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Lyon, France
We rolled into the bowels of Lyon in the dark. A comedy -- not funny at the time -- involving cranky ATMs and Fascistic Metro Ticket machines, we zipped to within blocks of our room. But which way? Rain-wet streets, bright lights, confusing signs...
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A piece of advice. When you are walking, and especially when you're dragging your possessions, do not think that big direction signs apply to you. They are for motorists. Pedestrians don't need signs, because, by the mere fact that the are afoot in France, they must be natives! Voilà!
After walking several blocks out of our way to the designated vehicular entrance to the underground parking garage bearing the name of the square (and coincidentally situated right beneath said square) only about three blocks each way out of our way. Not to mention the mystery. Of course, if anyone had been about to ask -- but only whizzing cars and, once off the main pedestrianized mall -- I could have risked humiliation at the tongue of the Frenchman (I'm behaving myself here) and asked. Our map was dismal, but after awhile we ran into a river, and could figure out how to get through the dense forest of towering buildings to our particular urban meadow.
As so often happened, once we got our feet on the ground, our luggage stowed, a bed assured, we found Lyon to be a delightful place, and wished we'd allowed for more time here. But maybe not at the end of November...
We asked out innkeeper for a dinner recommendation, and she directed us just across the square to a family restaurant that served us one of our most superb meals -- certainly the best in France -- of the trip. Lyon is justly proud of its food, and the spirit with which it is prepared and served. As "visiting outsiders" we were served by the Madame of the restaurant, attentively and with just a touch of motherly care. We were crushed to discover that our restaurant would not be open the next night.
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 the old city nestles between two rivers |
Our digs were in a hotel in the center of the old city, built on an island between Lyon's two rivers. Civilization has been in residence here as long as anywhere in Europe in part because the two rivers and the island create a very special place for crossing the rive, defending a place, and bringing together commerce. The stones tell very old tales -- see below! |
Lyon is a very proud and modern city, carrying some of the same Avis consciousness that has shaped Chicago. Lyonnaise don't have much use for Parisiennes who hardly acknowledge their existence. Caught up in this drama -- the two cities are about 100 miles apart -- there isn't room for awareness of outlanders such as ourselves ...and so we were treated very cordially.
Across the river on the high side there's an intriguing neighborhood crowned by a wonderful cathedral, all aglow internally with the light from stained glass and gilded mosaics. The organist was noodling when we arrived (on a Sunday afternoon) and so we sat and gawked at the towering columns and brightly decorated details.
main dome mosaic |
 nice apse
Unlike most cathedrals we visited, this done didn't feel over-run with tourists, but like a place actively used by its people for worship. In consequence, there was a purity to the place that we enjoyed.
south wall mosaic |
Just around the hilltop, the old Roman amphitheater complex still proclaims Lyon's pride of place as the most important, most northern capital of the Roman Empire in its time. There's a new museum here, too, spilling down the hillside beside the main amphitheater. To the French, "museum" seems to mean the same thing as "treasure-house" and so I missed the interpretation that the British and Italians (and Americans) do so well.
golden jewelry from a tomb |
 Lyon's Roman amphitheater
Through its modernistic windows we caught glimpses of the Roman building while admiring the well-organized evidences of intense Roman occupation. Stones last well, and there were lots of carved stones here, and bits of gorgeous mosaic floors, but there was a little funerary jewelry, and that, for me, was the most striking part of the museum. |
We enjoyed wandering down the steep hill from the Roman ruins through a neighborhood as snarled and idiosyncratic as San Francisco. The Lyonnaise delight in their heritage of gargoyles and antiquity, and use them to whimsically liven up a wall here, a corner there.
We joined the citizens in a café on the main shopping street, and enjoyed hot chocolate with chantilly
 . Later, along the restaurant street, we found a prix fixe dinner that filled up any corners that might have survived the whipped cream. |
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Monday morning, not so early, we easily worked the puzzle backwards, made our way to the TGV station on the edge of town via the spiffy Metro, and boarded a train for the short flight to Avignon, where our Luberon adventure would begin.
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