The WTA Tour takes in a new stop from March 2 through 8 as it stops in Lyon, France for the Open 6ème Sens — Métropole de Lyon. The hard court event will have a draw of 32 (16 doubles) and is a WTA International event with prize money of $250,000.
American Sofia Kenin tops the singles seeds, ahead of home hopes Kristina Mladenovic, Caroline Garcia and Alizé Cornet. Here are six facts about the latest city on Tour:
Gastronomy
The third-largest city in France has more than 1,500 eateries, giving it one of the highest concentrations of restaurants in the country. Lyon boasts 14 Michelin star restaurants and specialises in traditional smaller eateries called bouchons. These offer authentic Lyonnaise offal dishes and a small but substantial, and more affordable meal.
Architecture
The city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. The creator of the Statue of Liberty has also designed the Fontaine Bartholdi, which is situated at the Place des Terreaux. The 21-ton fountain also turns spectacular in the winter months, when it can freeze over and make for great souvenir pictures for tourists.
Football
The city’s boasts the most successful women’s team in Europe, winning a record 17 national titles as well as the ultimate prize in European football, the Champions League, six times – also a record. Norway’s Ada Hegerberg, England’s Lucy Bronze and home star Eugénie Le Sommer are the star turns. The men’s side, meanwhile, took their share of the limelight as they overcame Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus in the men’s Champions League at the end of February.
Cinematography
The Lumière Brothers were born in the area in 1860s. Credited with creating the first motion picture film camera (cinematograph) in the 1890s, that could record, develop and project film, they helped set the scene for the movie industry as we know it today, giving rise to the term cinema. The city’s Institut Lumière pays tribute.
Notre Dame
Though not as well known as Paris’s cathedral, the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière is a beautiful that will not take you all day to queue up to visit. Built between 1872 and 1884, the building sits astride the city’s main hill, taking in the riverside streets below and, on occasion, the Alps.
Festival of Light
The city holds an annual ceremony every December, with young designers invited to create and display installations around the city, showcasing the best of Lyon with the latest in design illumination, videos, lasers and LEDs. Sounds and performing arts are also brought to the fore over four ever-popular evenings every winter.
