Friday 5/3/19 – Well I decided to use my “follow the sun” travel approach today since it was supposed to rain part of the day in Beaune but be nice in Lyon so I hopped a train and did a day trip to Lyon. I really loved Lyon (and I ain’t lyin’!) OK, sorry, more silly travel humor. But of course some history first!
Lyon is France’s 3rd largest city (after Paris and Marseille) with a population of 1.5 million people. Remember how on my last trip I liked mixing big city travel with the small villages so this was definitely my big city fix. Straddling the mighty Rhône and Saone rivers between Burgundy and Provence, Lyon has been among France’s leading cities since Roman Times. Some people say Lyon is France’s most historic and culturally important city after Paris. The people of Lyon say their city may not be the capital of France, but it is the ancient Gallo-Roman capital, the city that introduced Christianity to France, the Renaissance Capital, the capital of Nazi resistance during World War II, and a cuisine capital. The Gallo-Roman term is used because the Romans conquered the Gauls (the dominant proto-French tribe) and incorporated them into their culture as they established their vast empire. For several centuries this substantial part of the Roman Empire was a Gaulish, or Gallo-Roman, civilization.
Lyon has a great Metro (subway) system and I used it extensively. I started by taking the funicular (for my Pittsburgh friends and family that’s an Incline!) up to Fourviere Hill to see the beautiful Notre Dame Basilica. My first two pics show it from down below and right in front. In the year 1870, the bishop of Lyon vowed to build a worthy tribute to the Virgin Mary if the Prussians spared the city. They did and work started in 1872 and completed in 1915. You can see the gold statue of Mary on top. I also included a couple pics of the view from the church looking down on Lyon.
I then went over to see the ruins of the Roman Theater and included a pic of that. Lyon was founded as Lugdunum in AD 43 and held an estimated 50,000 people, five times the population of Roman Paris by the first century. The theater in the pic was built under the rein of Emperor Augustus and expanded under Hadrian and used to hold up to 10,000 people. Today it seats 3,000 and is used for concerts.
From there I took the funicular back down to the Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) section of town. I went inside the Gothic St Jean Cathedral which took 200 years to build. I included a pic of a medieval astronomical clock that was built in 1383 and survived all the various wars this area endured. Impressively, it’s 650 year old mechanism can compute Catholic holidays, including those that change each year such as Easter! As they say, they don’t make things like they used to! Lol.
I was ready to continue wandering thru the Vieux Lyon area but needed a quick snack to give me some energy. So I stopped at a little pastry shop called A La Marquise and got the Lyon dessert specialty (you know, when in Rome…) called “la tarte a la praline”, which is an almond and cream treat with a sugary coating. I figured it had to be healthy because it had almonds in it, right? Lol. I included a pic but it does not do it justice. So yummy! I also included two pics of the narrow alley ways and colorful buildings. I also walked thru a couple “traboules”, which are these covered passageways. Given that Lyon was a big silk producer, these passageways provided important shelter from the elements as unfinished silk goods were being moved from one stage of production to the next and needed transported across town. They were also used by the Resistance fighters to slip in and out of as they confounded the Nazis.
I then worked my way down and walked along the river bank and included a few pics. So peaceful and beautiful.
From there I crossed the river to the piece of land between the two rivers they call Presqu’ile which literally means “almost an island”. I included a pic of an action packed water fountain by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, the French sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty. The fountain features Marianne (the Lady of the Republic) riding a four horse powered chariot, symbolically leading Lyon’s two great rivers to the sea. It was originally designed for the city of Bordeaux, which ultimately realized it couldn’t afford the price tag so the sculptor shopped it at the 1889 World Expo in Paris. There, Lyon’s mayor fell in love with it and had to have it and it’s been here since 1891.
I then took the Metro up to a section of the city called La Croix-Rousse. This neighborhood used to hum with some 30,000 silk looms in the 1800’s. Today this neighborhood is popular with Lyon’s bohemian-chic crowd, drawn by abandoned airy apartment spaces (the looms required exceptionally high ceilings). The French nickname for this crowd is “Bobo” – bourgeois bohemian – people with money and education but who don’t show it. It’s a progressive and green community where people eat vegetarian and drive electric cars. But it is VERY hilly! As my buddy Rick Steves suggested, I took the Metro up the hill and walked down. I included a couple pics of the store fronts along the hill and a nice view from up there.
And lastly, before leaving Lyon, I almost ran into Tom Cruise. I think I saw him darting out of the “Eglise De Scientologie” (the Church of Scientology) building. Not! But I included a pic just in case. Lol.
Well I had a fun day in Lyon and if you ever travel to France, you have to put it (and Beaune) on your list. TGIF!
Jeff
The Wandering Italian 