Presqu'ile is the modern face of Lyon, centred on the peninsula between the Rhône and the Saône, with Place Bellecour at its heart. Along the Rue de la République there are numerous shops, department stores, cinemas, restaurants, cafés, bistros, all set against a backdrop of architecture that is typically 19th-century Lyon.
At the very end of Presqu'île is Lyon’s newest attraction, the Musée des Confluences, a magnificent new museum both architecturally and in its content, which sets off to explain, well, the history of everything...or so it seems. Do not miss this stunning experience, but do allow a good few hours, including on-site lunch, to get the best from the experience.
Take the tram to Confluences to visit the museum, and then use it to return as far as Perrache, alighting there and walking forward into place Carnot for a coffee before heading on to marvel at the grandeur of Place Bellecour, wherein you will find the tourist office.
This huge square, all 62,000 square metres of it, is quite magnificent, unless you've parked in the car park beneath it, and can't remember which entrance you need to use to get it back!
In times past this was a large marshy area before undergoing a series of identity changes that saw its use as an arms depot, a public square, a Royal Square – thanks to Louis XIV – ruination, thanks to the Revolution, until Napoleon ordered its reconstruction in 1802; only then did it take on its present appearance.
The large equestrian statue of Louis XIV at the centre of the square is known locally as the ‘Bronze Horse’.
Dating from 1828, it replaces an earlier statue, smashed and melted during the Revolution; even this new statue was threatened with destruction in 1848 because of its somewhat pompous inscription, but was saved by the Commissary Extraordinary of the Republic when the inscription was replaced by one paying homage to Lemot, a sculptor of Lyon – and that’s what you see today.
Day 2: Prequ'ile