The Guignol de Lyon theater in Vieux Lyon still presents traditional puppet shows. The appropriately named Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, filmed the first moving picture in Lyon in 1895. Lyon, indeed, has much to delight the eye. Begin with Vieux Lyon, or Old Lyon, the largest Renaissance quarter in France. This is a city of color.
Buildings come in shades of pink, orange and cream.
The Maison des Avocats, with three layers of stone archways, is one of Vieux Lyon's loveliest buildings. It encloses a green courtyard across the street from a poster shop, whose owner admits she has one of the city's best views. In the Place St. Jean, behind the Cathedral St. Jean, a large white butterfly flutters just above a shop window, an understated advertisement for the establishment within. To reach Fourviere, one could climb the steep series of steps that lead to the oldest part of Lyon, its Roman ruins. Or one could simply take the funicular, which leaves from the Vieux Lyon subway station every 10 minutes.