We were SHOCKED by this QUIRKY CITY!

In the comments of our video about Paris, many of you suggested that Lyon France is a smaller, more manageable option with many of the same benefits.

Following our month-long stay in Dijon, we took a train to Lyon to see for ourselves and we must admit that we were shocked, surprised and fascinated by what we saw.

Videos we mentioned:
Slow Travel Cost of Living – https://youtu.be/LQUvVAf-4TY
Paris France – https://youtu.be/rOykb18_MAk
Dijon France – https://youtu.be/o1WVle6iIb0

If your dream is to live abroad, grab our free Live Abroad Toolkit and fast-track your move abroad: https://ameliaandjp.com/tookit

Helpful Resources:
Website: https://ameliaandjp.com
Live Abroad Program: https://ameliaandjp.com/lap
Ecuador Relocation Guide: https://bit.ly/3CbS6fA
Online Income eCourse: https://bit.ly/3oNUFBk
Taxes For Expats: https://www.taxesforexpats.com/clt/JS655
Traveling Mailbox: https://travelingmailbox.com/?ref=994
LingoPie: https://lingopie.com/?ref=ameliabasista&tap_a=105960-b87f6a
Surfshark VPN: https://get.surfshark.net/SH19F
Charles Schwab: http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/nn/refer-prospect.html?refrid=REFERGMKRE38N
Insured Nomads Global Insurance: https://www.insurednomads.com?ref=AmeliaAndJP
Wise Money Transfers: https://wise.prf.hn/l/xnPXLdj
SiteGround Web Hosting: https://www.siteground.com/index.htm?afcode=ec548c25104a59583984ceeaa2086c81
Airalo eSIM: https://airalo.pxf.io/c/2208666/1268485/15608
(Some of these are affiliate links. Read our Affiliate Disclosure here: https://ameliaandjp.com/affiliate-disclosure/)

Our AMAZING Unconventional Supporters:
Joe Stratton
Leif Brogren
Byron Jacomo
Jose and Alexandra

