Transport Getting there There are two railway stations in Valence, the city centre one with “normal” trains (called Valence Ville) and the TGV (High Speed Train) which is located 10 kilometres North/East outside the city. Air: Valence Chabeuil airport, located close to the East of Valence is a military/civilian airport. They don’t offer many international […]

Valence, a scenic and older city, lies pretty much South on the Eastern part of France. With its 65,000 inhabitants, it’s close to Switzerland and Italy (close enough for day trips) and it is in the crossroads of the North-South and West-East traffic. It was, once upon a time, a major colony for Rome (121 […]

For people who love great food, the name Paul Bocuse is as synonymous to food as the Eiffel Tower is to French landmarks. In other words, the 3 star Michelin chef is a name revered amongst foodies and he is considered the grandfather of the traditional French cuisine.   His primary restaurant (he has a few, […]

Transport Getting There For such a small town, they have a small railway station that receives a very comfortable TGV (high speed train) from Paris and Lyon. Not bad way to get to Burgundy. By Air There is no airport, not even close-by. Closest airports are Paris or Lyon. Within Montbard Montbard is small so you […]

Montbard is a small city of some 5500 inhabitants, a river and a big canal flowing through it and an incredible abbey close-by. It also has a castle perched high on the hill overlooking the city.   The small city is dominated by a big hill, and on top of the hill, perched as high […]

The city of Montbard is bigger than what you might think at first glance, but it’s not a big tourist-worthy city. Montbard is a sleeping city, a one-horse town. But it’s still worth a half-day walk-through since it is quite photogenic.   Montbard has a population of 5,500 people and has as most famous person, […]

The Fontenay Abbey, located next to the city of Montbard  in Burgundy, is part of the Unesco World Heritage sites. Therefore you can expect something that is out of the ordinary, and you’ll not be disappointed.   The Cistercian Abbey is old, very old. It is the oldest Cistercian abbey in the world that has preserved […]

Transport Getting There Lyon is a major transportation hub in France, second only to Paris. It is easy to get there in almost any kind of transportation. Air: Lyon has a major international airport with flights from many European and French cities. Click here for list of all direct destinations served by the Lyon airport. Within […]

Lyon is the place where cinema was invented (by the Lumieres brothers, who have a complete museum dedicated to them in Lyon), but there is also a small and very cute museum dedicated to the movie making miniatures and sets.   Located in the Old Lyon part (“Vieux Lyon“) of the city, close to cathedral, […]

We’ve already shown you the wonderful Basilica, but there are many more churches in Lyon. The Lyon dioceses is one of the oldest in France, so it’s no surprise to see many churches, a cathedral, convents and many chapels. Anywhere you go in Lyon, you’ll stumble upon a church, some of them ruins with no information. […]

Lyon has many churches, some of them very old, some beautiful and some ruins. But none are as beautiful or detailed as the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere. This magnificent church is built on top of the Fourviere hill (one of two big hills of Lyon) in the Old Lyon (“Vieux Lyon”) district and from there […]

Lyon is not only known for its gastronomy, its secret passageways (traboules), the Roman theatre or its old streets. Lyon is also known as one of the cities in the world with the most number mural paintings (frescos). Most of them are really good, but one, the most famous one, is totally amazing.   Here […]

As stated in the introduction of Lyon, the city was founded by the Romans in the year 43 BC. They created a whole city out of nothing and called it Lugdunum. The city was built on the Fourviere hill located in Old Lyon (“Vieux Lyon“), the hill that today not only sees much of the Roman […]

During the Middle Ages, Lyon had a flourishing silk trade. In order to allow the silk merchants to transfer their goods from barges in the river, or to and from their storage areas or shops, they had to walk through the narrow streets of the old Lyon (Vieux Lyon). On its own not a problem […]

This is part 2 of the introduction of the city of Lyon. To read the first part, click here. As a recap, we are walking from the TGV (High Speed Train) railway station to the hills, a 2.5 km walk. Vieux Lyon – Old Lyon On the other side of the Bonaparte bridge, crossing the […]

Lyon is a city full of contrasts, particularly in its architecture. The city is big, Lyon itself is France’s 3rd largest city, but when you add the suburbs, then the Lyon metropole is France’s 2nd largest metropole (after Paris). It is also the world capital of gastronomy, the city where many of todays top chefs have […]