John in Lyon Day 2 continued

As we mentioned in the previous posting, we rode the funicular up Fourvière Hill.  We could see The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière as soon as we left the funicular station.  (With thanks to John for most of these photos.)  The Basilica was built by the grateful people of Lyon to thank the Virgin Mary for saving Lyon from invasion during the Franco-Prussian war. It was built with private funds between 1872 and 1896.

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

John took this photo of the very impressive altar.

And, here is the statue of the Virgin Mary blessing Lyon.

And, yes, the view is amazing!

Here's John with that remarkable view behind him.

Do you see the Cathédrale Saint-Jean down the hill?
(Hint - It's at about 5 o'clock in this photo.)

The view from a different vantage point.

But, there's more to see up on this hill!  Lyon was, as you will remember, the Roman capitol of Gaul, and the Romans built two amphitheaters on this hill.  The larger one is still used for concerts and other events.  In fact, we have been to a concert in the larger one, and, yes, those seats are hard!

John took this photo of us with the amphitheaters in the background.

A great view of the larger amphitheater.

Up close and personal view of the amphitheater.

Since it was time for lunch, we stopped at La Ficelle, a cafe at the base of the hill and near the entrance to the funicular.

We started with a nice Rose while we perused the menu.

There's an interesting story about the next photo.  Anna typically assembles the blog postings, and she had no idea how this photo fit into the story.  Then she was reminded that John had mentioned seeing a particularly attractive woman working in the florist shop across the street. I believe his words were "hot babe." So, after lunch John and David decided the walk over to the shop so that they could get a glimpse of her.  The florist shop is next to a grocery store, and John decided to take this photo of the grocery store display as "cover."  Unfortunately, she had disappeared inside the shop.

You have to admit, it's a nice display.  😉

After a leisurely walk back through Vieux Lyon and a little souvenir shopping, we got on Anna's favorite C3 bus and returned to freshen up a bit for the next stage.  Our final destination on Day 2 was The Café Juliette for a large plate of charcuterie and a bottle of Jolie Fille, a very nice Rose.  (Jolie Fille means pretty, lovely, or beautiful girl in French.  So somehow the wine choice seemed like a fitting way to end our day.)

More adventures coming tomorrow, Day 3.

John in Lyon Day 2

Our first stop the next day, was at our favorite boulangerie for coffee-crème and their delicious pastries.  We go there so often that they anticipate our requests and stop for short conversations when we bump into each other elsewhere in the neighborhood. And, of course their pastries and baguettes are amazing.  (John was impressed enough to these photos.)

Our next destination was Vieux Lyon, the oldest part of Lyon.  We got off our bus at the stop by the Gare St Paul and wandered down narrow rue Saint-Jean while taking in the many old buildings and shops and reading many of the history plaques.   

A view of Vieux Lyon

This area was once the center of Lyon’s silk industry before it was moved up the hill to Croix Rouge.  In order to protect their silk from the elements, the silk workers used Traboules, covered passageways between buildings, up stairways, between apartments, between streets, etc., as they carried the silk around.  (These Traboules also came in handy for the Resistants during WWII as they dodged any Nazis or friends of Nazis chasing them.) 

This door to a Traboule looks innocent enough, but where does it go?

To an ancient stairway and then where?

To a patio and another door?

We continued our walk through Vieux Lyon and reached Place Sainte-Jean with the impressive Cathedral Sainte-Jean, completed in 1476.  Unfortunately, the Cathedral is closed on Mondays, and we were unable to go in.  (Something to save for next time!)

Cathedral Sainte-Jean

We were heading for the nearby Metro station, and the Funicular that would take us up Fourvière Hill. Fourvière Hill is home to La Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière and arguably the most spectacular views of Lyon as well as some impressive Roman amphitheaters.  (It is possible to walk or drive up Fourvière Hill if you like a lot switchbacks and hair pin turns, but taking the Funicular is much more fun.)

Climb in and get ready to go!

Watching a funicular car heading up the hill.