#ameliaandjp

a lot of you told us to go visit Leon so we did it was a lot different than Paris or Dijon so in this video we’re going to tell you what both shocked and surprised us about it Leon is the third largest city in France it’s about 1.8 million people if you count the entire metro so it’s good size city it took us an hour and 36 minutes by train from djon it’s 2 hours by highspeed train back to Paris and it’s 2 hours by train to Geneva Switzerland it’s located just west of the French Alps many of you recommended Leon because I said in the Paris video that Paris was just a little bit too big for me and I’m so glad you did because we had a lot of fun checking it out we started in the Oldtown area or Vu which is also a UNESCO world heritage site and it was really cool it’s like a windy little area with narrow Alleyways and cobblestone streets and some funky stores and restaurants and a little bit of parks and some incredibly beautiful churches we even stumbled across this really funky clock called the charet charet clock charet clock which was just unbelievable yeah they also have the astronomical clock it’s kind of famous but some crazy person went in and destroyed it a few years ago and they’re still repairing it so it was completely covered while we were in there we couldn’t see it yeah I was disappointed I really wanted to see that but the church itself was amazing and it is nice that we could go in and cool off too cuz it was kind of warm that day it was pretty warm my favorite part as always is the Roman ruins I cannot believe everywhere we’ve been in Europe there are Roman ruins here we are in Leon and this Amphitheater was built about 2,000 years ago and it looks almost just like the one that we walked around in durus Albania and it’s a long ways from here it’s just shocking to me that the Romans built so many things over such a wide area the Ruins In that clip are located kind of north in the north part of the city in the first burrow and we kind of stumbled across and we’re just shocked to see it there this this Amphitheater the Roman Amphitheater here in this town but it’s not even the coolest one you actually catch this thing called a flear f fic I I’m sorry French people anyway trolley it is a trolley that goes up to the top and you can go up and to the the official Roman amphitheaters up there there’s actually two of them they’ve been mostly refurbished and I’m not sure how I feel about that I kind of like the original stuff better but some parts of it they still use for concerts and they were setting up for a concert while we were up there it’s amazing to walk around there and think that you know this has been there for 2,000 years that Leon was actually really important part of the Roman Empire at one point it had the only mint in the Roman Empire to create the Roman coins I just it’s fascinating to me yeah something I never thought about like where they actually made and minted their coins who knew it was in Leo we also took the F fic fic to notra Dam which is located up on that Hill kind of a short walk from the Roman ruins and we did that on a separate day and wow that was amazing too and the views up there are just stunning you can’t walk between the two so it was kind of expensive the tickets were what $9 I think to go up there but you can go up to one and then walk across the other and then you can walk down it’s not too bad coming down I wouldn’t want to walk up so those stairs were there’s a lot of stairs first of all and some of them were pretty steep yeah that’s the thing about that part of Leon is that it can be pretty hilly and the walk up takes about 45 minutes so if you’re not up to it then that ride seems pretty reasonable it does it was actually really smooth and nice it was it was fun one of the things that has really shocked me about Leon are these incredible massive murals they are so lifelike we were walking around and I saw a I just glanced at this building and there were some pictures of Windows which I thought were real at first I had to do a double take and realize that they were beautifully painted we’re still surprised everywhere we go in Europe how easy it is to get around a Leon Leon is no exception it’s so walkable the city has nice wide sidewalks and pedestrian bridges over the rivers and some over the railways and the highways there’s walking Bridges all over they’re bike and scooter rentals you can ride a Metro and the or the tra those are €220 per ride that’s about $236 really not bad there are several train stations with trains that go all over France and the rest of Europe as well and of course there is an airport it’s International and that will take you all over the place as well yeah that was another reason why we chose to come to Leon because we’re able to fly to our next destination but now I also understand why you guys said it would be easier for me than Paris because we could walk a lot further and a lot in the same amount of time it took us to take the metro into town we were able to walk and then we could just zip across town taking the metro so it’s really nice to have that all that public transportation and to be in a more compact City but it didn’t feel overly crowded or compact to me so that was pretty awesome even though the sidewalks are nice and white and flat in the main shopping area and in Vu the there are stairs around there so if you want to go look at the murals or walk anywhere over on that West W side it’s there are a lot of stairs you can take the metro or the fic to avoid those but it’s still there’s still a lot of stairs around the outside of the city yeah we went to that hike to see that one uh that one I stood in front of yeah that one mural and we were pretty tired after doing all that walking because of those stairs and those cobblestone streets I mean they’re they’re pretty flat but they’re still uneven so if you have issues with Mobility you may not want to go to that part of town we love architecture I love taking pictures of it but Amilia is so fascinated by the blend of it especially in cities like Leon yeah I am I feel like we should have called this video what shocked us surprised us and fascinated because there was a wide variety of stuff going on in Leon it really does have its own unique Vibe because you’ve got the classic French you have more of that funky Oldtown Vibe happening which was the blend of architecture you’ve got the gothic Cathedrals the old cobblestone streets and then you have all these new modern buildings it was really interesting