Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: Lyon & the French Alps

The Arverni, the Gaulish tribe who gave Auvergne its name, were led by Vercingetorix, who defeated Julius Caesar at Gergovia, near today's Clermont-Ferrand, in 52 BC. Rome founded Lugdunum, now Lyon, in 43 BC, and it became the capital of the Three Gauls; the emperor Claudius was born there, and Christians including Blandina were martyred in its amphitheatre in 177. In 1095 Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade at Clermont.

The Dauphiné was sold to France in 1349, and from then on the heir to the throne bore the title of Dauphin. Lyon grew wealthy on trade fairs, banking, printing and, from the 16th century, silk. Its silk workers, the canuts, rose in revolt in 1831 and 1834. Savoy, ruled by the House of Savoy, which went on to become the royal family of Italy, was ceded to France in 1860 after a plebiscite. In 1788 the Day of the Tiles in Grenoble was an early sign of the coming Revolution.

Industry developed in the 19th century: Michelin tyres in Clermont-Ferrand, coal and arms in Saint-Étienne, and the Lumière brothers' cinematograph in Lyon, which showed its first film in 1895. Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786, and Chamonix hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924. During the Second World War, the Vichy regime ruled from Vichy, while Lyon and the Vercors were centres of the Resistance. The region was formed in 2016, with Lyon as capital.

The region has several distinct identities. Lyon is self-consciously gastronomic and somewhat reserved, proud of its silk heritage, its puppet Guignol and its traboules, passages running through buildings that silk workers used to carry cloth. The Fête des Lumières, when residents place candles in their windows around 8 December, began in 1852 to honour the Virgin Mary and is now a large festival of light installations.

Savoie and Haute-Savoie remember their separate history and their own flag, a white cross on red, and mountain life shapes the culture: alpine guides, ski instructors, seasonal farming, and summer transhumance of cows to high pastures. The Franco-Provençal or Arpitan dialects once spoken in the Alps and Lyon are now rare. The Auvergne has a rural, down-to-earth image, and many Auvergnats historically moved to Paris, where they ran cafés and coal businesses.

Crafts include knives from Thiers, lace from Le Puy-en-Velay and the Chartreuse liqueur made by Carthusian monks. Sport is strong: Olympique Lyonnais and AS Saint-Étienne share a football rivalry, Clermont's ASM is a major rugby club, and the Alps host major Tour de France stages.

About eight million people live in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, making it the second most populous region in France. Lyon has about 520,000 residents and a metropolitan area of over two million. Saint-Étienne, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand, Annecy and Villeurbanne are the other large cities, while Chambéry, Valence and the Alpine valleys are growing.

The economy is one of the strongest in France. Lyon has pharmaceuticals, chemicals, banking and biotech; Grenoble has research, microelectronics and universities; Clermont-Ferrand is home to Michelin. The Arve valley has precision engineering, and winter sports tourism is a major employer in the Alps. The Rhône valley generates nuclear and hydroelectric power, and the Auvergne remains more agricultural.

Life in the mountains follows the seasons: winter is busy, April and November are quiet. Many young people struggle to afford homes in resorts driven by second homes, and climate change is reducing snow on lower ski slopes and melting glaciers such as the Mer de Glace.

Lyon is known for its bouchons, small restaurants serving hearty dishes: quenelles de brochet, pike dumplings in a crayfish sauce; saucisson de Lyon and rosette sausages; tablier de sapeur, breaded fried tripe; salade lyonnaise, frisée with bacon and a poached egg; and cervelle de canut, fresh cheese with herbs and shallots. Tarte aux pralines, a bright pink praline tart, is a popular dessert, and the chef Paul Bocuse made the city's restaurants famous. Bresse chicken from the Ain has a protected designation.

The Alps provide melted cheese dishes: fondue savoyarde, raclette and tartiflette, potatoes baked with Reblochon, bacon and onions. Cheeses include Beaufort, Abondance and Tomme de Savoie. The Dauphiné is known for gratin dauphinois, potatoes baked in cream, ravioles, and Grenoble walnuts. The Auvergne produces Saint-Nectaire, Cantal, Salers, Bleu d'Auvergne and Fourme d'Ambert, along with truffade, potatoes cooked with fresh tomme cheese, and Le Puy green lentils. Nougat comes from Montélimar.

For wine, there are Beaujolais crus such as Morgon and Fleurie, the northern Rhône wines of Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu and Hermitage, and Savoie whites. The mountains also produce Chartreuse and génépi, a herbal liqueur.

Lyon has its Roman theatres and the basilica of Fourvière on the hill, the Renaissance lanes and traboules of Vieux-Lyon, the Place Bellecour and Presqu'île between the rivers, and the Musée des Confluences. North of the city, Beaujolais has vineyards and golden-stone villages such as Oingt, and the medieval village of Pérouges lies to the east.

In the Alps, Chamonix is the base for Mont Blanc, at about 4,800 metres, with the Aiguille du Midi cable car and the Montenvers railway to the Mer de Glace. Annecy has the Palais de l'Isle, its canals and lake, and Évian and Aix-les-Bains are lakeside spa towns. Grenoble's Bastille cable car offers views across the Chartreuse and Vercors massifs. The Vanoise, France's first national park, is surrounded by the ski areas of the Tarentaise, including Val d'Isère, Tignes and the Trois Vallées.

The Auvergne volcanoes are centred on the Puy de Dôme, reached by rack railway, and the Chaîne des Puys, with the Vulcania park nearby, the Puy de Sancy in the Monts Dore and the town of Salers in the Cantal. Le Puy-en-Velay has a chapel on a volcanic needle and is a starting point for the pilgrim route to Santiago. In the south, the Ardèche gorges and the Pont d'Arc lie near the replica of the Chauvet cave paintings.