A Wonderful Sunday in Lyon!

Hello!

Ever notice how hard it is to describe a truly wonderful day? Words are only part of it; how to describe the sounds? the bells from the churches chiming away the hours; the feel of sunshine as it beats down on your head; the fresh breeze that pushes you from behind?? Leastways, I’ll try! Awoke to a really lovely morning in Lyon. The sun was shining and the sky was blue; both treasures after the past few days! Even though we’re really in the center of town, across from a major theater, it was very quiet last night; just lovely! Had petit dejeuner at the hotel; not very good croissants but good bread, juice and hot chocolate for me; café for Robert. Were ready to head out about 9:15 to the upper level of town, called Fourviere, for the Roman amphitheater and museum. Walked to the nearest metro station to get our daily passes – and here encountered one of the MAJOR irritants in the French transportation system; here and in Paris! They have wonderful machines to produce tickets (meaning also that there were no actual people selling them...) but they take either 1) CHANGE no larger than a 2 Euro coin, or 2) a credit card that is issued in Europe! And we have neither! Lots of bills, of course, but the machines do not take bills! So, while it may have the Visa or MC symbol – no luck if it’s from America! VERYYYYY irritating! We then trekked upstairs to the McDonald’s and asked a nice girl at the counter if we could get change. She was very obliging (doubtless we are NOT the first Americans to do this...) and didn’t even insist that we buy something; she just gave us lots of change for the machine...finally procured tickets and caught the Metro for Vieux (ie. Old) Lyon, on the other side of the Saone riverbank. Once there, we headed to the funiculars to take us UP the hill. One of them (the one we wanted) was closed for work, but the other was working and ready to go...UP the hill; let us off directly in front of the Basilica. WOW; what a place! We entered, but as Mass was just starting, couldn’t really have a good look around, so decided to come back. So...more on that later! Then walked a bit down hill and then up to the Roman ruins. They have restored both a Roman theatre and a smaller Odeon, and built the museum right next to it. The theatre was beautiful, and obviously still in use, as there were structures in place for lighting events. Walked around and through it, and then into the museum. And, while it was REALLY warm in there (can only imagine what temperature it will be in August...) the museum was GREAT. It actually winds around in a gentle circle going down 5 levels, and houses a wonderful collection of artifacts that have been found in Lyon and the surrounding areas. The artifacts are grouped both chronologically and by type, which made things easy to see, and there were many signs in English as well as in French. I have always been crazy about mosaics, and their collection was truly unparalleled to anything we have seen yet; including the house in Sicily that has such wonderful floors. The mosaics included scenes – hunting, playing, Gods – as well as really intricate patterns. Incredible collection!

Once we’d finished with the museum, we headed back (uphill...) to the Basilica, but decided to have lunch first, as we were in desperate need of a sit-down as well as drink to sustain us...So, there is a nice restaurant immediately next to the Basilica, and we got a front row table overlooking the city! (See pictures!!!) Wonderful meal! (I know...this is France, how could it not be??) R had the Rouget on a bed of zucchini. I had Pintade (what I call chicken, but what the world translates as Guinea Fowl...) in a tarragon sauce, with potatoes Lyonnaise and vegetables. Both were delicious! Also polished off a good bottle of red St. Joseph wine from the region. For dessert, R had an apple tarte, and I had the fondant au chocolat with caramel ice cream – WOW!! After that, only wanted a lie-down, but still had the Basilica to explore! And what a place! I truly think, of all the churches we have seen all over the world, that this is the most beautiful; rivals Notre Dame and Westminster Abbey for sure! It was built about the same time as Sacre Coeur in Paris, in the late 1800's, but while Sacre Coeur is rather austere inside, this place is anything but! I’ve included some pictures, but it is really hard to convey the grandeur and beauty of the place! The glass was beautiful; vibrant colors, and there were HUGE mosaic murals on the walls, just glowing from the GOLD! Really an amazing place, and we realized that we have definitely fallen in love with Lyon – which is quite unexpected! Wandered around the parapet enjoying the sunshine and the view for a bit, and then headed back down to town; funicular, then a nice walk across the river. There had been a Sunday a.m. market going on, which we unfortunately missed, but I wouldn’t trade a minute of this day! Wound our way back to the hotel for a lovely nap ... up again now, about 5, and getting ready to head out for another voyage of discovery! This time, R wants to try the tram, which is somewhere close by ... so, more later!!

Ta!
m

Back now, to finish out the Sunday! Went out for a walk and to find the Tramway; there are so many different kinds of transportation here! Buses, electric buses, trams, metro – even special sidewalks for roller skating, which seems a very popular pastime! Took one of the trams out to the end of the line, at Universite de Lyon; interesting place, and turned around and came back to the city center. Found a small place for salads, which was about all we had room for – tuna and tomato for me; tomato and guacamole (!) for R. Did well over my 10,000 steps today; yea! and are now settled in for the night; listening to Segoline Royal’s concession speech to the nation, as Sarkozy has won ... oh well! Off in the morning for Taulignan. Very small place where we watched one stage of the Tour de France last summer – lots of towers, and a GREAT restaurant (the one with the tomato sorbet!). Doubt very much if they have phones in the rooms, so may not get to post tomorrow, and if so, you’ll hear from us on Tuesday when we get to Orange. Posting something like 11 pictures today – only because of the Wi-Fi! They are of the museum and the Basilica, as well as our lunch. Oh! The first one is of the theatre taken from our room last night; thought it was lovely!

Take care and love to all!
m