oh and there was a lot of retro style as well that uh Art Deco artco yes thank you I just and medieval and medieval I know it’s got everything it does pretty much have everything and over in the Confluence Park area by the big mall they’re building these really cool geometric shaped buildings that look like they’re just made out of building blocks and it kind of futuristic looking or like retro future you know it’s like’ 60s futurist it’s it’s incredible the designs that they have in this city yeah it’s very creative I really do appreciate the blend I mean your eyes do not get tired looking at stuff let me tell you yeah that leads us to the next point though is there’s construction everywhere my goodness there are either building new buildings or renovating old buildings everywhere you go you want to wear like eye goggles down some of those streets because there’s so much construction dust and things floating in the air we were really shocked by that well and a lot of road work too so you definitely need to give yourself some extra time if you plan on driving around there there are a lot of parks so if you like to hang out in green Parks there’s a really nice one called Confluence Park that’s where the two rivers meet the ran and the S I’m not exactly sure how to pronounce it sorry French people but that’s where the me the rivers meet and you can walk all the way out to the point that was fun but there are other green Parks too and Gardens that you can go sit in and enjoy the flowers and the trees it’s just amazingly beautiful and it’s dog friendly a lot of people ask us about dog friendliness we even saw a sign that said dog friendly we saw dogs in restaurants in fact there was like a chocolate lab or a I think it was a w Mariner W Mariner that was in a restaurant in fact it was at Georgia’s braser or that famous restaurant that’s in Leon where it’s been around for almost 200 years Jules Vern ate there we went in there and had drinks and snacks and there was a big dog under the table next to us unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of it though he was cute he was what’s next Amilia the allergies oh yeah the allergies were brutal so we were pretty shocked by this it was bad but I think that also because it was crazy windy yeah it was so windy we couldn’t film audio Outdoors except those couple clips that you already saw it was just so windy that even with our windshield on our mic it just cut out completely and we’re really disappointed cuz we wanted to film this video while we were walking around the city to show it to you like we did in djon but we it just wasn’t possible and the allergies and djon were nothing I mean I didn’t I went days without even taking an allergy pill but as soon as we got to Leon and we got off the train I started sneezing and it was bad the entire time we were there my face was all puffy and my eyes were swollen it was horrible I was pretty surprised by the amount of English speakers in Leona it felt like it was similar to Paris although I still just don’t expect anybody to be speaking English but I do appreciate it however all the signs are in French pretty much in the museums you’ll get both French and English but for the most part all the signs that are Outdoors are going to be in French only so it does really help you to study that and it’s been our experience that it is really hit or miss if you’re going to get any sort of announcements on the trains in English every once in a while we’ll hear it in English and in German but most of the time it was in French beer culture that’s another thing that really surprised us we’re in France and we see pubs all over the place and people drinking beer instead of wine we were really expecting to see more wine in this region yeah I was shocked by the amount of beer pubs we saw in Leo I was not expecting that at all I mean it’s not a judgment and maybe that was stereotypical of us to think it should just be wine they do have a wine region there but that one was a bit of a surprise it was especially how many it was like Starbucks in the US were beer pubs and Leon the hobby schools also were surprising to us we saw not only Pottery which it really isn’t that uncommon we saw a knitting in crochet school like a school to go learn how to knit and crochet yeah and it was open every day man if I was there I would have gone I love to crochet and I haven’t done it in a long time so that one was a big surprise to me too because my mom taught me I’ve never ever seen a place dedicated to learn how to knit and crochet anywhere yeah it was it interesting it’s just not not something that you see no I think it adds to the unique it does vibe of Leon and it’s a neat thing to go do you know it’s helps with quality of life to have cool things to do yes it does all right next up is good shopping Amilia loves to do the shopping this is where she bought this and it really wasn’t that expensive what was that 2777 for this awesome dress but there’s plenty of shopping there’s a pedestrian area although that was under construction so that was a little bit tricky and then of course you still get all of the chain stores but this one I bought at a little French Boutique the lady did not speak any English no well she did say beautiful she didn’t say beautiful a lot beautiful okay she spoke one word of English yeah part of this is that it’s more casual there I mean you’re in France when we were in Paris people dress a lot nicer but we were expecting that to be more similar in Leon but people were dressed a lot more casually lots of shirts and shorts or or t-shirts and shorts and yeah it was definitely a more just a more laid-back atmosphere I felt in general compared to Paris and even to djon really yeah people were a little more dressed up than djon another thing that shocked us is the groceries are really cheap they’re so affordable and it’s France and you would expect them to be more expensive but they really weren’t we’re going to go into detail in a future video about we’re going to share all of our costs while we were in France for seven weeks seven and a half weeks almost two months in France so we’re going to share our is that right almost right I think so yeah we’ll share all of those expenses in a future video but the groceries get shocked by I know you’ll be shocked by the groceries but you’ll be equally shocked by their restaurants they’re so expensive yeah this definitely seems a bit out of whack but I think that’s because they include the service charges so you don’t tip