One afternoon in Lyon, I discovered Le Bal Des Ardents! If you google for the best bookstores in…read moreFrance, it will undoubtedly be in the top 10! The bookshop is famous for its book arch entrance - but there are so many photos of it on the internet, that I decide to not post that picture here. Instead, this video (part of The Book Lovers Series) will more than enough give you a peek of this lovely bookshop in Lyon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWT9HFZw2dc

A cute quaint bookstore with a VERY unique entrance (see pictures) and cozy interior (looks like…read morethe owner lived there) full of books that cater to those that like art/design books and old books....I haven't looked through the rest of the bookstore to really see what else they had but it was nice to visit an ACTUAL bookstore with a unique look as opposed to something like umm... Borders.

From the owner: Librairie de littérature généraleread more

From the owner: Spécialiste sur le marché du livre et de la papeterie, Decitre se caractérise par la diversité et…read morela complémentarité de ses activités : la vente en librairie, la vente en ligne, la vente aux bibliothèques et aux professionnels, et la commercialisation de sa base de données livres. Decitre est également créateur d'Entrée Livre, le site communautaire dédié à l'univers du livre, de la lecture et actionnaire de TEA, The Ebook Alternative, la première plateforme open source de distribution de livres numériques. Organisée en deux espaces distincts, l'aile " Rhône " et l'aile " Saône ", cette librairie offre un très vaste choix d'articles : livres de référence ou bien ouvrages très pointus, albums jeunesse, bandes dessinées, romans, livres de cuisine, ouvrages de médecine, droit et gestion pour les étudiants... de quoi se faire plaisir ! De nombreuses rencontres auteurs sont aussi organisées tout au long de l'année.

Very dishonest book sellers. After I'd paid for an online order, they increased the shipping fee to…read morealmost the same price of the book. Do not buy from these scammers.

I was so excited to go here, but it ended up being really disappointing! They were out all food…read moreexcept for pastries, so I ordered a smoothie, which came out of a bottle/wasn't homemade... Which was okay, then I asked the server if I could read some of the books (since it's basically a giant library), and she said of course. Once I brought some books back to my seat, though, the manager came over and took the books away... she told me that this isn't a library and you're not allowed to open the books before purchasing them... how else would one know which books to buy? What's the point of having a cafe surrounded by books if you can't open them...??

Cute bookshop/cafe with outdoor seating. The food selection was pretty dissapointing and flies were…read moreflying all over the muffin I wanted to eat, but they have cheap wine and a good tea selection. Also, free wifi and air conditioning!

Huge/amazing selection of old & new punk, alternative and rock, both new vinyl and pre-loved…read more Organized by category & music and very easy to find what you are looking for. Gentleman behind the counter was helpful and gracious. I'd consider coming back to Lyon for this record store alone. I literally had to stop myself from purchasing half the store.

There is something inimitably cool about the vinyl record shop workers of the world…read more What a groovy hang. The records are a bit on the pricey side, but the record players are surprisingly cheap. A good place to listen to and discover new music because the record player is always spinnin'.