Post by Jody on Aug 3, 2007 5:18:03 GMT -5
Lyon
Day 1(12)
Our taxi made a speedy run to Gare de Lyon and we arrived in plenty of time for our 9:30 train. It was the first time we’d been to that station and I wanted to make sure we knew what we were doing, with 3 bags to carry. Severin kindly let us leave one case in the locker room at the Danube. As usual I packed more than we actually needed.
There are lots of choices for places to grab a coffee and pastry and if you have plenty of time and money you can even have brunch at Le Train Bleu..we didn’t ! David did run up the stairs to take pictures though.
The ride to Lyon is just under 2 hours and it passed quickly . After getting out of Paris into the countryside the scenery was really lovely. I tried out the motion setting on the new camera I had to buy just before we left and it seems to work fine. We now have lots of pictures of fields and cows.
The taxi from Part Dieu station got us quickly to our hotel,passing thru parts of Lyon that made us a bit wary of what we were getting into. But after he crossed the Rhone to Presqu’ile the city really improved.
We stayed at Hotel La Residence on Ave Foch. It is an ideal location, one block from Place Bellecour and about 3 blocks from Perrache, the other rail station and starting point for the trams . Both places also had Metro stops with lots of connections. Foch is mainly a pedestrian street so our room overlooking it was quiet. I’d booked a twin because the doubles all had double beds and no way am I going to share that with big old David. It turned out that we had a double and a single bed and a Murphy bed , so the room was really a quad. I loved the oval tub in the bathroom.
I think Presqu’Ile and parts of the “new” town must be the only level places in the city. The rest seems to rise on all sides. We were only about 2 blocks in either direction from the bridges crossing the Saone and the Rhone. The first sight of Notre Dame de Fourviere is amazing, it sits on the very top of the hill and dominates the skyline.
First things first though, we set off to find some lunch. The weather was gorgeous and it seemed like everyone in town was out strolling around and eating. Being Sunday , lots of brasseries were closed but we found an Italian place on Pl Bellecour and were actually able to get a table.
We decided to save Fourviere and Vieux Lyon for the next day, so set off to explore Presqu’Ile. Lots of pretty squares and parks and fountains everywhere. Several museums were open but we are saving them for another day. It was just pleasant to be outside in the sun.
We hadn’t booked a table but thought we’d try to get into Bocuse’s baby bistro, Le Nord that evening. No problem, but it did fill up quickly so booking would be a good idea. The bistro is very bright and nicely decorated and the service was fast and pleasant
I started with a Lyon specialty, a pistachio studded sausage baked in brioche and D had a yummy pate with excellent bread. My rack of veal was perfectly cooked and D liked the Rascasse he had. You know what dessert was.
When we left the restaurant, we were amazed by all the illuminated buildings. The town is very open and it makes quite a show, especially Notre Dame and the Hotel de Ville. I really need to learn how to do night pictures because I missed a lot of good shots>
Day 2 (13)
It is just a very short walk to the Passarelle St Georges and crossing the river to Vieux Lyon and the funicular up.to Fourviere, “ the hill that prays”. Stopped in a café for some breakfast and some coins for the ticket machines. Before going up , we visited Cathedral St Jean ..on the level ground. They have a wonderful astrological clock that is from about the 14th century that will show feast days up to 2019..after that I don’t know what happens
The funicular goes thru the hill and up, in contrast to most I’ve been on that run on the outside. As you leave the station, you are literally smacked in the face with the power of this place. It is huge and even with some scaffolding on the front very impressive. The inside is probably the most ornate I’ve seen..we must have spent a good 2 hours exploring the interior and the crypt. Although it looks really old it was built around 1890!
No that is not the Eiffel Tower you will see in the picture! It’s the Tour Metallique and it is built to resemble the top part of the Eiffel but it’s actually a TV transmitter
The promenade along the side of the church offers lots of picture opportunities, and I think I took advantage of all of them. We had planned to walk down the Chemin de Rosaire, but even downhill was really hard walking so chickened out and used our return tickets on the funicular. Getting old and bad feet is hell.
