France 2023 - Day 3 / Lyon

Steps today : 26 647 / 17.57 km

In the original planning of this trip, we envisaged a day trip to Avignon from Lyon, but the more I thought about it, arriving so late and starting Day One at 3PM ate up too much time so we decided to cancel those plans and stay in Lyon. 

Yesterday, on our walk to Brasserie Georges for supper, we kept an eye out for breakfast stops that were closer to the hotel in order to avoid the hour-long trek for food we experienced the previous morning. We decided on this place that I remembered from a previous trip and it was perfect.

First stop on our agenda was to go to the very tip of the island where the Rhône and Saône rivers converge. It's a really neat sight - as is the deconstructivist architecture of the museum nearby...  which we did not visit.

We also had fun experimenting with selfies...  not easy! we tried to get one of us with the sign in the back, but one of us was either cross eyed or blinking or disheveled due to the wind - I think we took a dozen before we settled on this one.

The walk there was nice, about 45 minutes from breakfast, but not that scenic and not worth doing in the reverse direction, so instead of walking to the next destination, we took the tram and metro so save time. 

Opera House and City Hall ...

...  then over to Place des Terreaux to see the beautiful façade of the City Hall building from the other side...

... and the Bartholdi Fountain...

and by then of course it was Kir Pêches o'clock. Another mini one... what the Hell is wrong with these people! 

We spent about an hour at the Fine Arts Museum, so much beauty in there!

Next was a trek up to the Croix-Rousse district up north of the city.  I wish I had taken more pictures of the journey because it really is a TREK. Up hill and steep - but we did it! (The metro that goes to that area is actually on cog rails!!)  Frank and I once walked up the stairs, my mom and I dragged ourselves up the slopes.

Time for lunch, but where? I specifically wanted the local dish: cervelle de canut (cheese spread, similar to tzatziki)

We wandered around a bit reading menus, finally found one we liked, and so ate around 1PM.  The name of the place did influence our decision.

The BEST BEST BEST BEST part of lunch was the mayonnaise. OMG I wish I knew the brand name (it was NOT Kraft I can tell you that!) It was so delicious I swear the waiter must have thought I was drunk when he asked me how I enjoyed the meal and I answered so effusively! 

During lunch, my mom went to the washroom and realized she had forgotten to put on her money belt! ARGH! I know that feeling of unease, wondering if it's in plain sight in the room. I did the same thing in London once and I was almost in a panic! We decided after lunch to take the metro straight back to the hotel and get it, just for the piece of mind.

Before heading back however, we had to go see the "Mur des Canuts", the most famous of Lyon's many murals. It's amazing.  The more you look the more you see and realize just how intricate the details are! People, cranes, animals, birds, store fronts... and they are all regularly updated and the people are actually aged over time! 

And a view of the blank slate "before"

Back at the hotel, my mom retrieved her money belt which was well hidden by the way, not like my experience in London where it was there just lying on the table!

Back out to wander the city around 3:30PM, we were ready for a drink stop. I suggested a café I remembered from a previous visit where Frank and I had a very yummy breakfast. Their outdoor terrace was open, but sadly it was too windy to sit outside.

We had no plans for what to do next, so it was just some aimless wandering through the Old Town again.

We then crossed back over the river towards the lively people zone...

We decided it was time for supper by then, but there we NO restos nearby. Nothing! Were we blind? we walked and walked and I spotted a place where Frank and I stopped for a drink once, but the menu was too expensive.

We kept walking and saw a promising place, but when we went in and sat down, we were told that section was off limits and the kitchen was closed.

Back on the road, we went to Place des Terreaux which is very touristy and has lots of cafés. Ha! joke on us... only 2 places were open for take-out.  I finally asked the waiter of one of the places that turned us away : where in the city we could go to eat!!!! was it us? did we miss a bunch of places? impossible!!! Why were we having such unusual luck today?

We were exhausted and dehydrated and decide to give up and take the metro back to the area near the hotel and try our luck there, but then at that last minute my mother spotted a place with lots of people sitting outside - we pounced!

We arrived, went inside and asked for a table. The waiter said, "sorry, the kitchen only opens at 6", I looked at my watch - it was 6:02. The waiter was shocked when I told him, he had lost all track of time. 

