There is so much Lyon to talk about.

The view from Croix-Rousse. Fourvière and La Tour Metallique are on the hillside

Seriously.  We've been here a little over two weeks. We're settling in, learning about Lyon, the Lyonnaise way and all the really wonderful things this little city* has to offer.

So, where do I start? With the fact that the city was founded over 2000 years ago and in its heyday was 2nd only to Rome in importance?  The two Roman amphitheatres, basically still intact, are used even now for concerts, theatre and other performances during the warmer months. Nearby is the Gallo-Roman Museum in all its modern concrete glory, all 5 of it's artifact filled stories set into the hillside and underground so as not obstruct the view. The only thing you can really see of it are the two large windows, like eyes, peeking out of the ground.

Will. Spotted in his natural habitat--a theatre.

Maybe we talk about Lyon's history as a major hub on the silk road.  Jacquard invented a loom here that uses punch cards to determine the pattern or program, much like the precursor to the computer. The jacquard loom is still in use here and many places you can see watch Canuts (silk weavers) use it to produce their products.

The Lyonnais are gearing up for their Fêtes de Lumières (Festival of Lights) on December 8th. It is considered one of the largest annual festivals in the world behind Carnival in Rio and Oktoberfest in Munich. (I'm sure Apple Blossom is a close 4th--I feel so at home!)  There will be fantastic light displays all over town and a huge Ferris wheel has suddenly appeared in one of the major squares.  And like Apple Blossom, there are last minute repairs being done to streets and sidewalks.

Lyon is considered one of, if not, the gastronomical capital, of the world. More Michelin starred restaurants per square mile than anywhere else, plus it has 2 other specifically Lyonnais organizations for rating restaurants, Les Toques Blanches and Les Bouchons Lyonnais, some restaurants might have designations by one, two, or all three organizations.  Bouchons are typical local bistro/cafes and some of the requirements are: traditional homemade cuisine (and lots of it), somewhat kitschy decor, a larger than life proprietor and plenty of Côtes de Rhône or Beaujolais.

I might mention 'traboules'--the secret passageways that helped Medieval people move quickly through town and later were imperative to the Resistance during the Nazi occupation of WWII and 'miraboules' secret doors that lead to a lovely courtyard. Every traboule and miraboule is technically private property, but if you happen to live off of one these, the city will pay for the maintenance if you will put up with the visitors.  There are several that are well known and easy to find, others you might discover by chance. In order to be considered a miraboule, the courtyard must contain a well, a spiral staircase, a cross window and galleries with vaulted ceilings.

There are plenty of famous people tied to Lyon, in fact there is a 'painted wall' with the most famous of the famous, it includes: The Lumière brothers, inventors of 'cinema,' several of the first movies were filmed on their property here; Louis Pasteur was a professor here while working on pasteurisation and developed the method, still currently used for sorting silkworms; Victor Hugo; Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Le Petit Prince/Pilot); André-Marie Ampère (responsible for measuring electrical current); the very famous chef, Paul Bocuse and 2 different Roman Emperors:  Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus (10BC-54AD) and Caracalla (186-217AD).

Cathedral St Jean in foreground with Fourviere above

There's also some pretty phenomenal architecture though I guess that's to be expected when you have a thousands year old history. As you move through the city you can see the various stages and ages from Roman to Medieval to Renaissance, Victorian, Modern, and really Modern. Where we live is Vieux Lyon, part of the walled Medieval city. Above us is the relatively new La Basillique Fourvière (1860's) and La Tour Metallique (a mini-Eiffel Tower, 1893) and around the corner is Cathédral St Jean (ca. 11-16th centuries). The building our flat is in was built in the late 1600's. The further east and south you go the more modern the buildings. At the bottom of the Presqu'île where the Rhône and the Saône meet you have some of the most modern buildings I've ever seen--bright orange or green cubes, or black with orange frogs on the balcony. This is also where the Confluence museum is. A building 13 years in the making. It looks a little like an alien spaceship and supposedly will have it's grand opening next month. We walked down to it--if it actually opens in a month it'll be a friggin' miracle.

'Our' stairs

The city also has a thing for stairs. They are everywhere and some sets are massive. We live at 3 Montée du Changé, if you turn left out of our building you will climb up 132 stairs. A little way down the road is another set of 212. Pretty much if you see 'montée,' you will get from one road to another, but you will climb, and then climb even more.  Probably a good thing given the amount of food you eat here on a daily basis. Not very many overweight people here. Just Will and the other tourists. (He told me to write that, by the way!)

The 212 stairs next to Villa Florentine

It doesn't look that risky...

The French seem to not be at all risk adverse. Kids are on scooters everywhere and none of them are wearing helmets or any kind of padding, just like our childhood.  You can sit on a ledge (no railings in sight) 1 1/2 stories up and no one will even blink.

…until you look at it from this angle!

*Technically, it's the 2nd largest in France, but it doesn't feel that way.

Bruges, Paris, Bayeux. A traveling kind of week.

Belfort (The Belfry). 366 steps to the top, and yes we did climb them.