on top because it’s included in the bill and the service was good so we have no complaints and we’re just it we just weren’t expecting them to be so pricey Yeah we actually only ate one full meal out because we got sticker shock from the menus that they put out front we we did get snacks and drinks a couple times but we’re kind of freaking out about our budget after we did our cost of living video A Milli and I are both like having a a little bit of a root Awakening so we’re we haven’t been spending as trying not to spend as much money well I know we’re going to recoup all of that it’s going to balance out quite nicely and go the other direction which is going to be this way once we get to Southeast Asia yeah we’re going we’ll be back in Eastern Europe soon and then on to Southeast Asia where we should save even more money so the housing is also super expensive in France it’s the most expensive part of our state and France and the airbnbs were super expensive you’re looking at like a $100 a night for a pretty simple basic one-bedroom that’s not even in like the city center if it’s like outside and the neighborhood that we stayed in kind of south of the main shopping district um was actually not even listed as that safe of a neighborhood we’re right by a train station and we felt safe there but I like the neighborhood it was nice but I wouldn’t walk around there at night probably very much no not after dark but it doesn’t get dark until 10: in the summer so you’re that’s basically past our bedtime anyway if you want to buy a house that prices aren’t really that unreasonable but the rent has gone up in recent years right exactly and I also read that because of what’s happening with their economic situation that mortgage rates are higher so not as many people can afford to buy so there’s more people renting exactly all right the the next thing that surprised us are the unisex bathrooms we actually saw this throughout France and uh also they they have in the men’s restroom normally I’m used to a urinol where you stand in front of a porcelain thing and do your business and in a lot of the places they were trops like you see in a football stadium in the United States where you go and it’s like a big trough I find that very strange especially when there are women walking behind me while I’m going to the bathroom it’s just a little odd it’s only odd because we’re from the United States and this is not doesn’t happen there we don’t have unisex bathrooms where men and women go in the same door and the women go into a stall and close the door and the men go into a trough room yeah I mean normally it does kind of split so I didn’t actually see the trough but well you didn’t go in the one the one B that really inspired us mentioning this because it was I mean you room there was a stall and a trough room and that was it and there were women coming in it was interest it’s interesting it’s FR it’s France you know went in France yep well what do well either that you have to hold it yeah another thing that was different about Leon then djon and Paris and a lot of the other places we’ve been except for Athens is that they don’t stop for pedestrians the cars did not slow down a couple times they sped up while we were crossing the street we saw cars honking at pedestrians we had seen that since Athens that was really surprising to us it just didn’t fit with the rest of France from our perspective yes there were also political protests while we were there they had an election while we were there and you know some people were not happy with the results of that and there was a massive political protest and unfortunately the first night we were there we went out and we took some pictures and saw some sites and everything was beautiful and we went out the next day and it was all covered with graffiti there were like broken windows and board they were boarding up stuff that had been broken and just vandalized I mean it was really really disappointing and unfortunate that that happened so but there was actually quite a bit of graffiti especially compared to what we saw in Paris and in djon we weren’t expecting to see that it was more in line of like Athens not quite as bad as Athens but you know more like that and I wasn’t shocked that they had protest because country I mean people protest that’s just the way it is but it was disappointing to see the vandalism however I was impressed and shocked by how quickly the people the powers that be got out there and cleaned up the Graffiti On The Monuments because we went out the next day we took the same route and that had all been cleaned off another thing that really surprised us in a bad way was the amount of homelessness and and people in we saw this in Paris a little bit in djon but in Leon it was pretty bad a lot of people with mental health issues like Tourette Syndrome or and just Dementia or just people just obviously need to be in a facility and having someone take care of them we saw a lot we even saw a tent city on our drive from Leon out to the airport it was that was kind of it’s shocking sad it’s not something we’ve seen very much in Europe no especially France I mean it’s I just wouldn’t expect that out of France all right let’s end on a high note let’s talk about how quirky the city was like I just roll all of this stuff up into a quirky Bohemian yeah I it was a really fun experience completely completely different than Paris completely different than the djon we went to bone that was a whole another experience U well every place is unique right and it was fun it’s got a really interesting fun quirky Vibe I agree I liked it a lot see people seem happy there and friendly and welcoming and yeah the service was good the we sat down and had a glass of wine someplace everybody was so friendly and it was like they were happy that we were there they made like would make room for us and I I really enjoyed I enjoyed the quirky the quirky feel to it and the whole the range of everything to do and see I think that if you decide to go to Leon you won’t be disappointed I think you’re going to be really pleasantly surprised like we were yeah I mean it was definitely less expensive than Paris in some respects but it was still more expensive than djon so djon is still my favorite yeah we still love djon it amazing yeah let us know in the comments if we missed something that you found shocking or surprising about Leon that is all we have for this video before you go leave us a like please and we will see you all next time AWA AWA