After picking up our rental car in the Nice airport, we headed toward Lyon, driving through the Rhone Valley. Lyon is an absolutely charming city in the middle of the country and is conveniently located in the heart of the Rhone/Bourgogne wine regions. It is known for its open air markets and incredible food, which was, yeah, pretty incredible!

Where We Stayed

We stayed in MiHotel and our room was absolutely gorgeous! This hotel is digital, so the entire check in process was automated with codes sent to us by email after booking the suite. It was located in the center of the city and was within a 20 minute walk of all the attractions we visited. However, the actual hotel was very hard for us to find. The address was not accessible by car and the signs for the hotel were not visible from the main road. We ended up parking the car and carrying our luggage around the city for ~30 minutes before making a quick call to the hotel. As it turned out, the door of the hotel was in a courtyard behind a secure metal gate!

Where We Ate

Dinner

• Hamalia - after a long day of driving and wine tasting in the Rhone Valley, we opted for a local pizza place! The food was great and the restaurant was quiet with excellent service.
• La Monstrueuse - located in Vieux Lyon, this was my overall favorite dinner while in France and is an absolute MUST if you are in the area. With every bite, my tastebuds were singing in harmony. Although there was only one waitress servicing the entire restaurant, she was efficient, very sweet and accommodating to us. This was a true local spot and wow, it was incredible from the first bite to the last.

Drinks

• Le Bar Bu - we stopped here after hiking to the hilltop chapel for a couple beers before dinner. It is a true local spot as well - many of the people there knew the bartenders and each other! However, they were very accepting and kind to us when we asked for service!

What We Did

We only had one day in Lyon before continuing north through the wine country, but we made the best of it!

• Saint Antoine Market - this is an open air market along the bank of the Saône river. There was an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers available for purchase! The most interesting was an olive bar, something we had never seen before.
• Les Halls de Lyon - this is an indoor market with a large section of vendors - bakeries, charcuterie, meats, cheeses, chocolate, wine - you name it! There are even a few restaurants inside. We ended up buying a baguette, brie and local wine jam and eating in a park nearby.

• La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière - this is the chapel that sits on top of the hill in Lyon and is free to visit! We walked up the steep hill through the city streets and were welcomed by the beautiful silence of the chapel upon entry. It was absolutely gorgeous and very detailed on the inside. There were prayer candles available for 2 euros and a gift shop outside the chapel. The views looking down on Lyon were spectacular as well! We walked back through the peaceful gardens under the shade of the trees.
• Walk along the Saône River or Rhône River
• Stop at Barrett for bag/luggage shopping - we needed to purchase an extra checked suitcase because we had bought a couple bottles of wine to bring back to the United States. The sales associate we worked with was extremely friendly and accommodating!

Lyon is a gorgeous city and is much more laid back than Paris. It is the perfect place to rest and dine if you are traveling through the wine regions! I wish we could have eaten at a couple more restaurants, because the food was THAT good!