"All Gaul is divided into three parts...." "I came, I saw, I conquered."--Julius Caesar in his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars
Lyon from La Fourvière
(From this height, the Romans had a clear view east--all the way to the Alps.)
Friends had visited France the previous summer, and while they were cruising over here had developed pneumonia, which they had to contend with all during their stay in Paris. They and others had instilled a fear in me of developing an illness in a foreign environment where I would be exposed to germs for which I had little resistance.
So after I rose from bed, I made a move to nip this thing in the bud. I took one of the antiobiotics. Usually the first dose knocks me for a loop, but I thought I could simply rest on the bus. I immediately felt much worse and realized this may have been a mistake.
When I went down to breakfast, I sat at a table all by myself and warned the others off when they came around. I did manage to eat breakfast and told Louis I was not feeling well. He advised me to use the back seat of the bus today and lie down there with a pillow and sleep if I felt like it.
Then I simply went up to the room, brought my luggage down, and waited in the lobby to board the bus. This time, instead of my usual seat, I did go to the back and made myself comfortable there. I sat not far behind the Hians, whom I told about the situation.
I reclined on the pillow and put my legs across the seat as Nicolas drove us out of Arles. I don't remember much about the ride because I slept part of the time. The view across the bus from the back wasn't half bad, and that was some compensation for the way I felt. I tried to reassure the Hians.
La Garde d'Ardhemar
La Garde d'Ardhemar is a scenic village in a hilly area between Arles and Lyon. It's a very old castle town now famous for its gardens--some built on the side of a cliff. When we arrived there, Nicolas went as far uphill on the narrow roads as busses were allowed, and then he parked on an incline approaching the town. After we stopped and others piled out, Louis asked me if I wanted to go or stay, and I opted for remaining on the bus. Soon, they were gone, and no one remained except Nicolas and me. I still felt weak, but not nauseated, so after a while, I visited briefly with Nicolas and then got out of the bus to walk around a little. The few pictures I shot were of trees and some scenic outbuildings near the bus.
Pictures from around the bus
Frescoes in a covered spring
The group would be gone for well over an hour, so when I was through walking around, I went back to the bus and rested. I was feeling slightly better. The pictures above are what I took with my cellphone of the area near the bus, but some I show below are scenes tour members described to me and are from Google Images.
Gardens at La Garde d'Ardhemar
After everyone returned--rather tired and quiet--we drove back down the hill and resumed our route to Lyon. Lyon, Lyon, Lyon--I was about to be there. I knew that Paul Bocuse was the most famous chef in the world and that he still lived there, where he had revolutionized French cuisine. Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown CNN show on Bocuse and Lyon is one of the best things I've ever seen on TV! I knew the food of Lyon was world-renowned but that one major critic had remarked, "I never had a good meal in Lyon." So I was very curious about the food I would encounter.
What reading about the place and viewing films had not conveyed was the drama of Lyon's geography. It's third in population behind Marseille and close to the same size as Bordeaux, but its inland location sets it apart from either port. Bordeaux still remains my favorite French city, but Lyon runs it a close second.I also looked forward to such a simple thing as buying a DVD of the movie La Guerre des Boutons. Louis said I could find it at the Lyon FNAC (book and electronics store), which was his favorite FNAC in France. The film was an old favorite of mine from my UT-Austin days when "Foreign Art Films" were featured at the Texas Theater on "The Drag."
We approached Lyon from the west without nearly the sensation of climbing which we would have had from the opposite direction. Once we arrived, we soon realized that the city was right on a dramatic ridge which dropped off precipitously below us to the east--down to a plain where two rivers, the Saone and the Rhône run parallel through the town and converge into the Rhône on the south side of the city. The area between the rivers is called the Peninsula and forms the heart of Lyon. When we arrived at La Fourvière, we were at the top of the ridge looking down upon all of this near the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière.
The bus parked near the Basilica which we would tour after lunch. We walked down a narrow sidewalk to a smaller building to the right of the church and entered the Restaurant La Fourvière where a very long set of tables was waiting for us on a raised area inside the eaterie. The raised part overlooked lower seating near the back wall--which was all glass and which offered a stunning view of the city below.
We entered the restaurant and saw this!
View from Restaurant La Fourvière
Coming in last , I was seated at the very end of the tables with my back to the windows, but I could easily look around and behind enough to compensate. Howard Hian sat to my right and Susan to my left, so former bus and hotel neighbors were now together for lunch. They were a litte leery of the arrangement because they were aware of my delicate condition, but we settled in nicely, and I was always cautious not to handle anything before they did or to pass anything between us that they would eat or drink from, just in case.
Let me not fail to mention that the restaurant itself was elegant, the table setting and food and wine were sensational, and I regret I was not feeling my best during one of the highlights of the entire tour, but I did enjoy the food and the setting as well as I could at the time.
We all sat at one long set of tables; I was at the very end with my back close to that rail.
Lunch was elegant; dessert was beautiful, and I had to photograph it!
Du flan au caramel
The restasurant was almost completely full of customers and struck me as a really nice place that was very popular--in no small part because it probably offered the best view in Lyon. Everything about the meal was good. What understandably occupied my attention most was the shooting of pictures from our awesome vantage point. I was able to eat my food and to visit pleasantly with the Hians, but I remained weak and tentative. Before leaving the place, I did a rest room visit and then shot some more photos from the window and the patio below.
Restaurant terrace from the inside
Shot of pedestrian bridge across the Saône River
I used the strong lens of my Canon for a pic of Cathédrale St.-Jean-Baptiste below the hill.
At lunch, we met our new onsite guide, another competent woman who explained things well, and après déjeuner Louis and she took us outside and around to the front of the Basilica to begin our tour. There was some scaffolding at the front of the building for some restoration that was in progress at the time.
The Basilica Notre Dame de Fourvière was built between 1872 and 1884 on the former site of the Roman Forum of Trajan. It was erected in thanks to God for sparing Lyon from the Germans during the Franco-Prussian war, and this town really knew how to show gratitude.
Besides the commanding location, something that stood out to me was a golden statue of St. Mary atop a tower, not to mention a copper sculpture of St. Michael at the back of the roof. We had already seen gold statues of St. Mary on towers at St. André in Bordeaux and the cathedral in Avignon, but this one differed from them because it faced the back of the building. That way, it looked to the city below where it could be seen from central Lyon.
La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière
Front view showing tower to the right with statue of St. Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace!
St. Michael overlooks Vieux Lyon just below the hill and La Péninsule across the Saône.
We entered the Basilica, and I found it stunningly beautiful! What amazed me the most was the Greek influence shown by art work done in mosaics so fine that they looked almost like frescoes from a distance. The advantage was that the tiles were very durable and preserved their color perfectly.
Interior of Basilica
Picures done in mosaic tile
Beautiful mosaic of St. Joan
Lower Chapel
After leaving the Basilica, Louis gave us the choice of going on the bus with Nicolas to the hotel or staying with the group to descend in the funicular and tour old Lyon. I was tempted, but no one else went with him, and I simply remained with the tour. We had a restful pause in a park beside the church which offered incredible views of the city below. There was a restroom at a nearby gift shop which we nearly all took advantage of. I took a few pictures and rested on the park bench to gather strength for the walking to come.
From the park beside the Basilica
At last, we walked to the nearby funicular station, and Louis gave us our tickets and instructed us either to sit in a seat or to hold onto straps or bars when we got into the cars. It was a short and interesting ride down.
Arriving at the bottom, we took a brief walking tour of the old part of the city which lay below the hill but still west of the Saone. The main landmark in this area is the Cathédrale St.-Jean-Baptiste which is beautiful in its simplicity and is filled with 14th-century treasures, but we stayed only briefly on the outside and then went to inspect some nearby Traboules.
Cathédrale St-Jean-Baptiste
Traboules are a tunnel system connecting areas of densely-packed, multistory buildings riddled with secret passageways. These tunnels and close-knit quarters allowed silk merchants and weavers, seamstresses, etc.,to hide their creations from the competition as they transported them from one building to another.
Silkworms had been smuggled out of the Orient originally in sections of bamboo by the Italians; the French obtained them, too, and raised the worms successfully. Eventually in the 16th century and by order of the king, Lyon became the sole French city to produce silk.
So Lyon became well known for its fine silk cloth, and France eventually grew into a leader in the fashion industry. The Traboules were part and parcel of this, and more recently, they were used as hiding places for the French Resistance during World War II. That was difficult to manage in Lyon, which served as Gestapo Headquarters for France--where Klaus Barbie's office was located. Chris Pendley planned to visit it tomorrow.
Recently, preservationists frustrated a move to demolish the Traboules and led the effort to restore them. Many people now live in updated apartments in these labryinths of narrow streets and dark courtyards. Here are pictures of one we went through.
Une Traboule Lyonnaise
Courtyard tower staircase
Traboule composite
View of back of Basilica; Restaurant is left of center.
La Fourvière and Metallic Tower from below
Before before leaving Old Lyon and entering the Peninsula, I started to appreciate the view behind me of La Fourvière. The tower to the right, known as La Tour Métallique, was built for an exposition here a few years before the Eiffel Tower was constructed in Paris; it now serves for communications. This hill looms over all of central Lyon and is a scenic backdrop for most of the city. The park where we rested after touring the Basilica is between the church and the tower.
Plan A had been to take a boatride up the Saône to an area near the hotel; however, Louis told us that the water taxis were not available today, so we walked across the pedestrian bridge over to the Peninsula to a Lyon Metro station, and Louis gave us all subway tickets. He instructed us again on the use of the tickets in the turnstiles and the use of straps and rails if we were not sitting down. Then we boarded the Metro and headed south to a huge, intermodal station called Gare Perrache--so big that it almost completely straddled the Peninsula. Arriving there, we disembarked, walked up a level, and finally emerged at the rear on the street which would lead us to our hotel; it's called the Cour Charlemagne.
Lyon Gare Perrache
We walked south for several blocks and soon arrived at the Best Western Charlemagne with its statuary lions on either side of the entrance. Our bus was parked in front, and Nicolas was unloading our luggage as we arrived. The coordination of this tour was remarkable. Louis called out names and gave us our keys, and a hotel worker showed a few others and me how to get to our rooms; we had to go across a large, open courtyard to an elevator in a southern section of the hotel. That elevator was small and tempermental and had an upper limit of four passengers. Finally, I made it to the seventh floor and found my room!
Lions are the symbol of Lyon.
Once inside, I set everything down, walked over the window, opened the curtains, and went out on a balcony. The scene was wonderful! Just below me was a schoolyard/playground next to a large church. The cheerful sound of children at play filled the air. In the distance, the steep ridgeline of Lyon rose to the northwest. What a beautiful view!
A room with a view--in Lyon
With the curtains drawn
I lay down for as pre-dinner nap and later cleaned up for the evening. We would be dining here at the hotel. Then down the eccentric elevator and across the courtyard I went. We were directed downstairs to a large, modernish, basement dining room. I remember almost zero about the dinner except that it was very good.
Dinner was at the Hotel Charlemagne.
Louis and I discussed the clothes from Chinon which had not arrived yet. He said they would probably be here tomorrow; I certainly hoped so, since that was our last day here.Today would go down as a successful surprise snatched from the jaws of disaster. I resolved to take only my basic, routine medications and avoid the antibiotic unless there were no alternative. Such a strong medication was no way to start a day of travel, even if I was not feeling great. One thing was pleasantly certain; I had toughed this day out and was feeling better.
Fin
