was completed in 1896, and easily rivals the Sacré Coeur in the imposing stakes. It similarly keeps guard over the city, and once at the summit on which it sits, there are panoramic views across the central and eastern parts of Lyon.
Not far away, just a walk down the hill is the Théâtre antique de Fourvière, an anicent Roman amphitheatre. Like Paris, Lyon is almost prettier in the evening, and once dusk falls, light picks out the buildings and shows them off to magical effect. Wanting to brush up on our nightime photographic skills, we walked back along the river bank after supper and shot lots of long-exposure pictures.
Today was our last in Lyon, and with the weather holding out, we ventured out to Parc de la Tête d’Or, France’s largest urban park. On the north tip of the ‘island’, there’s a large lake, a 1930s velodrome, a boules court, mini-golf, horse riding, a miniature train, botannical gardens, and reportedly the largest rose garden in Europe. There’s also, a small zoo, home to bears, elephants, giraffes, lions, monkeys and an assortment of other animals. Amazingly, it’s all free, too; that wouldn’t exist in England, where a nominal entry fee would almost certainly be charged.
It was a wonderful finish to our stay, with the sun shining and the good transport links from the city centre (walk, metro, tram) showing how good integrated transport can be. Heading back to the Place des Terreaux, we enjoyed our last beer in front of the Hôtel de Ville de Lyon, before heading back in the direction of the hotel to eat, leaving the old town behind us. Eating early, we again headed out to take more pictures in the dark, enjoying the city for one last time.
