How is Lyon?

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sloantr

I live in Lyon now because I am studying abroad and I absolutely love it! It's a beautiful city with a lot of history. The weather is beautiful for the most part, it has rained only a handful of times for the 8 months that I have been here. It has a wonderful temperature in the summer, not too hot, but it can get quite chilly in the winter so bring some coats and scarves! People here are used to strangers and foreigners, I actually went out to eat the other night with friends and there were Americans sitting at the table next to us. When I first came here, I did not speak a word of French and people in restaurants and stores were very helpful. They are used to tourism. Of course, it is better to speak French, it is more respectable. So brush up on your formalities before you come and you should have no problem. Social life here is good, there are plenty of bars and nightclubs if you like that. There are several universities in Lyon, so it has a large student population during the school year. Also, if you are American (I'm not sure if you are) there is a group of Americans who live in Lyon and have different activities during each month. As for the airport, I am not sure if it is international. There are flights to other European countries, but as for the United States, I think you have to fly into Paris and take another flight or train to Lyon. I've attached the link to the Lyon airport (only French version available, sorry) and also the link to the Lyon Tourism Office. Hope this helps and you are going to love Lyon!

www.lyon.aeroport.fr/

www.en.lyon-france.com/

lingua06437

I visited there for a few days. It is a great place to be. Fairly big city for France. Nice restaurants. European Charm.

Rosebud

@ Sloan, Lyon-St ExupÃ©ry Airport is International ! Congratulations ! you speak about Lyon very well, a lot of thanks.
I agree with Sloan, Blacklab,Lingua06.
if you like ski, it's wonderful from november to May1st ( Driving 2 hours), Lyon is a modern and beautiful city, in the heart of the first RÃ©gion in France "Rhone Alpes", is high tech business hub with many innovators, manufacturers because a large number of engineers, Universities, Research, Please, don't use the word "aborigenes", never Lyon was a slaves country, there is a roman history "Lugdunum" the roman name, btw Rhone and Saone, 2 rivers in the town, walking is a pleasure, is the Capital of French Gastronomy, + there are a lot of small restaurants named "bouchons lyonnais". Welcome in Lyon
Lyonners can understand you, a lot speak english, italian, etc. No worries, Lyon is civilized, social life is nice !

--->@shmeister<---

Lyon is a great place to live. I have lived here for 4 years, and I adore it here. I'm fourteen years old, and I can go out by myself and come home late with out my mother being scared about me... if I lived in the states like before I wouldn't have that privilege.
The weather is just basic. Sunny and warm, tends to get very hot during the summer, but during the winter it can get VERY cold, but it's not Antarctica... it's survivable.
People tend to be very friendly, most are very interested in meeting foreigners, I don't know where you are from, whether it's the states or England... or anywhere else, they are friendly. It's a very international city, you can easily find people that speak English and that are in the same position as you.
About the 'warn strangers to speak french' part, I don't think that's necessarily true. I've had a few problems in the past when I speak English pretty loud with my friends in the city and chavs will mock us and cuss at us in very horrible English. But they're just jealous :P.

Social life is fine, it's very easy to find friends. I go to an English speaking church in Gerland. In Gerland there's also the 'CitÃ© Scolaire Internationale'. An international school with over 20 nationalities and 7 sections. [English, Spanish, Polish, German, Japanese, Italian and Brazilian] I go there, and I really love it there. To really have a social life, and if you have kids I would really recommend to have them go there. If you don't have kids, there's many alternatives to making friends. There's an American Good's store at 'Place Des Terraux', and chances are you'll run into an English speaker there.

The airport is not very international. I mean, it goes to places like... in Europe, but not any further. Not overseas or outside Europe.

Lyon is a wonderful place, and I don't ever want to leave it. It's beautiful and nice during the summer, and the metro and bus system is excellent. I hope you like it here!

blacklabel

Well I was there in a short visit and I can tell you that the old part of the city with small streets and nice bistros is wonderful. Also the buildings from the side of the Saone and the Fourviere Cathedrale from the top of the hill, from where you can see the whole panorama. From what I could see in short time, the city has its own specific atmosphere, and don't forget the Opera de Lyon and school of ballet.
Hope you will have a good time there!

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