La Fête des Lumières - Part 1

Our primary reason for returning to Lyon at the beginning of November for a six-week stay was La Fête des Lumières.  This annual December 8^th celebration has its origins in a thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary for saving Lyon from the plague or from the Prussians.  (We’ve heard both versions.)  It started with people lining their window sills with votive candles – a remarkable sight in itself in this city of apartment buildings.   More recently the city has transformed itself into an incredible world of lighting displays.   Facades of buildings are metamorphosed via lighting, major city streets are transformed into breathtaking lighting displays, and the bridges and banks of the Saone and Rhone are changed into works of art of light and color.  Not surprisingly, it has become quite the tourist event with large crowds of people gathering in the streets.  It is an amazing experience!  But, don’t take our word for it – check out the video of last year’s  Fête .

But, in this day and age, nowhere is safe from terrorists – not at any time.  That’s an unfortunate

fact that too many countries have experienced, and, as we’re sure you are aware, Paris was brutally attacked on November 13^th.  As in the US after 9/11, people have come together to honor and mourn the victims and present an outraged but undaunted  presence against the terrorists. The national government has declared a three month state of emergency (giving the government and police extraordinary powers), and almost all of the terrorists involved on the 13^th  are either dead or in custody.  But, the terrorist danger and raids and arrests will be going on for some time.

Because of all this, Gérard Collomb, Mayor of Lyon, has declared that this year’s fête will be transformed into homage to the victims.  La Tour Incity and " Le Crayon", the two tallest buildings in the city will be illuminated and there will be a memorial display in town, but the other major lighting displays are “postponed” until next year.  People are encouraged to line their window sills with candles to honor the victims, and school children will be selling candle holders with the proceeds going to a fund for the victims.

 

So on evening of the 8^th we will line our two large windows facing rue Moncey with candles and likely also wander around town to take in the displays on the river banks as well as the two buildings.  Stay tuned for Part 2.

 

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month

Today is Remembrance Day in France, our Veterans’ Day. 

The French suffered horribly during and after the First World War.  They lost many, many men and their countryside was devastated.   Just the mention of Verdun  and its estimated 700,000 casualties is enough to cause one to reflect at their sacrifice.  We often stop at the memorials that exist in even

Verdun

the smallest villages and are struck by the long lists of names, often many from the same family.  Was that the end of those family trees?  No doubt it was for many. The civilians not only lost fathers, brothers, sons, and friends but were left with destroyed fields, farms, homes, and villages.   So today we pause to remember.  All governmental facilities, banks, post offices, and many businesses are closed.  The buses that are running are flying French flags.  There will be speeches, sprays of flowers reverently placed at memorials, and moments of silence.  

This is also a good time to remember all the American farm boys, like Anna’s grandfather, who became Doughboys.  They, too, went through the hell that was WWI.  Those who survived were proud of their service, but didn’t talk a lot about it.  Anna’s grandfather told her he was just a cook in the Army – the documentation for his unit and for his Purple Heart tell a different story.  But, those Doughboys tipped the balance, and at last the war was over ...on The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month.

Back in Lyon

After one of our most pleasant long flights from Seattle to Paris, we arrived in CDG with time to relax a bit before our two hour TGV (fast train) ride to Lyon.  (It always amazes us that it is so quick and easy to go through French Customs; returning home to the US is quite another matter.)  Then a short walk from Gare Part Dieu to rue Moncey, and we were “home.”  You would think that with all of the times we’ve flown, we would get better at dealing with jet-lag – but it was not to be.  We brought up most of our boxes in the basement, unpacked what was absolutely needed, walked over to our neighborhood Monoprix store to pick up a couple of things for dinner, and pretty much went into veg-mode.

That was Tuesday. Wednesday Anna did a bit of menu planning and came up with a shopping list, and we headed off to the large Carrefour (super marché) in the shopping center for some more serious grocery shopping.  Thursday was is bright and sunny and quite temperate (David spent the day in a polo shirt with no jacket).  We actually were feeling human enough to take a walk through town and across the Rhône to one of our favorite spots to eat in Vieux Lyon, la Ficelle.  We have noticed that several of the shops/cafes around us have closed or changed hands recently, and it was a relief to find la Ficelle remains the same.  The weather is so lovely that we ate outside to enjoy the sun.   Anna ordered her usual ham and cheese omelet, and David chose one of his two favorite crepes; these, along with a carafe of Côtes du Rhône, dessert, and coffee were just what we needed.  We “discovered” La Ficelle on one of our earliest trips to Lyon, in 2008.  It has been in the same family as long as we have known of it, and we have marveled at their stamina (it closes for Christmas and May Day). Through the years, we have watched as the sons grew older and began to shoulder some of the burden of running the place.  In fact, when we asked about Mama today, we were told she only works half days now and her son agreed she had earned her lessened work schedule.

Cathedral St Jean

After our meal we walked past the Cathedral St Jean, where Henri IV (“Good King Henry”) married Marie de Medici in 1600, and then we walked on through Vieux Lyon to our C3 bus stop.  Vieux Lyon is one of the oldest parts of Lyon (there are Roman ruins nearby which, of course, pre-date it).  To give you an idea of how old Vieux Lyon is, St Paul, a church near our C3 bus stop, actually dates back to 549, but that first building was demolished by the Saracens.   And, both St Paul and the Cathedral St Jean remain in use today.  Amazing!

It definitely feels good to be back in Lyon.