Stopped for lunch in a typical ‘bouchon”…it pays to be an adventuresome eater in Lyon! Not being one, I had a wonderful Lyonnais lentil salad but D andouillette , tripe sausage. He said it was darn good!
We spent a few hours wandering the streets of Vieux Lyon, many interesting shops and each twisty street looked a bit different. There was a museum of miniatures and some of the displays in the free section are really amazing. I have a friend who volunteers at the miniatures museum in Dallas so picked up a brochure for her. Beautiful Renaissance houses show how wealthy Lyon must have been .
Dinner this night was at another Bocuse bistro, Le Sud,. This too was within walking distance from the hotel. Again good service , nice décor and good food! After our big lunch, we skipped starters and settled on a assiette of fish for D and a French style Osso Bucco for me. I tried another Mont Blanc and D added another crème brulee to the competition he is having to see whose is the best…so far they are all tied for 1st place.
Day 3 (14)
Got to the Silk museum , in the Croix Rousse, “the hill that works” section, at 10 and the very nice lady told us to wait until 11 as she was doing a tour in both French and English and would demonstrate silk weaving. We said we’d come back then and proceed to wander around the area checking out the shops. Came across an Italian traitteur with tables and decided we’d go back there for lunch because everything looked wonderful.
Back at the museum we joined 6 French visitors and went across the street to where the old looms are kept. The fabrics are amazing but the process is confounding. First a design was drawn, then transferred to a mise en carte, teeny tiny graph paper ,then the “punch cards were made. These cards are really the first computers. The looms are then set up with as many as 7000 strands of silk each with a little lead sinker , I can’t begin to explain it . There are only 20 hand weavers left in France, 5 of them work at the museum and the others work for the government taking care of the fabrics and reproducing antique patterns for repair in the national museums and buildings. They can only turn out about 3 cm a day. The work, much of it done by women, died out after the Revolution as the royalty and the court were about the only people who could afford the fabrics. Everything today is machine made and mainly in China. The looms even determined the way the houses were built. High ceilings and tall windows. After finishing up her tour she led us through a few of the tabroules , passageways between building, that were originally built so the silk could be transported without getting wet from the rain. There is a full guided tour of the many tabroules but it requires a lot of uphill walking .
We were not disappointed in our lunch choice> If I lived in France I’d never cook again, just reheat.
Took the metro back to Presqu’ile for a visit to the Decorative Arts museum and the fabric museum that are housed in the same building. We loved Lyon’s decorative arts much more than the new one in Paris. Almost everything is in a room setting and nicely explained. I told greeter that as we left and he beamed. The fabric section even interested David, after seeing the process of how the samples were made and they are beautifully displayed , like the works of art that they are.
We had made reservations for Vivarais , another of the places on our list along with Gailleton, which is right across the square. I can’t believe I was starving after my lunch and decided to do the whole menu thing!
Mousseline of fish for me, smoked salmon for D, followed by noisettes of lamb with various accompaniments…turned out they were lamb brains and lamb tongue, I wouldn’t go out of my way to order them on their own , but they were not bad! The lamb was excellent. I had a chocolate torte and D had another CB! He really does like other desserts but he loves crème brulee and his horrid wife never makes it for him.
Day 4 (15)
The transportation system in Lyon is super, Metro, buses , trams and bike stands , where you can rent by the hour and drop off at any convenient stand. They are all over the city. Going to Croix Rousse yesterday we took the metro, I’d never been on a metro train that went UPHILL in places. There is a city pass that combines transport and museums and is probably a bargain but we just used a carnet and walked a lot.
One of the main things David wanted to see was the Museum of Resistance and Deportation. Lyon was the major center for the French resistance forces, who took advantage of the tabroules and the terrain. The museum is well laid out and easy to follow the progress. All the exhibits have explanations in English and there are many film episodes to view. The corridors and rooms are kept dark and that adds to the feeling of fear and the desperation the people must have felt.