We had quite a lot of fun traveling around. Bruges is a wonderful little city and well worth a visit if ever given the opportunity. Along with the towering cathedral and belfry, there are cobblestone streets filled with chocolate shops and canals to float down.  We thoroughly enjoyed our few days here and especially appreciated the little bits of whimsy we came across. In the square behind our hotel there was  a courtyard with several stores and random pieces of what appears to be sculpture. It turned out be playground equipment and, not the least bit surprising, we visited it at least once a day.

Sint Salvatorskathedral--Almost as tall as Belfort

On the canals

This dog is here all day long watching the canal boats and snoozing.

I friggin' love this picture. 

We spent a lot of time on this thing, trying not to fall on our butts.  We failed. Often.

   

And this thing.  Dare you to walk a straight line after a ride.

From Bruges we went to Paris and checked into our hotel, which was about a 10 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower.  It was on the top of 'to do' list but we had neglected to buy advance tickets to the top, that means you can A: stand in a really, really, really long line or B: wait in a short line, hoof it up the 700 steps to the 2nd floor, then buy an extra ticket to the stop.  We chose B and really? it wasn't so bad.    We got our supplemental tickets and headed to the top. The girls were pretty ecstatic. We hit Notre Dame, a river cruise, the Louvre, 'Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, rode the Metro and walked a ton. We did not go to the Catacombs, but not for lack of trying. We went there. We got in the line that had reached all the way around the block back to the front door. Found out it would be at least 3 hours in line. Got out of line. 

All in all, we enjoyed Paris but, and this may be sacrilege, we didn't love Paris. Maybe we weren't there long enough, or in the right neighborhood. Perhaps we spent more time doing what we were 'supposed' to do, and less than what we wanted to, but it just didn't seem to have the same allure as some of the other places we've been.

No, I'm not wearing a feather, nor is my brain exploding out of my head. Just part of the structure. You can relax.

As close as we got...

How we spent Halloween.

On the morning of Nov 1st.,  we picked up our rental car and quickly discovered that even though we got upgraded to a BMW station wagon, it still was not big enough for 4 people and almost 4 months worth of crap. Once we managed to cram everything and everybody into the car we set headed to Bayeux.  Bayeux is prime location to visit the beaches of Normandy, specifically Omaha Beach and the  American Cemetery/Memorial. It is hard to believe that a place so beautiful has such a harrowing history. 

 

Bayeux is lovely and quaint and has it's own Notre Dame, which might have been even more impressive than the one in Paris. The Bayeux Tapestry was also an interesting and unexpected highlight, depicting the rise of William the Conqueror, I only regret that we couldn't take some photos. We'll let you borrow the book!

Notre de Dame du Bayeux

How can you resist a gargoyle?

Nous sommes arrivés à Lyon...

et il est trés beau!! (We have arrived in Lyon and it is very beautiful).

Getting here was no easy feat, though. We had one week between the end of our London lease and the start of our Lyon lease so we decided we would travel around a bit. The train system makes that pretty easy and inexpensive. We chose to go to Bruges, Bel., Paris, and then check out the beaches of Normandy. On Sunday the 26th, we gathered all our crap (3 large duffels, 1 small small duffel, 3 small suitcases, 3 backpacks and 2 purses ) and awkwardly set off. 

For the record, before we even left Winchester, I felt we were taking way too much stuff. After traveling around for a week, having to haul all those damn bags, and cramming them into our rental car, it became even more evident, and this is after we sent home 2 small suitcases with our friends the Vaughter's when they visited.  This past week, at almost every stop along the way, we have thrown out clothes that were starting to show wear, tossed shoes that were falling apart (or in some cases, smelled really bad) and abandoned anything we no longer wanted.  Some things, worth keeping, but not being used were boxed up and shipped home to try and lighten our load.  It didn't really help. We still looked ridiculous lugging all those bags.  Luckily for us we always had a hotel room big enough that the extra baggage wasn't a problem. Unluckily for us, not every place had a lift and we had to lug stuff up stairs.

By the time we reached Lyon, we were sick of living out of suitcases, sick of everything we owned, maybe a little sick of each other and, as it turns out in Julia's case, just plain sick. We got checked into our flat (it's lovely), moved all our stuff inside (2 narrow spiral flights up, no lift) and went to return our rental car. When we got back, we discovered that the heater/boiler had stopped working, decided that nothing could be done that night and we'd figure it out in the morning, then tucked the girls into bed.  That's when Jules began throwing up. Bedding, pjs, loveys, Will, floor--it pretty much all got hit. 

Did I mention that the non-functioning heater/boiler also controls the hot water? In the best of circumstances cleaning up a vomit covered child is no fun, trying to do it without any hot water and only one small washing machine and no dryer is definitely not the best of circumstances, though there is something to be said for having an electric tea kettle. We basically spent our first day in Lyon in a laundromat. No kidding.

We have managed to recover from that little setback and have managed to start exploring Lyon.  Our flat is right in the middle of the Vieux Lyon (Old/Historic Lyon) and so far, it's absolutely beautiful. Pretty much everything we had hoped for, and maybe more. Today we went up to the Basilica de Fourvière. It's pretty much the most beautiful church I have ever seen. That might be because, by the time we'd climbed up the hillside, we were just happy to have a chance to rest or possibly because it's friggin' gorgeous. No pictures this time, but there will be some soon.

Cheers/Santé, 

Libby