How To Select If You are Quick On Time

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Evaluating Bordeaux vs Lyon? Not simple, however let’s attempt

Being requested to decide on between these two cities is like having to determine between a mille-feuille and an éclair – each are great, however you’ll be able to’t actually evaluate them. I’d select one, you the opposite, and neither of us can be fallacious. Ideally, we must always get each.

It’s the identical with Bordeaux vs Lyon: they each rank among the many most lovely cities in France, and every has loads to suggest it.

However not everybody has limitless time and sadly, decisions could be mandatory. So should you HAD to go to just one, which would it not be? And the way would you determine?

I like each cities, and whereas I reside close to Lyon and understand it higher, that doesn’t cease me from getting excited every time I head for Bordeaux.

What makes these two cities so particular, and what makes them so totally different?

Bordeaux vs Lyon: An inconceivable selection

Lyon, by any measure, is a surprising metropolis, with its two rivers and undulating rust-colored roofing tiles that belie its proximity to the Alps. On a transparent day, you’ll be able to spot them within the distance. 

Bordeaux, flatter and extra compact, has its personal majestic river, one which throws itself into the ocean. Fairly than mountains, it boasts a close-by shoreline whose oysters and sand dunes spell out vacation with a capital H.

Each share an enormous historic heritage, Lyon for its Roman and medieval stays, and Bordeaux for its classical buildings and avenues and for its position in opposing the French Revolution. And each have inherited the Roman love of wine.

Let’s attempt to get  a bit extra particular.

Location, Location, Location

The place a spot is situated usually determines whether or not we’ll go.

Geographically, Lyon is in south-central France, on the way in which to Provence, and Bordeaux is within the southwest, close to the coast, on the way in which to… Spain (through the French Basque nation). Right here’s the map.

Extra to the purpose is the distinction within the pure setting that surrounds every metropolis.

Lyon is constructed on hills, and to benefit from the outdoor you’ll be able to make the most of its rivers, its big parks, and never that far-off, the Alps and the Jura mountains, good backdrops for mountaineering and snowboarding and consuming cheese fondue in mountain eating places.

There’s loads of life alongside town’s riversides, that are stuffed with houseboats was bars and eating places, biking paths main out and in of town, and even, like Paris, the occasional non permanent seashore.

Within the case of Bordeaux, a significant river port, you’ve acquired the ocean, the magnificent Bassin d’Arcachon bay and clean sandy seashores, all beneath an hour’s drive away. For those who’re a fan of chugging oysters whereas watching the waves unfurl or mendacity on the sand within the solar, that is the place you’ll wish to be. 

So Lyon has the mountains, Bordeaux has the ocean, and each have the river.

Lyon seen from the Fourvière Basilica, with the mountains within the distance

Gastronomy vs oenology

One of the crucial contentious differentiations between the 2 cities is culinary.

At first sight, if you would like implausible meals, you’d head for Lyon, famend as France’s “capital of gastronomy”. Most individuals have heard of influential native son chef Paul Bocuse, and the meals of Lyon, the delicacies lyonnaise, has been well-known for hundreds of years, its specialties recognized throughout France and Europe. Lyon is residence to 16 eating places with Michelin stars, essentially the most coveted French culinary award.

Typical Lyon dish – andouillette, or tripe sausage

Bordeaux, however, is best-known for the wines that carry its title and which individuals come from far afield to style. Town is surrounded by rolling hills lined with vines, beginning with the well-known Saint-Emilion, and with wines carrying such illustrious names as Château Pétrus, Château d’Yquem, or Château Margaux.

However right here it will get murky. Lyon could not have any wines that carry its title, however that doesn’t imply it has no vineyards. Quite the opposite, town is true subsequent door to the Rhône Valley and the Beaujolais, and that’s as wine as you may get. Push somewhat additional and also you’re in Burgundy. Some swear Bordeaux wines are the most effective, whereas for others, Burgundy guidelines, so it’s a tricky battle.

For those who’re a lover of wines, you’ll be glad in both metropolis.

Map courtesy francemap360.com

One may say the identical about Bordeaux and meals. Lyon doesn’t maintain the monopoly. Bordeaux has its personal noteworth specialties – the scrumptious canelé pastries, beef from Bazas, or oysters from Arcachon – to not point out the deep, red-wine primarily based Sauce Bordelaise. The vary will not be as in depth as Lyon’s, however the high quality is clear.

Scrumptious canelés from Bordeaux

Nowadays, Bordeaux counts 9 Michelin-starred eating places, fewer than Lyon, however then, so is the inhabitants (Lyon has simply over half one million individuals whereas Bordeaux counts 250,000). Per capita, Bordeaux would appear to have extra starred eating places than Lyon…

And lately, a number of culinary luminaries have chosen to open institutions in Bordeaux, signalling town’s fast rise within the gastronomic firmament.