After a quick lunch we found a tram to take use see the famous painted walls of Lyon that are part of the Tony Urbaine museum. Now this is :”graffiti” I could live with not like the stuff that covers so many surfaces in Lyon. That graffiti really takes away from the charm and good feeling of the city. We only covered a few streets but some of the walls are truly amazing.
We had dinner reservations at Gailleton at 8 PM but when we arrived the place was shut up tight and other people were milling round with bewildered looks. As it was late and we were leaving early the next morning we went back across the street to Vivirais. They couldn’t understand what was going on at Gailleton either. You would think they would have at least posted a sign on the door , even if it was in French! It was no big deal as we had enjoyed Vivirais and were pleased with our dinners of swordfish, beef bourg, Lyonnais rice cake with marinated oranges and tarte de poire! A nice ending for our 4 days
I'm glad we spent a few days here but Lyon doesn't "sing" to me like Paris does.
Off to St. Exupery early to pick up the car then on the road to Burgundy for a few days!
Day 1(12)
Our taxi made a speedy run to Gare de Lyon and we arrived in plenty of time for our 9:30 train. It was the first time we’d been to that station and I wanted to make sure we knew what we were doing, with 3 bags to carry. Severin kindly let us leave one case in the locker room at the Danube. As usual I packed more than we actually needed.
There are lots of choices for places to grab a coffee and pastry and if you have plenty of time and money you can even have brunch at Le Train Bleu..we didn’t ! David did run up the stairs to take pictures though.
The ride to Lyon is just under 2 hours and it passed quickly . After getting out of Paris into the countryside the scenery was really lovely. I tried out the motion setting on the new camera I had to buy just before we left and it seems to work fine. We now have lots of pictures of fields and cows.
The taxi from Part Dieu station got us quickly to our hotel,passing thru parts of Lyon that made us a bit wary of what we were getting into. But after he crossed the Rhone to Presqu’ile the city really improved.
We stayed at Hotel La Residence on Ave Foch. It is an ideal location, one block from Place Bellecour and about 3 blocks from Perrache, the other rail station and starting point for the trams . Both places also had Metro stops with lots of connections. Foch is mainly a pedestrian street so our room overlooking it was quiet. I’d booked a twin because the doubles all had double beds and no way am I going to share that with big old David. It turned out that we had a double and a single bed and a Murphy bed , so the room was really a quad. I loved the oval tub in the bathroom.
I think Presqu’Ile and parts of the “new” town must be the only level places in the city. The rest seems to rise on all sides. We were only about 2 blocks in either direction from the bridges crossing the Saone and the Rhone. The first sight of Notre Dame de Fourviere is amazing, it sits on the very top of the hill and dominates the skyline.
First things first though, we set off to find some lunch. The weather was gorgeous and it seemed like everyone in town was out strolling around and eating. Being Sunday , lots of brasseries were closed but we found an Italian place on Pl Bellecour and were actually able to get a table.
We decided to save Fourviere and Vieux Lyon for the next day, so set off to explore Presqu’Ile. Lots of pretty squares and parks and fountains everywhere. Several museums were open but we are saving them for another day. It was just pleasant to be outside in the sun.
We hadn’t booked a table but thought we’d try to get into Bocuse’s baby bistro, Le Nord that evening. No problem, but it did fill up quickly so booking would be a good idea. The bistro is very bright and nicely decorated and the service was fast and pleasant
I started with a Lyon specialty, a pistachio studded sausage baked in brioche and D had a yummy pate with excellent bread. My rack of veal was perfectly cooked and D liked the Rascasse he had. You know what dessert was.
