Lyon was HOT HOT HOT. We arrived at 7 am and took an Uber straight to our Airbnb. We were exhausted and immediately went to sleep…only to wake up roasting in the oven that was our Airbnb. We just happened to be in France during a record-breaking heatwave. And by record-breaking, I mean the highest temperature in France EVER RECORDED. The kicker was that our apartment didn’t have a fan or air conditioning. The only relief we had was taking cold showers. I think we both took 6 showers each in the first 12 hours we were there.
After going to the grocery store and experiencing some relief in the frozen food aisle we quickly realized that we were not going to be able to handle the heat without something to cool the apartment down. We ended up dropping a small sum of 55 euros on a fan. It was the cheapest one we could find, and they were selling out fast. We weren’t the only ones frantically trying to cool off. France was just as blindsided by the heat as we were.
We spent the next few days hanging out at the mall and working off of the Starbucks WiFi because it was the only public place with air conditioning. We did end up shopping a little bit and found that you can actually get some pretty amazing deals in France!
And then it was time to celebrate my birthday! My birthday was technically the day we arrived in Lyon, meaning I spent my first few hours being 26 on a stinky uncomfortable night bus. But we decided that I was cool enough to get two full days of celebration. Lyon is the food capital of France. We did our research and found one of the most classic restaurants in Lyon. It was in a really cute part of town with street performers and the cutest little cobblestone streets. I got a lobster bisque with some sort of fish bread thing and rice, and Marcus got a veal sausage thing. Both were incredibly delicious and we finished it off with two huge crème brûlées that were very satisfying ends to our meal.
Our next day out we went to Parc de la Tete d’Or, a free park in Lyon with botanical gardens, a huge lake, and a zoo! To be honest, it was another super hot day and we walked there making it doubly hot so we didn’t stay super long. But we did see some flamingos, giraffes, alligators, zebras, and a bunch of monkeys. It was really fun and had it been a bit cooler I think we would have spent a lot more time there!
Our next and final day out was pretty great. We explored some century-old passageways through Lyon that were used mostly by the silk workers to quickly navigate the city.
We walked through the city a little more, going by City Hall and the River Rhône. We saw a cute Harry Potter store, which was kinda funny because that same morning we spotted a Deathly Hallows in the wild.
Around the River Rhône there are a few different murals painted on some buildings. The first one took a few minutes for us to find even though it was literally right behind us. From far away it looks like a regular old building with windows, but as soon you get up close see that the windows are actually books that have been painted on the walls! The second mural is a work in progress, and will be for a while. There are a bunch of painted balconies with various notable people from Lyon on them. They add a new person every few years,
Coincidentally, we happened to be in Lyon at the very same time that the FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-finals were there. USA played England on our last night in Lyon, and Americans were e v e r y w h e r e. I never realized exactly how loud and obnoxious Americans are until I was surrounded by them outside of America. We were enjoying a nice meal on a quiet street in Lyon when a battalion of people came marching through shouting, “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” complete with face paint and everything. I love the U.S.A., but come on. That was just embarrassing. But we did feel pretty cool that we could pass as French next to the soccer fans.
Speaking of our nice meal on a nice quiet street, it was amazing. We had escargot, Marcus ordered sausage (again lol) and I had some artichoke ravioli. To finish off the night I had an ice cream cone for the millionth time and we walked home to pack up! We then headed off to our final French location: Avignon!
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