Passport To a Sunday in Lyon, France

A day of strolling, shopping & eating in this charming city

Bonjour!

I am recently back from a trip to France, where my mother and I went to Lyon, Burgundy and Paris. We started off the 10-day trip with a quick stop in Lyon, and here is how we spent our Sunday!

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We were staying at VILLA MAÏA which is a hotel perched on Fourvière hill overlooking Lyon with only 40 rooms & suites. It’s smaller footprint made it feel like we were staying in someone’s home (ok, palace) with attentive service and well-appointed amenities.

I started the day off with a workout in their gym (only one in there - the best!) followed by breakfast in the hotel’s breakfast room. Why are the omelettes just so much better in France?

It was then time to head out for the day! One thing that I love about Lyon (and France in general) are the amount of markets (marches) going on at any given time. While we really wanted to head to the famous Lyon flea market, Les Puces du Canal, it is advised that you get there early and jet lag was not agreeing with that plan. Also, unfortunately I cannot pack furniture in my luggage, as much as I wish I could!

Therefore, we opted to walk down the hill and over the bridge to walk through the Marché alimentaire Saint-Antoine Célestins. I love walking through these types of markets and seeing the locals pick out all of the produce, cheese, seafood, meat, flowers, etc for the week (although many French people go to these markets bi-weekly, as well as go to the bakery daily for fresh bread). If we were staying in Lyon longer and had a proper kitchen, we definitely would have been partaking!

Once the food market ended, it transitioned directly into the Marché aux Bouquinistes, the book market. This is where my inner history nerd & book worm was thriving! We spent probably an hour looking through all of the different books, art prints, etc. from the various vendors. I walked away with a Christian Dior print, a book called “Images of Paris” (which looks fab on my fireplace mantle), and a book about Florence (one of my favorite cities in the world).

Next, we walked across the bridge back to the old town where the craft market was occurring on the other side of the river. We loved seeing the wide range of vendors with various creative crafts — the art alone felt like walking through an outdoor gallery!

For lunch, we headed to Aux Maries Les Trois upon our hotel concierge’s recommendation because we had a craving for onion soup. This small restaurant is on a quaint square and serves traditional French dishes. We loved the vibe, food & wine!

From there we headed to the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, where we spent a couple of hours looking at everything from Egyptian antiques & ceramics to (my fave) Monet paintings. I loved the range of this museum and could have spent all day here.

After our museum visit, we continued to stroll around the town. Many stores are closed on Sundays (even bigger chains like Zara), so plan accordingly and get your shopping in on other days!

We returned to the hotel where we headed to the spa to enjoy the sauna, steam room & hot tub — the perfect way to relax after so much walking! We then freshened up to head downstairs for an exciting gastronomic experience ahead…

Located directly in front of the hotel, Villa Maïa’s gastronomic restaurant, Christian TETEDOIE, is a memorable experience in the gastronomic capital of the world. We were greeted in the lounge area and asked if we wanted an aperitif, before then heading into the dining room overlooking the city of Lyon. We opted for the 4-course menu with wine pairings, and we worked with the Sommelier to not only pick wines that paired with the food well, but also paired with what we like and are interested in learning more about. A great preview to our time in Burgundy!

Fat and happy, we rolled back to our room and took a moment to appreciate the stunning view of the city lights at night. Bonne nuit!

Cheers,

Chelsea