We left the apartment in the old quarter of Lyon early, heading down the steep spiral staircase for the last time, only this time with our backpacks on! Fraught with disaster!
We quite enjoyed here. It was like stepping back in time everytime we left the apartment and headed out. So many cute little Laneways, staircases and narrow vistas revealing themselves as the streets twisted and turned. Very cool !
We caught the bus over the two rivers and through Presquile to the new business district centre of Part Dieu, where the main trains to Paris leave from. It's funny how many people catch public transport to go no more tgen 500 m. It says a lot about the system.
It's much more crowded and lively with people heading to offices or somewhere over this side. There's a touch of Melbourne about Lyon, both in character and in general density and feel. They both try and be different to their bigger, more notable sister cities of the north, and in doing so have a rich identity to them.
We arrived back at Gare de Lyon station in Paris at 1pm.
It's a nice train trip in. Literally with 7 mins to go before arriving at the station we were looking at green pastures and fields. I know these trains go fast, but it's astonishing how the city just stops and farmland begins.
The old early-industrial frame railway buildings are really beautiful in their rational structure, showing some signs of age but still very graceful!
We check into our nearby hotel , the complimentary 3 nights we got with our flight deal. It was ok- nothing special tho, so I'll say no more!
We head out for a walk, starting at a section of the Promenade Plantee, a disused elevated train line that has been turned into a public, garden walkway. It's very similar to the High Line in NYC, although like democracy, I think the French did it before the US. It's not as elegant or as architecturally detailed as the high line (a bit high brow) but it does offer a pleasant and green view of the city rooftops!
We wandered the streets for a bit and Simi had no idea where we were. We then came to the end of a street andsuddenly there is Notre Dame.
Bearings back we headed for our favourite ice cream place in the world as of 2 weeks ago, Maison Berthillion. When we got there however it was closed as they were on a winter break for a couple of weeks. We were rather disappointed and had to settle for Crepes at a nearby cafe instead.
We then strolled back along the river's edge and to the Pavillion de l'Arsenal. It was an old building with displays such as models, installations, photographs and maps that told the history of Paris from an urban design perspective. It was quite fascinating for us both. The old maps were really cool. It's quite enlightening being able to track and see progress and development of a place. You get an insight into the events and who and why things were done or instigated. It shows you a different view of the city.
Naturally the 20th century part of the exhibition shows lots of change, including a lot about modern transport, housing types, apartments and new urban thinking. In the centre of the exhibition space was a large 10m x 10m roughly scale model of the whole of Paris. It was an interesting place to visit.
I love this poster of the newly built Eiffel Tower for the 1889 worlds fair
We then headed up the road to Bastille where there is the tall monument in the centre of what's now a busy roundabout, the sight where the French Revolution was sparked and where many of the revolutionaries are buried beneath!
(Damn you Russell Crowe!)
Across the intersection is the new opera house building, which super refer the more elegant and classical one on the right bank district. There are no Phantoms of the opera here apparently, unlike the old one!
We then hopped on the metro and took the line all the way over to the business district of La Defense, where the big Grande Arche is.
It's quite a harsh place, although I do love the vista back to the Arc de Triomphe. It reminds me a bit of North Sydney, just soulless and lacking something.
We stopped into a McDonalds (always intrigued to see the differences in other countries maccas to ours). There wasn't really any significant difference, apart from the Easy Order self serve machines. So weird. You can even order online and then pick up in store.
It was now 6 or so and we wandered the area for a little bit more. There was a new Church that looked rather interesting although it was closed.
This part of town is typical of the large monumental spaces of Paris. They're very large, open spaces with not many people in them. Lots of hard surfaces and very little seating. We both prefer the more intimate neighborly streets of Paris, with their corner cafés, florists and bakeries. Still, it was worth the trip across town to see the view back!
We headed back on the train and then to our hotel. We attempted to go out for dinner, but simi wasn't feeling well with the night air. Her cough was getting bad, so we stayed in.
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