Zürich is Switzerland's largest and gayest city and, with its 380 000 inhabitants speaking Swiss German, it is no wonder the gay scene offers a good number of small bars, saunas and cruise clubs. In June each year the Pride Festival is held and in Spring the Pink Apple Festival shows gay and lesbian films from all over the world and awards a prize to a young director. The city also elected a lesbian mayor, Corrine Mauch in 2009.
It is 10:32am and at 10.38 our train is due for departure from Gare Part Dieu, Lyon, heading to Lausanne, Switzerland. As yet we have not been assigned a platform. Waiting, waiting, waiting.............platform B lights up on the screen. With a huge adrenalin rush we join the throng of people, who are also waiting for the platform allocation, to race through the busy, crowded station with bags chasing at everyone's heels.
On this visit to France we decided to find out a little more about the famous Lyon, particularly the food, the history and the sights. Wow! What a beautiful city. As first time visitors to this city, we were not disappointed. We had a wonderful time, sightseeing during the day and eating, drinking and socialising at night. Although we did a lot in our time here, we left feeling there was so much more to see and do.
Loosen your belt and your purse strings, you are in Lyon, France. With over 2000 restaurants, Lyon is the undisputed capital of gastronomy. It has rich culinary traditions and iconic chefs like Paul Bocuse. There are many Michelin Star restaurants to be found in this city but we decided to try out several of the bouchons instead.
Lisbon's Príncipe Real district is an excellent area to stay, good transport, great small local restaurants and it is the area where most gay bars, saunas and clubs are located. From the airport the train is easy to catch into the city and costs about 3€. A taxi is about 12€.
"Thank you so much for your kind words! We feel it is really our privilege to welcome people like you in our restaurant, to provide them a great experience and it's wonderful to know you've enjoyed it as much as we do! I'll make sure the entire team gets to know how much you loved their work." (Carla Lopes, Restaurante 100 Maneiras - http://www.restaurante100maneiras.com)