Culture and museums in Lyon

In an age when we can watch the latest blockbuster on our mobile phones, it is easy to take the magic of movies for granted. But try to imagine the impact of the first moving pictures on a public accustomed only to static images. Gillian Thornton looks at the culture and museums in Lyon, birthplace of cinema.

Discover the culture and museums in Lyon

I am standing on the exact spot where, 130 years ago, teenage inventors Auguste (19) and Louis (17) Lumière first captured movement on film outside the family factory in Lyon. Their father Antoine was a painter and photographer who had moved to the city from Besançon in 1870 to open a photographic studio, and his eldest sons had grown up surrounded by images and technology.

Lumière Museum

In 1881, the brothers invented the Blue Label photograph plate that speeded up still photography, and on 19 March 1895 came their first mini-movie, Sortie de l’Usine, a 45-second film of employees leaving the factory. Asked to wear their best clothes and turn neatly to right or left, the workers had no idea they were making history as the first movie actors.

Today the Lumière Museum tells their story. Tour the lavish Art Nouveau house where the six Lumière children lived with their parents; learn the story behind the brothers’ pioneering discovery; and watch early archive films from across the globe. You can also buy tickets to watch international movies in the repurposed factory building or Hangar.

The Institut Lumière is just one of many cultural attractions in a city listed by UNESCO for its 2000 years of continuous urban development from the Roman Empire to the present day. And with a worldwide reputation as the capital of French gastronomy, this multi-faceted city feeds both mind and body.

I could watch those early black-and-white films all day – comedy sketches involving slapstick humour and lifestyle scenes from a bygone age. Camel trains beside the Pyramids and lavish parades with decorated elephants in India. But I have other movie memorabilia to discover in Vieux Lyon, Lyon’s atmospheric Old Town at the foot of Fouvière hill beneath the twin Roman theatres.

Musée Cinéma & Miniature de Lyon

Here a 15^th century building in Rue Saint Jean is home to the Musée Cinéma & Miniature de Lyon, a unique attraction that takes visitors behind the scenes of the modern movie industry with more than 1000 original props. I linger over Herbie, the Volkswagen Beetle from the Disney movie, The Love Bug, before walking through film sets built for the 2006 film Perfume, shot in Bavaria and reassembled here.

Floor after floor, I find myself face to face with props, including Harry Potter’s magic wands and glasses, Mary Poppins’ parrot-headed umbrella, and Darth Vader’s helmet, plus some pretty gruesome memorabilia from horror movies. And on the top floor, a series of miniature rooms and model film sets that include a schoolroom and a traditional Lyonnais bouchon restaurant.

Place Bellecour Lyon — *Place Bellecour © Gillian Thornton*

I’m booked into the tranquil Hotel de Verdun 1882, a boutique hotel on the Presque Ile, the peninsula that lies between the rivers Rhône and Saone. Here avenues of elegant 18^th and 19^th century mansions are punctuated with open spaces such as Place Bellecour, one of Europe’s largest squares, and the large pedestrianised area is retail paradise for fashionistas.

National Opera

Next day I catch the Metro to Hôtel de Ville, close to the city’s well-stocked Museum of Fine Arts on Place des Terreaux. But this time I’ve booked one of the popular behind-the-scenes tours at the nearby National Opera opposite the Town Hall. No particular opera knowledge is needed to enjoy this extraordinary 19^th century building, revamped with a domed roof in 1993 by architect Jean Nouvel. Just a love of architecture, the arts, and unusual experiences.

View from the Opera House roof Lyon — *View from the Opera House roof © Gillian Thornton*

With its soaring domed roof and five levels of rehearsal and performance space below ground, the project was controversial from the outset, but is now a much-loved feature of the city, home to an opera company, a ballet company, and resident orchestra. The hour-long tour (booking strongly advised) reveals how Nouvel turned this elitist venue into a space to welcome everyone.

Roman theatres and a stunning Cathedral

Tour over, I head back to the Old Town and take the funicular to Fourvière to wander through the ancient performance space of those Roman theatres, hub of cultural life during the Empire and still used for outdoor productions today, then on up to the 19^th century hilltop basilica. The view from the terrace takes in the Renaissance rooftops directly below, the twin towers of the Cathedral, and the boulevards of the peninsula where I can clearly see the domed roof of the Opera House.

Musée des Confluences

But if you think the opera house is dramatic, wait till you see the angular structure of the Musée des Confluences, opened in 2014 on former wasteland near the tip of the Presqu’Ile. This unique museum deals with big universal questions: humanity’s origin and future, the diversity of cultures and societies, and the place of humans in the living world.

It sounds daunting but the subjects are made so accessible and engaging by the four permanent collections and regularly changing temporary exhibitions that I quickly find myself engrossed as I explore how life interconnects. Expect dinosaur skeletons and tribal masks, Egyptian mummies and industrial inventions with signage in both French and English. A family-friendly museum that really makes you think.

Feeding the mind calls for feeding the body too and Lyon offers every kind of gastronomic experience. No visit is complete without trying a traditional bouchon, small cosy restaurants named after the handful of straw used to rub down carriage horses. Look out for the Bouchon Lyonnais label on 25 accredited restaurants such as the three branches of Daniel et Denise where signature recipes include paté en croûte, pike quenelles, and hearty meat dishes.

I also enjoy a simple platter of local charcuterie and cheese at Maison Duculty on the Presqu’Ile, and some outstanding French-Mexican fusion at Michelin-listed Alebrije in Croix Rousse. Owner and chef Carla Kirsch studied under the late Paul Bocuse, Lyon’s gastronomic hero who is still revered across the city today.

Croix Rousse

Don’t visit Croix Rousse without stopping in front of the enormous painted wall, Le Mur des Canuts – the local name for the silk workers who once worked the newly- invented Jacquard looms here. Covered in scenes of everyday life and updated regularly, this huge fresco is one of more than 100 painted walls, and Lyon’s street art culture continues to this day with a new generation of artists and an annual Peinture Fraîche festival every October. Explore this outdoor art independently or book a guided tour from the Tourist Office.

You never know what is round the corner in Lyon. Walking into Place Bellecour on a Saturday morning, I am surprised to see large numbers of people in lavish period costume, playing music, practising dance moves and generally warming up for what turns out to be the start of a Renaissance Festival.

Sadly I’m off to the airport, but I watch as their procession sets off towards Vieux-Lyon with much flag waving and banging of drums for two days of festivities to celebrate the marriage in 1600 of Henri IV and Marie de Médicis. Whatever culture you are after, you will almost certainly find it in Lyon!

Find out more at: en.visiterlyon.com

Train symbol From Paris to Lyon by fast train takes from 1h 56m

By Gillian Thornton, one of the UK’s leading travel writers and a regular writer for The Good Life France Magazine and website.