Words from the Wiseacres, 2017 Edition

So you want to come to next year’s Fête des Lumières? Based on our experience this year, here’s what you need to do:

• Book flights and hotel rooms EARLY. Julian did so back in February. The Fête is centered around December 8, so you may want to try for a room between December 6-10 next year. We recommend two hotels. Hôtel des Célestins is a more traditional hotel. It was booked solid when Julian called. This year we stayed at Hôtel des Citadines, an apartment hotel. Our room was a studio with a kitchenette. Both offer breakfast as an add-on expense. Staying on the Presqu’Ile is the way to go. Not only is it closest to most of the light installations, it’s the best part of the city for shopping – especially for cute shoes.
• If you want to eat at some of the more popular places, book reservations early (3 months or so).
• Don’t rent a car while you’re in Lyon for La Fête. You’ll have a hard time finding a place to park, and you won’t need a car to get around the city. Subways are free during the evenings of La Fête.
• Bring warm clothes, a hat, and gloves. While we didn’t have snow this year, night time temperatures were in the low 40’s (Fahrenheit). I brought layers to wear underneath my coat.
• Wear sensible shoes with flexible soles. Some of these cobblestone streets have seen better centuries. I suffered through our first day walking around town in my closed heel clogs. I switched to my trail running shoes for the rest of the visit. Many attendees were wearing sneakers and hiking shoes. As I said earlier, Lyon is much more casual than Paris is.
• If you’re claustrophobic, bring your anti-anxiety medication. There WILL be crowds stuffed into narrow streets. Saturday night was the worst for crowds, although Friday had its bad spots (the top of Croix-Rousse).
• As with any large city, expect to see people looking for a handout. Also, expect that there will be people wanting to separate you from your valuables. Exercise caution, and leave your bling at home.
• We felt reasonably safe from a terrorist attack. Most of the locations were scrubbed of cars parked on the street, and there was a security perimeter at which you had to open your backpacks and other large bags. Soldiers and police officers armed with assault weapons patrolled the streets.

We’re big fans of Lyon, but we probably won’t visit next year. We have many other locations on the bucket list.