Fresque des Lyonnais (The Lyon Fresco), Lyon (must see)

On the Saône side of Lyon’s first district, at the corner of Quai Saint Vincent and Martinière Street, a seven-storey building pulls off one of the city’s cleverest illusions. Two of its walls - one about 800 square metres, the other 200 - are covered with a gigantic “trick of the eye” mural.

And it really does trick you. Windows that don’t exist suddenly open. Balconies appear where there are none. You may even find yourself waving at someone who’s technically made of paint.

Stretching roughly 200 metres along the Saint Vincent side and 600 along Martinière, this mural has become a landmark in its own right. It presents 30 figures linked to Lyon - 24 from the past and six more modern personalities - arranged as if they all live together in one very distinguished apartment block. The contemporary characters stand at street level, casually “interacting” with passersby, as if they’ve just stepped out for coffee.

This painted façade tells 2,000 years of Lyon’s story. Emperor Claudius represents the Roman chapter. Abbé Pierre, founder of the Emmaus movement and member of the French Resistance, appears as a reminder of 20th-century social activism. Football legend Bernard Lacombe joins the line-up, while culinary icon Paul Bocuse seems to wait in the doorway of an imaginary café, ready to comment on the menu.

Look up, and you’ll spot explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, who sailed for Francis I and reached what would later become New York. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry leans out with his Little Prince, quietly observing the world below. Long-serving mayor Édouard Herriot puffs thoughtfully on his pipe. Nearby, Auguste and Louis Lumière present their first motion-picture camera, the device that launched cinema and secured Lyon’s place in film history.

More faces peer from windows and balconies, creating the impression that the entire building is alive with conversation. The mural was created in 1995 by the artist cooperative CitéCréation, as part of a project to revitalize this busy waterfront district. The idea proved so successful that similar “balcony” murals later appeared elsewhere, including Barcelona.

If you want the full effect, come in the morning. Between 10 and 11 a.m., when the sun hits the wall just right, the illusion sharpens, and the figures seem almost ready to step out. Indeed, this neighbourhood is rich in wall art - but none quite match the scale and storytelling power of The Lyon Fresco.