Hello!

I may have to relocate to Lyon in France to continue to work in my current role. I have not been in Switzerland long but long enough to see both the good and bad sides of being here.

Not going would almost certianly mean finding new employment at some point, and, given I dont speak fluent German, will mean a difficult search for work. I think I know what I will do but I wondered if anyone here had lived in Lyon and could offer some 'pros' about the place as I really know nothing about it! Cost of living, socialising, shopping, culture etc.

Much appreciated...

I grew up there... Very Happy to have left

But of course it will be your experience, you might enjoy it!

Avoid any suburbs surrounding the city, (basically everywhere around):
La duchere, Venissieux, decines, oullins, etc, etc...

OK...not a good start! Anyone else?

http://www.lyon.fr/vdl/sections/en/

I mean it has some cultural thing, dance events, international congres, etc...

It even have a zoo and a big parc...

The neighboorhood "la croix rousse", is like nice with "traboules" some kind of old streets in between buildings that helped hidding local people during "the resistance".

You also have a nice view from "fourviere" a cathedral...

Food is good and they are very into it, and wines (the "beaujolais").

Also the airport is big, which is good to go far away, haha

There's 2 rivers (saone and rhone).

Erm what else!!

OK, that link is very helpful...thank you.

I would certainly miss the lakes

Lyon changed a lot for the better in the last 15 years. I left in 1992. Last visit was a pleasent surprise. But you are right on one thing: in Lyon you live in the CENTER (arrondissements: 1, upper 2, downhill 5, 4, 6 and river side 3). I prefer 1, but I am male and urban... Suburban areas are dangerous, don't even think of going there. Upper part of Fourvière hill (Monts d'Or) is however an exception : it's Beverly Hills.

In Lyon, all entrances of buildings look horrible. It's normal. Don't worry. The flats in the building can be very nice and your neighbours well off, but they won't tell you. When looking for a flat, Lyon is different: not the first but second impression counts.

Cultural life is... settled but richer than one think. I found it pricy, but I was young, so it was all pricy to me. Restaurants are the best in the country. But ask the locals where to go, the city if full with restaurants, people eat a lot out and tourist-restaurants are bad. Lots of places to go out are kind of "hidden", impossible to find without insider tips. Long catholic tradition, I suppose. The centre (presqu'ile) has been politically left for a while, it's more open, but you don't change the face of a city that quick.

Thanks Faltrad. It's a very difficult decision! Not been in Zurich long but am just feeling settled.

The alternative is to stay here and take my chances finding another job but as we all know in this climate, that is a risk and nothing here is cheap.

Paulie, just to encourage you - I haven't got to Switzerland yet but will be coming in June. Alone. Minimal German. Less French. Job hunting. Flat hunting. Not a 'pretty young thing'!

I reckon if I can do it under those circumstances then you can probably do it much easier as you've already been here!

Go with the gut feeling - a change could be good, and lots about France would be fascinating. You could always return to Switzerland. If you really love being in Zurich, stay with it and just see how it all pans out!

Good luck whichever way you go.

Pam

Cheers Pam! The truth is, I never for one minute thought I would get a job as easily as I did. And now I have it I'm loathed to let it go but there is a lot here to make me stay!

I will be having some chats with work over the next couple of weeks and will try to make some sort of reasoned decision.

On another subject, if I can be of any help with advice or tips, please just ask. Best of luck to you and Happy New Year

I found the area la croix rousse very charming - and if I would move back to Lyon I'd most likely try to find an apartment there. I agree with that some suburbs seemed to be better to avoid.

I stayed in Villeurbanne adjacent to Lyon for 6 months in 1999 when I was a student - so a lot may have changed since then, but I really enjoyed living there. For one thing I loved the food, really the best thing about Lyon. Eating out was a delight and not necessarily expensive (also affordable on a students budget).

There are plenty of charming places as well as really nice wine areas on short distance (by train or car) for day excursions - cannot remember names of the places though... :-)

Why not go there for a weekend to see for yourself and get a feeling of the town?

There are also quite a few blogs you can read about living in Lyon - e.g you can find a few here:
http://www.expat-blog.com/en/directo...e/france/lyon/

It is a long time since I lived in Lyon, but in my experience, it was a fabulous place with everything you would expect to find in a major city. The joy is that if you can afford to live somewhere near the centre then you have theatres, cinemas, restaurants, nightlife, museums, shopping, etc etc etc all within walking distance. It is the second city of France and usually acclaimed to be the gastonomic capital so you can expect to eat well there. The Lumiere brothers (pioneers of cinema) were from there and so there are many, many cinemas showing old and new movies - many in English. The architecture of the place is lovely and even if your apartment looks a little shabby from the outside, the insides are usually very spacious with high ceilings and tall windows. It has a reliable public transport system (when they're not on strike - but this is France), and some great markets...
You may not have the mountains there, but it is proper city living definitely suited to urban types.

I stayed in Lyon for half a year during 2008 and I liked it very much. To be honest I like it more than Zürich. So if you have an opportunity to relocate there I would definitely recommend it.

My favorite "pros" are:

* Running along the river in t-shirt/shorts and enjoying the smell of something green (no idea what it was). Relaxing afterwards with a bottle of water and just enjoying the moment.

* Long dinners late at night

* The metro which ran every 2 minutes (who needs a time table?)

* Excellent choice in the supermarkts, fresh selection of fruits, great selection of cheese, bread and everything else. In general the food was very good. As for other shopping I never searched for something without finding it, so unless you have very special needs I'm sure you will find it in Lyon as well.

* Nice and open people, I don't know if I got lucky but people were generally friendly and accepted my feeble attempts at speaking French

* The architecture, lots of old houses and you get a very "historical" feeling when walking around in the city.

I actually enjoyed Lyon more than I have enjoyed Zürich so far, I hope it will change but I would actually prefer Lyon over Zürich if I had to choose...

Hey guys,

Thanks very much for all the information. A lot of pros and cons to consider. Decision time is looming and a weekend there to get a feeling for the place is most likely on the cards. I will post an update - if anyone is interested!

Thanks again and Happy New Year to all.

Lyon

Great Jazz Festival in Vienne, south of Lyon. It's a jazz monster parade set in an old Roman amphitheater. http://www.jazzavienne.com/

Gastronomy restos to die for. Real Baguettes, et.al.

Train de Grande Vitesse (TGV).

French rural countryside.


mmmm