Our Lyonaise selfie, from a hill above the old city
We hiked up to a 2000-year-old Roman amphitheater that looks over today’s city
From Paris, Mark and I headed south to Lyon, at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers. It’s the third largest city in France (after Paris and Marseille) and a fun place to stop for a few days en route to Provence, where we’ll be biking for six days.
Getting there was half the fun. It’s easy to fall in love with European trains; fast, quiet, and comfortable, they practically beg you to nap. But every time I’d open my eyes, there was another beautiful mustard field in gorgeous golden bloom.
The big disappointment of Lyon was that we got in on a Saturday afternoon, and then on Sunday it was Easter and pretty much everything was closed. OK, we thought, we can still see stuff on Monday. But Easter Monday is a big holiday in France, and even more stuff was closed. Thank goodness a laundromat was open, so we could at least have some excitement.
Here are some pictures from Lyon and then it’s back on a train to Avignon, home to 14th century popes, where we’re meeting up with Zephyr Adventures for some biking and wine tasting in Provence. Should be fun!
This is a mural on the back of a building showing a bunch of famous Lyonaise. The only one I’d ever heard of was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, shown in the middle row on the right with The Little Prince himself
More public art, this one titled “The Weight of Oneself”
A pretty grand City Hall. At noon on Monday there was an hour-long concert on the buildings bells. Fortunately, by then it was not raining anymore.
Mark & I are feeling a little guilty for enjoying the spring weather so much without having suffered through winter at all
One last view of our postcard-perfect little walk in the city
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