Day Trip #1 - Tain l'Hermitage

 We enjoy taking day trips while we are in Lyon.  There’s so much to see and do just a short distance away.

Our first one this visit was to Tain l’Hermitage – just a short, scenic train ride south.  The route is along the Rhône River and takes about an hour.  We go to Tain l’Hermitage pretty much each time we stay in Lyon.  You’ll soon see why.

This trip we arrived at about 10:30 AM which gave us plenty of time to wander around.  Since the train station is just a short walk from the main town, we were soon on our way. 

The Tain l'Hermitage Train Station

Tain has a lot of history.  Here are a couple of examples:

*The Romans were here (where weren’t they?) and built an altar for the sacrifice of bulls in about 184 AD. 

A replica of the altar in a public square. 
The real thing is in the Tourist Office.

Apparently, Tain was part of the Roman colony of Ludgunum (Lyon).  Since Tain was on the Roman road from Arles to Lyon, there is also a Roman milestone showing the distance between the two points.

*Then there’s the church of Notre Dame de Tain.  The present church only dates from 1838, but the original church was built in 10^th century by the Benedictines of Cluny.  One of Anna’s favorite French kings, Charles V, was married here in 1350 to Jeanne de Bourbon. 

Bronze statue of Charles and Jeanne
on their wedding day in front of the church.

They were both only twelve at the time, but their marriage was a long, harmonious one.  And, France was fortunate to have Charles V as their ruler from 1364 to 1380.  He is known as “Charles le Sage” (Charles the Wise).

There is much, much more great history in Tain l’Hermitage.  It is well worth the visit for history buffs!

While we are in Tain, we like to have lunch at Le Nice, a pleasant restaurant just across the street from the banks of the Rhône. Just check out this setting!

The restaurant Le Nice.

We eat outside and enjoy the view of the river and Tournon sur Rhône, the city on the other side of the river.  The good food and service and the relaxed ambiance definitely make this a great place to stop for lunch.

And, we never forget to stop at Valrhona's City of Chocolate when we are in Tain!  For any of you who have not had the pleasure of savoring chocolate from Valrhona, you really must put this on your to-do list.  Some restaurant menus in the US actually indicate that they use Valrhona Chocolate in their desserts.  Yep – it’s that good!  We prepare our shopping list in advance, and then purchase gifts, special requests, and, of course, our favorites.  Their store is amazing with so many varieties and flavors of chocolate from their sources throughout the world. 

This is only one small area of their store. 
So many choices, so little time!

We always leave with a large bag full of chocolate – both from our shopping list and from the extras they throw into our bag when they ring us up.

So, well-fed and ladened with a large bag of delicious chocolate, we strolled back to the train station for our comfortable ride back to Lyon.  What a lovely way to spend a day!