Page 370 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

EXPERIENCE The Rhône Valley and French Alps

1 In the middle of the square is
a monumental 19th-century
LYON fountain by Bartholdi, sculptor
of the Statue of Liberty.
tect Jean Nouvel’s futuristic
! F5 ⌂ Indre-et-Loire k £ @ n 78 rue Bernard Palissy; Behind the town hall is archi-
www.lyon-france.com Opéra de Lyon, a black barrel
vault of steel and glass
Dramatically sited on the banks of the Rhône and encased in a Neo-Classical
Saône rivers, the city of Lyon boasts an atmospheric shell. A few blocks to the
old town and some of the country’s finest restaurants. south, the enthralling Musée
de l’Imprimerie illustrates
Lyon’s contribution to the
1 vast place Bellecour, with its early days of printing in the
equestrian statue of Louis XIV
late 15th century. Both fabrics
The Presqu’île in the middle, and place des and decorative arts are on
At the heart of Lyon is the Terreaux. The latter is over- display at the Musée des
Presqu’île, a narrow peninsula looked by Lyon’s ornate 17th- Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs;
north of the confluence of the century Hôtel de Ville (town its collections of sumptuous
Saône and Rhône rivers. Rue hall) and the Palais St-Pierre, silks, including samples from
de la République, a pedesti- a former Benedictine convent the city’s medieval canuts
anized shopping street, links and now the home of the (silk weavers) and delicate,
the twin poles of civic life: the Musée des Beaux-Arts (p372). hand-finished porcelain are
par ticularly outstanding. The
other museum not to miss is
the Musée Lugdunum, with
its fine Gallo-Roman remains.
For more on Lyon’s history, as
well as its long-held tradition

Lyon’s striking
ultra-modern Musée
des Confluences

370-371_EW_France.indd 370 30/01/2019 14:48

EW Must-see template v2 – 12th July 2018
Fonts: Aptifer Sans LT Pro, Posterama Text, Soho Gothic
Pro, Soho Pro, ITC Caslon 224