Day 5 - Lyon

 Started the day walking just a short distance from the apartment to the fresh food market along the banks of the Saone. Foods straight from the farms that adorn the landscape outside of the city. When flying into Lyon the landscape is a maze of the colours of cultivation. These markets that are found throughout Lyon must be the reason for the lack of supermarket produce in the city. 

   You can find anything from the best cheeses (took this pic for you Deb you would be in heaven), to meat, poultry, flowers and all fruit and veg. 

  We bought a freshly squeezed orange juice from a swave Frenchman with a cute van, very nice.

   We bought some strawberries for our brekkie and they were sooooo sweet.

We then started our self directed walking tour of Vieux Lyon(old Lyon). This is where you really stand out as tourists besides your walking sandles, backpack and camera over your shoulder you are often on corners with a big map looking lost. We headed across the Passerelle Saint George, a small red pedestrian bridge over the Saone to Vieux Lyon.

    The Palais de Justice( the courthouse) is a formidable figure in front of you as you cross the bridge.

Just as you cross the bridge on you left you find one of the 23 creations that are a part of the River Movie which is the public art program of Rives de Saone featuring 13 international artists.

   'The weight of oneself' by Elmgreen and Dragset is a 3 metre giant marble figure of a man holding none other than himself. It symbolises the issues of responsibility debated daily in the nearby courthouse inviting us to reflect as well. Very impressive.

Next stop Saint Jean- Baptiste Cathedral 

   The cathedral was built over the course of many centuries from about 1165 - 1480. It features both Romanesque and Gothic architecture. It is famous for its beautiful original stained-glass windows.

Simplicity is a feature on the inside while the outside is impressive.

Around the corner from here we stumbled on another fresh food market featuring everything organic. We bought some dried figs and the darkest sweetest tasting apricots, so much better than ours. 

From there these two tourists created a long queue waiting for us to firstly work the ticket machine to get onto the funicular to take us up to see the Basilique of Notre Dame de Fourviere and a panoramic view of the city and then to work out the money needed to buy the tickets. 

    I was too close to get the whole basilica in shot.

The basilica is built in a Romanesque and Byzantine style.

It is a must visit for the richly decorated interior, stained- glass windows and the mosaics are beautiful. The pic above does not do the mosaic justice.

The views of the city from up there were impressive. 

From the basilica we decided to find the ancient theatre of Fourviere. It was not very well signposted and we were walking down very steep streets all the time thinking we have to walk back up. This is where we stumbled upon a cute cafe and seeing it was after lunch we decided to stop for a while. After a few problems sorting out what the menu translated to(thank heavens for googles help) we had a very nice not too expensive lunch.

   The outdoor tables are across the road from the restaurant and the waitress has to be ever so watchful as it is on a bend of the road.

Time now for the trek back up the hill to catch the funicular back to the streets of old Lyon. You could easily get lost in the cobbled stone labyrinth of Vieux Lyon. We found one of the many concealed passageways(Traboules) that are all over Lyon especially in this part. They are a passageway that is hidden behind a large door just like any other door that is an entrance to the apartments above it. The passageway cuts through from one street to the next, cutting through a city block. They played a huge part in WWII when the Resistance would escape from the Gestapo by slipping into these passageways especially in the early days of the German occupation, when only the Lyonnaise knew of their existence.

We bought our first T shirts of the holiday and just enjoyed the maze of laneways and very old shops. Even in this very lay back part of France you are never very far from reality. Being confronted by members of the army in full armoured gear carrying large rifles walking next to you in a back street of the city was a reality check.

  I didn't like to take a pic of them front on but once they passed it was ok.

Dinner? Where to go as the choice is unbelievable. Two streets, Rue des Marronniers and Rue Merciere are just outside the apartment and have enough bouchons(restaurants) to suit any taste. It is an unbelievable area that is buzzing all the time but at the same time not noisy just very civilised. 

Good day exploring, Lyon is a must see. X