Our previous two visits to Lyon were only two days each. Now that we’re in the midst of spending five days here, we can start to compare and contrast Lyon with Paris. Here we go:
Rivers. Paris has one, the Seine. Lyon has two, the Rhône and the Saône, which meet at the southern end of town.
Traffic: No contest. You’re much less likely to wind up as a hood ornament in Lyon than in Paris.
Dress: Parisians dress up to get the mail. Les Lyonnais are a more casual lot.
Footwear of choice (for my friends in the Cult of Cute Shoes): Parisian women wear heels to walk the dog. Women in Lyon wear sensible shoes; flats, sneakers, flip flops. You will occasionally see a woman wearing platforms, but rarely will you see someone in spike heels. Let’s face it: Who wants to risk their ankles and Christian Loubouttin pumps on the cobblestones in Vieux Lyon?
Cuisine: Paris is all about très haute cuisine. Lyon, even though Paul Bocuse is a major presence here, is a bit more working class. The keepers of the flame for cuisine Lyonnaise are the bouchons. These restaurants are known for snout to tail cuisine, particularly of pork. You’ll get Salade Lyonnaise with bacon, lentils with sausages, and assorted offal (liver, kidney, chitterlings, tripe).
Tourists: Sometimes you’ll meet more tourists than natives in Paris. Lyon has much fewer tourists, and many of them are French.
Now lest you think Lyon has it won over Paris, there are a few drawbacks. Paris has only one ugly skyscraper, the Montparnasse Tower. Locals say it’s the box the Eiffel Tower came in. Lyon has several ugly skyscrapers in the city. One is a Radisson Hotel that is known as “le crayon” (the pencil) for its shape. I’ve also noticed some modern buildings that don’t integrate well with their older neighbors, especially up on Croix Rousse. Just goes to prove that no place is perfect.
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