Lyon

Despite the cool and gloomy weather, I am off on another day trip - this time to Lyon. Perhaps the pictures will be less than stellar, but after all it is winter. Lyon is the 3rd largest city and is known as the gastonomic centre of France. Lyonnaise fare includes specialities like tripe trotters, veal head, marrons glacés (candied chestnuts) etc. It is nestled between two of the best wine growing regions - Beaujolais to the north and Côtés du Rhône to the south. Apparently Beaujolais is the common table wine served with the local dishes. Besides the gastronomy, Lyon is known as an economic and business centre with hi tech industries, medical and research technology and a booming tourist industry.

Here is a picture of part of Lyon taken from the top of Fourvière Hill (more about that in a minute). The river you see is the Saône. 

 

Back in the day, Lyon was the silk capital of Europe and remained so for centuries. In the 4th century, a number of narrow tunnelled passages called traboules were built through ancient buildings. These traboules link parallel streets and open to interior courtyards. They were originally built so that silk could be transported more easily in rainy weather. During the war, they also proved to be valuable to the French Resistance to avoid the Gestapo. They can be fairly tricky to find (you have to get the map from the Tourist Office) and then you have to press a buzzer to open the door to enter. 

This is a picture of the longest taboule in Lyon.

Here is one of the interior courtyards. People live in the apartments above.

Back to Fourvière Hill. Due to time restraints, and more importantly a very steep hill, I decided to take the funicular up to the Théâtres Gallo-romains. These are the remains of the original Roman settlement of Lugdunum. The two Roman ampitheatres built in 43 B.C. are still used today for concerts, dance and theatre. The first picture is the smallest one.

I am standing in front of the other one - much larger than the first.

From there, I made my way up to the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière on another funicular. The panoramic views atop the hill were breathtaking despite the weather. I can only imagine how beautiful this would be on a bright and sunny day.

The exterior of the church has four towers and one bell tower with a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary.

Inside, I found the basilica to be a "bit over the top" and too ornate for my taste. However, you can form your own opinion.

I did like the floor however. There is something about the polished stone in the middle that holds great appeal.

The basilica actually has two levels and the lower level was much less ornate and more to my taste.

On the other side of the basilica was a replication of the last stage of the Eiffel Tower, la Tour Métallique. Built in 1893, it now serves as a TV transmitter.

Up until this point, things were going along relatively smoothly and I was making good time. However, somehow I had managed to lose my day ticket for public transportatiion and you have to have coins to purchase tickets. I had exhausted my change when I purchased the first one and only had bills with me. That meant I had to walk back down the steep hill to Vieux-Lyon. No problem I thought because the gal at the tourist office told me I could walk through les Jardins du Rosaire, which according to her, was a lovely zig-zag path back to the old city.  Now, as both my dear husband Keith and brother Trev can attest to, my sense of direction is not the best. There were several different exits leaving the basilica and I chose the wrong one twice, no less. Eventually I found a way down although my trek to Vieux-Lyon was long and steep. The silver lining was that I passed by some beautiful buildings on the way. 

By the time I made it back down, it was mid afternoon and I was pretty hungry. I had read about a restaurant called L'Auberge Rabelais on the Rue St-Jean. The place was full but, fortunately I was able to get a table. 

As mentioned earlier, Lyon is famous for its gastronomy. I surveyed the menu and decided upon a fixed menu and a glass of house red. The entrée was a Salad Lyonnaise. This salad is basically greens, with bacon, croutons and a softly cooked poached egg on top. I was a little underwhelmed and wasn't keen on the runny poached egg.

For the main course, I selected a Soufflé aux Quenelles. This was a delicious mildly flavoured fish soufflé in a cream sauce served with a side dish of rice. It was very hot and cooked to perfection.

Last course was a choice between a variety of desserts or a cheese. I chose the Tarte aux Fruits which turned out to be an apple tart. It was good, but I regret not ordering the cheese. The cheese was St. Marcellin and from one article I read, it was supposed to be divine. Next time....

After lunch I only had about an hour left before I had to get to the train station. I really wanted to take a peek at the Cathédrale St-Jean. The exterior reminded me of Notre-Dame in Paris. Inside was undergoing renovations, so there was very little to see. However, the stained glass round window at the top was that beautiful sapphire blue like the stain glass windows in the Chartres Cathedral in Northern France. 

Cathédrale St-Jean

I passed by several interesting shops, but didn't have the time to go in.

When I was in nursing school, I often had Sunday dinner at my good friends, the Metcalfes. Almost every time, we would have a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape with dinner. Those were the days when it was affordable to drink regularly. As I passed by this window, those happy memories came flooding back and I wish I had had the time to stop and taste the wine. 

A pretty street in Vieux-Lyon.

Last stop before the train station was the Place de Comedie with the Hôtel de Ville...

.....and this magnificent fountain 

Alas, I had run out of time. There were many other things to see and do in this lovely city, so I think I will have to return at a later date to do a little more exploring. This is place well worth visiting in my books.