So we sat down inside, it was dark and cramped, and then my mother almost died from the stench of cigarette smoke.  Despite being inside there was a waft coming in from somewhere, so we left....  but didn't go far - we just sat outside.  It was one of those too hot in the sun too cold in the shade situations, but we stuck it out and ordered a cheese plate AND charcuterie plate - I was ravenous!...  but regretted it when I saw the size of the plates.

Despite being full, because it was our last night in Lyon, I wanted to stretch it out a little longer and so I ordered a Kir Pêches for the road.

What a beautiful shot! I love the colour of the drink and the door.

After this, that was it. Back to the hotel to pack our bags.

Au revoir, Lyon!

France 2023 - Day 2 / Lyon

Steps today : 23 797 / 15.67 km

We got off to a late start today, I was awake by 7ish but my mom was still deep asleep so didn't wake her up until just after 8AM. She couldn't believe it! but after such a long day yesterday we needed the rest, plus the jet lag!

We left the room around 9AM and surprisingly we didn't come across a place to have breakfast until almost 10! That was not the intention.

We walked along the Rhône River, happy to have blue skies! 

But realized after about 30 minutes that if we wanted to have breakfast, we'd have to eventually cross over, so we crossed the "Passerelle du Collège" foot bridge, notable for the commemorative inscription about being destroyed by the Germans during the Liberation in 1944.

We finally made it to a café for coffee and croissants, and I was so hungry by then I didn't even bother with pictures - although this cute couple caught my eye!

I always liked this statue near the court of appeals, it's called: Le Poids de Soi / The Weight of Oneself

The first site on our list for the day was the Notre Dame de Fourvière Basilica perched high on the hill overlooking the city. It's a must-visit when in Lyon, but I was especially looking forward to it because now with my better phone-came I could get some beautiful pictures of the exquisite mosaics that decorate the entire church.

Sadly, because it was Sunday, we could not visit the inside. GRRRR  I did get some sneak-shots but far from what I wanted.  Ah well. That's travel sometimes!

The iconic views over the city are worth the time...

Next we walked over to the Old Roman Amphitheater. You don't quite see it as you approach from above, and then all of a sudden the ruins appear in full view and it has quite the impact.

 The best views are from above, it doesn't have the same WOW impact when viewed from below.

It was just after 11AM by the time we were done, so we took the funicular back down to the old town and stopped into a café for a drink...  

Kir Pêches o'clock of course! But this is a really small one. I felt a little gypped.

We ducked into the Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste just across the street to see the Astronomical clock - quite impressive at almost 400 years old!

We stopped for lunch around 12:30, I don't know why we picked this place anymore - just another typical "Bouchon". My starter was a poached egg in red wine and vinegar sauce, I didn't care for it much, and the main was salad with goat cheese in phyllo pastry.  All in all it was too much food - not even enough room for a coffee.

We needed time to digest after that, so we just wandered through the old town.

An hour later we were ready to sit again and stopped for coffee. The constant wind was giving me a headache, I think it's all the non-stop swooshing noise.

Next on the list was to visit some of the more popular murals around the city. Lyon is full of them and they are very impressive!

This one is the "City Library"

And this one features famous faces from Lyon...  I only know 3.

• Paul Bocuse - a world famous chef

• Antoine de St-Exupéry - author of The Little Prince

• The Lumière brothers - who I didn't know were from Lyon and didn't know they were featured in this mural until after I saw it! figures.

We stumbled upon this interesting happening on our walk afterwards... I wonder what was going on? I say it was a cat-rescue operation LOL

Here are a few images from our random strolling

It was time to stop for a drink again, where I had a decently-sized Kir Pêches, as opposed to the mini version from earlier in the day!

It was around 5 o'clock by the time we were done, so it was time to think about supper.

No trip to Lyon is complete without a meal at Brasserie Georges - closing in on 200 years in business! I calculated that it seats around 300 people, but Google days 700! I was counting each booth as a table for 4 but that seems not to be the case.

I was able to snag a picture of the empty section just as we sat down, but when we left (around 8PM) it was packed to the rafters and there was a long line up at the door.

I was not hungry enough for a big meal, so it was just a few nibbles for me

We walked back to the hotel after that - it's so close by, less that 15 minutes. 

Here is our map for the day: