After Les Halles, there was an opportunity to tour the traboules, the city’s old passageways and other medieval and Renaissance architecture. Having seen them before, a fellow gentle walker and I found a table at at sidewalk cafe near our meeting place and enjoyed a cafe while people watching. In the distance, a number of cranes were shifting material at a variety of construction products on the other side of the boulevard. Lyon, like Paris, is building up rather than out these days. Writing this now, when many of the attractions are closed, I am glad I got to enjoy them on this trip.
Lyon is supposedly famous for shopping. The Rambler says “supposedly” as she does most of her shopping on line these days and is trying to downsize rather than acquire more possessions. Yet I certainly can’t fault those who love to shop, after all, they keep the economy going. However, the Ramblers did not go to the Place Bellecour, which is the primary shopping area of the city. If you love fine silk, Lyon is the still the place for it although the silk weaving technology has changed much over time. Lyon was once the center of the silk industry in Europe and even today leads the world in textile design.
The Ramblers did however take advantage of the shuttle that would take us to Fourviere Basilica. What we didn’t know, was that there was a Roman Amphitheater a short distance from the basilica on the hillside. I wish the Ramblers had known as we could have taken an UBER there. Before I write a blog entry, I always research the area to see what I might have missed and sometimes it is quite a lot.
Of course we knew the cathedral was built on a Roman site, and the often took advantage of a hillside to built their theaters. This was the case in Lyon, as they built not one but two of them, starting in the time of Augustus, around 12 BC. Both have been restored and are currently used for cultural events. If you have time when you visit Lyon, there is also a museum of Roman antiquities close by the theaters.
The last time we visited Lyon, we saw the city at night and the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Fourviere was beautifully illuminated. Now,, however, we had an opportunity to see it during the daytime and enjoy the amazing view over the Rhone from atop of Fourviere. After you look at its photo, you can see what they mean… but nickname aside, this is a beautiful church. Because of its location on the highest point of the city, it towers over Lyon and can be seen for miles.
By no means is it an ancient building as it was constructed with private funds, on what was once Trajan’s forum, between 1872 – 1884, and finished by 1890. Unlike most large churches built in the 19th century it is not Gothic revival but rather a mix of Romanesque and Byzantine design. The result is very pleasing to the eye. The basilica offers many different tours, not surprising because the location has been a pilgrimage site for a thousand years.
If you want to learn more about Notre Dame de Fourvière, they have an excellent website and information about the marvelous artwork in the interior. They also offer a rooftop tour for those who don’t mind heights and you also get to see other parts of the cathedral along the way. It sounded really interesting but right at the bottom of the paragraph, they mention that if you take the tour, you will have to climb up 345 steps… They don’t mention that you will also have to climb down these same 345 steps to get down to the exit later on. I don’t think anyone on our cruise did the tour but it must be quite a workout.
Back on the Catherine after a busy day, we dressed up just a little for our dinner date in the Leopard Lounge. The Catherine has intimate dinners in its bar, the Leopard Lounge almost every night; there is no extra charge, you just have to sign up in advance. We had done this before and enjoyed it so we added our names to the list. The setting is lovely and the food is always good. This time, one of the appetizer choices was snails, one of my favorite things in France. The senior Rambler graciously let me have his portion as well. He has never met a snail he liked in any form. LOL
The Ramblers enjoyed their leisurely and well served meal in the lounge. Afterwards we enjoyed the brightly lit buildings of Lyon at night from the sundeck. We didn’t go ashore tho we could have as the Catherine didn’t sail forTain l’Hermitage until 11 PM. By then we had retired to our individual cabins for the night.
