Murals of Lyon - More than Wall Graffiti

lyon river



Hello Lyon!

After finishing my journey through Spain and Portugal, I decided to pop by Southern France for a walk-about before heading back up north.

portugal to france


You see, many years ago, I visited Paris, several times, and didn't quite like the experience I had while I was there with the people. Well the city was fine, food was great, culture... divine. But I always had issues with the locals, they're always seemed a bit mean to me; rude, ignorant, indifferent, whatever you call it.

Many have told me to get out of Paris, get far away from Parisians; and then I would truly experience the real beauty of France, and the French.

"Go South" they said.

So I did.

Well... honestly; I still found French the same I did many years ago. Nothing has change my opinion and experience with them. I've tried, I've given them the benefits of the doubt, several times; and the fact remained: I did not, do not, and will not like French.

A reader (French) wrote me a long email one day clarifying the reasons behind the actions of his nationals. Well, in a way, I kinda accepted it. I might post that long email here one day.

But in the mean time, Lyon was nice.

The city was lovely, full of lovely little cafes and bakeries with the most mouth-watering pastries, the buildings, the river, the bridge of the river in the city; everything (cept its people).
La Mur des Canuts Lyon
La Mur des Canuts


One thing, or rather 150+ things, exceptional about Lyon was its magnificent murals (painted walls) spread all over the city. It's the famous thing about Lyon. Some people even made it a point to hunt as many of them down as possible.

I was one of those people.

climbing the steps on Lyon mural
"you need direction sir?" see I'm nice to tourist


And determined to blend in with all of them on camera.

posing at La Mur des Canuts


Nicolekiss at La Mur des Canuts


Here are some of the other murals I've found. Most of which I don't know names of, the ones I know of I found them on the internet.

mural bank
robbing an ATM?


nicolekiss and mural workshop
walking into a workshop


mural dog
sitting with the mechanic's dog


little prince in lyon - La Fresque des Lyonnais

La Fresque des Lyonnais is one of Lyon's most famous painted walls, featuring over 800 square meters of 31 famous people, dead, fiction and alive, that's from Lyon. For example: Le Pétit Prince; aka the Little Prince (you know, the book); if you look closely, he's standing on the balcony on the second floor close to the windows on the right.

nicolekiss in lyon
stealing a sip of the display wine outside a restaurant


staring up
just waiting


library mural
walking by a bookstore


library on a graffiti wall - La Fresque des Lyonnais


nicolekiss and wee pin
me and wee pin, my host in Lyon, she speaks fluent French after seven years studying in France.


rue de la Martiniere
La Fresque des Lyonnais lies on Rue de la Martiniere ('rue' means street)


sneaking up on a pastry cafe
drooling at the food display outside a bistro


lyon lion 2
You've seen this one. Lyon's lion.


la biblioth - lyon mural
La Biblioth - placed across the famous book market in Lyon.

It's a mural of 500 literary authors and their references: all born in Rhone-Alps, found on quai Saint Vincent (street).


La Fresque des Lyonnais


quai st vincent
the street wehre La Biblioth is at


There's a story behind every mural in Lyon, if you're interested, you can google them out. It's really fascinating walking through Lyon and learning about its culture, history and background through these murals.

Here are the rest of the murals. Enjoy the photos: with me inside fooling around, of course. :p

3d mural of lyon
a 3D mural!


3d mural in lyon


pastries mural
pastries


wee pin and lyon mural
short comic strip of Wee Pin. lol


chilling against a mural


Posing with a mural never gets old. He he.


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7 kissed Nicole

  1. This is fun! So funny some of ur poses!

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  2. I like the way you fit yourself into the paintings :-)

    Btw, I didn't meet any rude Parisians when I was in Paris last year. Almost everyone was kind and helpful.

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  3. Oh my! Everything looks so real. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. My favourite is the one where you're posing with the lion! :D

    Oh, I miss Lyon...I want to go back one sunny day and walk in the streets again, looking for these walls.

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  5. Hi...I like your blog so much. How do you find your host for your stay? Is that you find your host via any relevant travel website? Thanks for your help...

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  6. The murals are all so niceeeee..

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  7. they looked oh so real...i enjoyed them and more so your poses. very creative!

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