If you’d asked me what is Monts du Lyonnais, I would tell you that it’s home. I was born and raised in this region, and I truly believed that where you are born and raised marks you for life. Because I grew up in this region I have always have a very strong love for country sides, nature and the outdoor.
You could put me anywhere in places like the ones you see on the pictures and I’d be totally happy! Even though I’ve lived In Paris for five years, and another five years in New York I have always been and always will be a country nature person.
In this post I wanted to introduce you to the region of Lyon better know as the “Monts du Lyonnais” (the mounts of the Lyon region).
What is Called Monts du Lyonnais?
The Monts du Lyonnais is the western area surrounding Lyon, and includes two departments; the Loire and the Rhône. Basically it includes every cities, towns and villages between Lyon, Roanne and Saint-Etienne which includes the Baujolais region as well.
The huge difference between Paris region and Lyon region could be summed up like this… in Paris region everything is flat while in Lyon region nothing is flat. Thus the name Monts du Lyonnais. This is why the region around Paris is pretty plain and unattractive while the region around Lyon is just magnificent. No, I’m not saying this because it’s home, just because it’s true.
Plenty of Hills
There is basically no town or village that is flat in the Monts du Lyonnais region and that’s what makes it so interesting and look so beautiful. I grew up in a quite little village built in a small mountain with two villages down below and four above. The road was all up hill (or down hill) zigzags and the perfect work out for cyclists. This is why the Monts du Lyonnais region is toughest regions for the Tour de France racers.
When you stand on the hills of the Monts du Lyonnais and do a 180° turn you see a chain of small mountains all around you. From most of those mountains you have a view of Lyon way down below.
I remember going on to of my hill-like garden in the house where I grew up and just watch the view of the city of Lyon. I remember that this view used to put me in a meditative state and I could have stayed there for hours watching this magnificent view. Somehow I never, ever took it for granted.
If you find yourself traveling to France, make sure you come visit ‘Les Monts du Lyonnais’ where you can enjoy beautiful landscapes, good food and good wine. In a future post I will talk about a handful of villages and towns that you could go visit.
Sorry for the French speaking without subtitles – Just enjoy the view!
Hi Sylviane,
what a shame I haven’t been to Lyon yet. When we’re heading to the south, we’re either driving via Switzerland and Grenoble or via Lyon – but we have always bypassed the city and its environment because of the difficult traffic situation there (it hasn’t changed, in spite of several ‘rocades’). But we’re always saying: We need to make a stop-over there. Your post is definitely sparkling the desire !
Thanks again for sharing, dream…
Cheers
Oliver
Hi Oliver,
I am sure you will make it to Lyon one of these days, especially that you are so used to goingto France.
I know Lyon is pretty congestioned with traffic and that doesn’t get any better as time goes on, but the Monts du Lyonnais are much quieter and not so busy.
I would love to live someplace Sylviane where it’s not flat. Of course France is just beautiful no matter where you look and I love that stone bridge in the beginning of the video. I think that’s just so cool looking.
The entire region is pretty from what you’ve shown us here. I can’t image growing up in such a unique place.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
~Adrienne
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Hi Adrienne,
At the time I am sure I didn’t fully appreciated where I grew up, but gosh do I do now! I appreciate the culture and the environment I grew up in, because it made me closer to nature in all it’s forms, and I think made me balanced compare to what I see around.
You know as they say, you can take the man or woman out of the country, but you can’t them the country out fo the man “woman”. That is so true.
What fun to see where you grew up and wow, what a beautiful place. I love all the hills – when things are flat it can be very boring. I also love how the houses are just kind of sitting there without being in perfectly straight rows. I bet you had a lot of opportunity to let your imagination grow, just watching over those gorgeous hills. It seems like it would be a relaxing and revitalizing place to be. Definitely a good place to be a writer and enjoy the view 🙂
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Hi Carol,
Yes, those hills were inspriing to me and I miss that environment, actually.
However, I know that one day I will get back to them. One of the crazy goals that I have is to actually buy the house I grew up with back 🙂 I totally have already planned what I want to do with it, and I call this my “full circle”. You know, going back to your roots! Eventually I want to split my life between the US and France. Working online, you can work anywhere.
By the way that house has 17 rooms, so I will have room for visitors. Keep this in mine 🙂
Svylianne,
I loved the man’s description of the area which looks absolutely superb. I hope that we will be able to visit that area in the next year. Lyon was actually one of the places we considered moving to before we came to France but it was very important to my husband and the kids to be near the water. They all like to surf and swim in the ocean and after living in San Francisco for so many years it’s hard not to be near the water and mountains.
There are just too many places to visit in this world. keep sharing all these wonderful hidden places i just love it..
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Hi Annie,
Ah, I know that you didn’t need the English subtitles to understand that man on the video. Did you hear that strong Mont du Lyonnais accent? Not the prettiest if you ask me, but heh that’s the accent from home 🙂
Thanks for coming and I like to hear that you enjoy this 🙂
Hi Kyle,
Wow, I can’t stop smiling to read how much people are inspired by my french travel posts. So nice to hear. If you do go there, let me know I can give you a few tips and places to go to.
Thanks for coming, Kyle.