A metropolis’s vibe

How a metropolis feels is an intangible issue, however that feeling you get when exploring a spot can weigh as closely as any goal think about your determination to go to.

Bordeaux has usually been likened to a “little Paris”, its clear, pale buildings recalling the Hausmannian-era development craze of the capital. Thoughts you, a number of years in the past this isn’t the impression you’d have had of Bordeaux, a unclean, gritty metropolis generally known as a sleepy provincial backwater, not the dynamic city space it’s at this time.

Good-looking streets of Bordeaux

Lyon, too, has its good-looking classical buildings however it’s extra variegated, its Gothic and classical architectures mixing and matching with the Mediterranean ambiance you’ll encounter should you proceed heading South. It is usually extra various, and the larger metropolis by far.

However what in regards to the individuals?

There are many clichés surrounding each the Lyonnais and the Bordelais. Some could also be true.

Each populations have a popularity for being a bit chilly and uppity – bourgeois even. However then, why shouldn’t they?

Bordeaux has its châteaux and grand wines, and is rightfully pleased with its heritage. Town additionally suffered from isolation for years (the high-speed TGV solely arrived to town in 1990), firmly off the vacationer path and left to itself. A little bit of standoffishness is not any shock.

Lyon, at all times an excellent crossroads and near Switzerland and Italy, benefited from nice wealth from commerce, particularly silk, and developed the elitist mentality that goes with it. On the similar time, that is town the place the proletariat was most lively through the upheavals of the nineteenth century (and the place the Resistance was headquartered throughout World Struggle II) so a sure sense of significance and of holding the ethical excessive floor may often floor.

In each cities, individuals are inclined to hold to themselves, particularly those that have been there for generations. They’ve their teams of buddies, many developed in childhood, and infrequently really feel little must transcend. That mentioned, outsiders will not be unwelcome and attitudes have developed dramatically. (I keep in mind boycotting Lyon for some time within the Nineteen Eighties as a result of individuals had been so insufferably impolite…)

As is the case anyplace, there are pleasant and unfriendly individuals, tolerant and close-minded ones, welcoming or distancing. You’ll be able to’t generalize a couple of metropolis. You’ll simply need to go see for your self.

One factor that’s usually mentioned is that whereas Bordeaux is weighty with “class”, Lyon is full of “allure”. Maybe. However I’d add that Lyon has loads of class, and Bordeaux is charming.

Historical past and nationwide monuments

It isn’t the case for everybody however many people journey to uncover historical past and gaze on the monuments of the previous.

Lyon, with its 2000 years of historical past and 4 neighborhoods on the UNESCO World Heritage Record, makes it simple to return in time, whether or not within the Roman vestiges of Lugdunum, the slender streets of Previous Lyon, the Renaissance and classical quarters of town, and the stays of the Industrial Revolution which performed itself out right here. There may be actually loads to do and uncover in Lyon.

Lugdunum’s historical amphitheater

Bordeaux, too, can boast historic accolades, with UNESCO safety for a lot of its historic heart, together with 350 buildings listed as nationwide monuments and a number of other protected church buildings which occur to be on the Camino to St James, or Santiago de Compostela in Spain. There could also be fewer Roman ruins in Bordeaux than in Lyon, however it’s simply as full of historic heritage and issues to do. 

Including to Bordeaux’s heritage is a extra trendy streak of developments, a few of which have develop into cultural icons, just like the riverside Bassin des Lumières, an impressive mild present in a former Nazi submarine base or the Water Mirror, a magical sight and town’s most photographed.

Gentle present on the Bordeaux Bassin des Lumières

Purchasing in Lyon and Bordeaux

Lyon vs Bordeaux buying: predictably, each cities have glorious buying, however it does differ.

Bordeaux has the longest pedestrian buying road in Europe, la Rue Sainte-Catherine, alongside which you will discover each doable globalized or French model . There are many different buying streets and malls, together with the riverside Bord’eau Village low cost shops.

For antiques, head to the rue Notre-Dame and for meals, the Marché des Capucins is town’s delectable lined market. After all one factor you will journey over on each nook is wine: it will likely be troublesome so that you can depart city with a bottle or two beneath your arm.

You’ll be able to after all purchase wine in Lyon as properly, however the specialty her is silk, and you will find loads of outlets promoting town’s signature craft. Lyon has a number of buying areas, from the boutiques of the Presqu’île to the outlets of the Previous City or the fashionable malls dotting town. For meals, the Halles Paul Bocuse is a should, as are town’s glorious day by day markets.

Each cities boast world-class buying and artisanal boutiques, with a robust sense of favor and design the place you will not go fallacious.

The thrill of sightseeing and getting round

Mundane as it might appear, sightseeing occupies a big a part of our time once we go to a metropolis. Each cities fare properly on this entrance.