At the top of the hill, we got off and walked across to the courtyard in front of the Basilica of Notre-Dame of Fourvière. The Basilica is the work of the architects Pierre Bossan and Sainte-Marie Perrin. It was built thanks to a public subscription in 1872 and consecrated in 1896.  It is sits at the top of Fourvière hill and is visible from almost everywhere in Lyon.

The Basilica from part way down the hill.

And, speaking of views, in our next post we will next share some spectacular views with you.

John Discovers Europe!

What can you say about an American adult of retirement age, who has never been to Europe, speaks only English, and decides it’s time to take a big dive and remedy that situation?  Further, this adventure involves traveling alone, visiting multiple countries, and using Europe’s rail system.  Adventurous? Brave? A bit foolish?  All of the above?

Well, we know that person well, and that pretty much describes him. He is Anna’s brother!  And, we must admit, we are impressed!  We were really pleased when he told us that he was taking that great leap and coming to Lyon to visit us.  Then we found out his plans were to begin his trip in Paris, then go to Lyon, then on to Nice and the lovely south of France, then back to Paris, and, finally back home to California.  That’s quite a journey for someone who has never been to Europe before!  (We have invited John to contribute to this blog posting, by the way.)

FROM JOHN:

So, I did finally make it to France and finally took up the offer to pay Anna and Dave a visit in their adopted city, Lyon.  I most certainly recommend the experience.  I thoroughly enjoyed the tours of the city and the good food and wine. 

Lyon was the second part of my two-week tour of France.  I started out in Paris, staying at a nicely updated hotel on the Right Bank and wandering about both sides of the river.  I ended my stay back in Paris, staying at another updated hotel on the Left Bank.  I was able to take in the Musee d'Orsay and Versailles and take a cruise on the Seine and into the city through the canal and locks.  But mostly I wandered, just taking things in and finding refreshments in cafes.  Throughout my trip, I averaged about 20k steps on the fitbit each day. 

So as John reports, he spent the first part of his visit in Paris wandering around, soaking up the atmosphere, and generally enjoying himself.  (He was in PARIS for heaven’s sake – of course he was enjoying himself!)

He caught the TGV at Paris’ Gare de Lyon and arrived at Gare Part Dieu a mere 2 hours later.  Now this is where things unraveled just a little bit.  David was at one end of the train’s arrival platform watching for John, and Anna was at the other end.  Somehow, we missed each other.  Thanks to some texts back and forth, we finally connected, exchanged happy greetings, and escorted John to his hotel. The Radisson Blue is a very nice hotel with spectacular views from every room, and it is conveniently close to both Gare Part Dieu and our apartment.

That's the Radisson in the middle.  You can see why
folks in Lyon call it the "crayon" (pencil in French).

After he got checked in, we escorted him to our home-away-from-home.  For those of you who haven’t visited us in Lyon, our place is in a building dating back to the 1880s. (Our apartment is the one below the mansard roof and with two windows facing the street.  This photo is missing Anna's red and white geraniums on the railing outside the living room windows on the left.)

And, our apartment retains some of that gracious, old-style.  (One of John’s first questions was to ask if we minded if he took photos.  Of course, not, help yourself!)  

David and Anna in their apartment kitchen.

Since it was Sunday, and almost all restaurants are closed on Sundays, we had dinner at our apartment.  We decided to give John a "typical" Lyon dinner (appetizer, 1st course or "entrée", main course or "plat", followed by cheeses, then dessert, with baguette and wine with each course, bien sûr).  So, while Anna put the finishing touches on dinner, David and John walked over to Les Halles Paul Bocuse to get cheese at Mons and fresh baguettes at a boulangerie and give John a quick tour of this up-scale, indoor, marketplace. 

Mons is definitely our favorite fromagerie.  The counter extends around
the corner to the left.  They seem to have every kind of French cheese
imaginable.  (And, offer samples to help customers with their choices.)

Over dinner we planned the next couple of days' explorations.  (John told us he had done some homework and had listened to Rick Steves’ advice on what to see and do in Lyon which definitely helped.)

More adventures in Lyon to come....