Lyon, intriguingly, is extra like 5 cities in a single, with its distinct neighborhoods every representing a selected interval in time: Fourvière and its Roman ruins, the medieval Previous Quarter of Lyon, the classical Presqu’île, the Croix-Rousse, residence of the economic advances of the 18th century, and the brand new creations, like Confluences or the Cité Internationale (after all, town isn’t that clear-cut, and plenty of neighborhoods bleed into each other).

To go to Lyon, you could love strolling uphill. Until you completely use public transportation, you’ll have little selection. It’s a metropolis constructed on hills, and no matter respite you expertise when heading downhill will evaporate shortly on the sight of the subsequent upward incline.

Lyon’s public transportation system is superb, however there’s no getting away from a hill or two…

Bordeaux, however, is blissfully flat. It is usually smaller and extra compact, which makes getting round rather a lot easier than zig-zagging round Lyon. It, too, has its neighborhoods, however they’re inside simple strolling distance of each other.

Getting out of the cities can also be an element to think about.

There are many diverse day journeys out of Lyon, whether or not to the Rhône Valley or Burgundy vineyards, close by lakes, the mountains and even over the border into neighboring nations. From Bordeaux, you’ll be able to go to the vineyards, after all, and the oceanside. In an extended day, you may get so far as the Basque nation and benefit from the likes of Bayonne or Biarritz.

What in regards to the climate?

On the top of summer time, each cities are sizzling. Very popular. The pavement displays the warmth, and no quantity of breeze from the ocean or the mountains will achieve dislodging it. I attempt to keep away from cities in France through the summer time and would moderately keep residence within the countryside through the hotter months.

Bordeaux is shut sufficient to the Atlantic to have a temperate ocean local weather, with delicate winters and exquisite shoulder seasons. There may be rain, nonetheless, however for many people, particularly if it’s sizzling exterior, it may be welcome. I’ve witnessed terrific showers in Bordeaux that fell violently – for 5 minutes, with the streets completely dry a number of seconds later.

Stormy summer time day in Bordeaux

Lyon, however, is influenced by the Alps and has a extra excessive local weather, with well-delineated seasons, additionally temperate however with chilly winters (and the occasional snow). In summer time, discovering a day breeze could be a problem, even by the rivers.

A typical chilly and wet winter day in Lyon

Attending to Lyon and Bordeaux

Each cities might be reached by aircraft, prepare and automobile. Nowadays in France, many brief flights have been cancelled in favor of prepare transport so flying from Paris to both Lyon or Bordeaux is more and more troublesome.

However why even consider flying when you’ll be able to take the TGV high-speed prepare?

Most trains from Paris to Lyon depart from the appropriately named Gare de Lyon, and the typical journey takes round 1h56, a hair beneath two hours – door to door downtown, that’s undoubtedly sooner than flying.

For Bordeaux, you’ll most frequently depart from Paris-Montparnasse for a journey that averages 2h07, a whopping 11 minutes longer than the Bordeaux journey. Frankly, that’s not a lot of a distinction, and can also be sooner than a flight.

By street, the story is a bit totally different. Driving the 466km / 290mi to Lyon – roughly half-way between Paris and Marseille – takes about 4h50 down the A6, whereas the journey to Bordeaux is longer, at 5h56 for the 584km / 363mi drive alongside the A10. 

So should you’re taking the prepare, you’ll journey simply as lengthy for each, however driving means an extended journey to Bordeaux. If you wish to discover the countryside, take into account taking the prepare and renting a automobile when you arrive, simply to go to out-of-town sights. Driving in French cities is turning into more and more disagreeable, from odd visitors guidelines and impolite drivers to costly and troublesome parking.

FAQ: Bordeaux vs Lyon

Bordeaux vs Lyon: Who wins?

The center vacillates… These two cities are among the many most lovely and beloved in France, making a selection really troublesome.

One of the simplest ways to do that will likely be to determine what you want, and align with that.

For those who’re extra into meals, then maybe Lyon. Wine? Bordeaux, however not solely.

For those who’re a seashore lover, Bordeaux. For mountains, head for Lyon.

Roman ruins? Lyon. Stylish classical structure? Bordeaux. 

Museums? I’d need to say Lyon, by its sheer measurement and variety.

Love to walk? Each. Lyon has quite a lot of neighborhoods, however Bordeaux has that compactness that provides it a extra human scale and makes it simple to get in all places on foot.

Huge metropolis density vibe? Lyon – Bordeaux is smaller, but concurrently extra spacious.

Conclusion? I’m sorry, however I can’t. I am going to Lyon extra usually, however that’s as a result of it’s nearer to the place I reside. If I had been midway between Bordeaux and Lyon, I’d in all probability go to each simply as usually. For those who solely have time to go to one metropolis, simply choose one. Then come again for the opposite.

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