When we left the restaurant, we were amazed by all the illuminated buildings. The town is very open and it makes quite a show, especially Notre Dame and the Hotel de Ville. I really need to learn how to do night pictures because I missed a lot of good shots>
Day 2 (13)
It is just a very short walk to the Passarelle St Georges and crossing the river to Vieux Lyon and the funicular up.to Fourviere, “ the hill that prays”. Stopped in a café for some breakfast and some coins for the ticket machines. Before going up , we visited Cathedral St Jean ..on the level ground. They have a wonderful astrological clock that is from about the 14th century that will show feast days up to 2019..after that I don’t know what happens
The funicular goes thru the hill and up, in contrast to most I’ve been on that run on the outside. As you leave the station, you are literally smacked in the face with the power of this place. It is huge and even with some scaffolding on the front very impressive. The inside is probably the most ornate I’ve seen..we must have spent a good 2 hours exploring the interior and the crypt. Although it looks really old it was built around 1890!
No that is not the Eiffel Tower you will see in the picture! It’s the Tour Metallique and it is built to resemble the top part of the Eiffel but it’s actually a TV transmitter
The promenade along the side of the church offers lots of picture opportunities, and I think I took advantage of all of them. We had planned to walk down the Chemin de Rosaire, but even downhill was really hard walking so chickened out and used our return tickets on the funicular. Getting old and bad feet is hell.
Stopped for lunch in a typical ‘bouchon”…it pays to be an adventuresome eater in Lyon! Not being one, I had a wonderful Lyonnais lentil salad but D andouillette , tripe sausage. He said it was darn good!
We spent a few hours wandering the streets of Vieux Lyon, many interesting shops and each twisty street looked a bit different. There was a museum of miniatures and some of the displays in the free section are really amazing. I have a friend who volunteers at the miniatures museum in Dallas so picked up a brochure for her. Beautiful Renaissance houses show how wealthy Lyon must have been .
Dinner this night was at another Bocuse bistro, Le Sud,. This too was within walking distance from the hotel. Again good service , nice décor and good food! After our big lunch, we skipped starters and settled on a assiette of fish for D and a French style Osso Bucco for me. I tried another Mont Blanc and D added another crème brulee to the competition he is having to see whose is the best…so far they are all tied for 1st place.
Day 3 (14)
Got to the Silk museum , in the Croix Rousse, “the hill that works” section, at 10 and the very nice lady told us to wait until 11 as she was doing a tour in both French and English and would demonstrate silk weaving. We said we’d come back then and proceed to wander around the area checking out the shops. Came across an Italian traitteur with tables and decided we’d go back there for lunch because everything looked wonderful.
Back at the museum we joined 6 French visitors and went across the street to where the old looms are kept. The fabrics are amazing but the process is confounding. First a design was drawn, then transferred to a mise en carte, teeny tiny graph paper ,then the “punch cards were made. These cards are really the first computers. The looms are then set up with as many as 7000 strands of silk each with a little lead sinker , I can’t begin to explain it . There are only 20 hand weavers left in France, 5 of them work at the museum and the others work for the government taking care of the fabrics and reproducing antique patterns for repair in the national museums and buildings. They can only turn out about 3 cm a day. The work, much of it done by women, died out after the Revolution as the royalty and the court were about the only people who could afford the fabrics. Everything today is machine made and mainly in China. The looms even determined the way the houses were built. High ceilings and tall windows. After finishing up her tour she led us through a few of the tabroules , passageways between building, that were originally built so the silk could be transported without getting wet from the rain. There is a full guided tour of the many tabroules but it requires a lot of uphill walking .
We were not disappointed in our lunch choice> If I lived in France I’d never cook again, just reheat.
Took the metro back to Presqu’ile for a visit to the Decorative Arts museum and the fabric museum that are housed in the same building. We loved Lyon’s decorative arts much more than the new one in Paris. Almost everything is in a room setting and nicely explained. I told greeter that as we left and he beamed. The fabric section even interested David, after seeing the process of how the samples were made and they are beautifully displayed , like the works of art that they are.
We had made reservations for Vivarais , another of the places on our list along with Gailleton, which is right across the square. I can’t believe I was starving after my lunch and decided to do the whole menu thing!
Mousseline of fish for me, smoked salmon for D, followed by noisettes of lamb with various accompaniments…turned out they were lamb brains and lamb tongue, I wouldn’t go out of my way to order them on their own , but they were not bad! The lamb was excellent. I had a chocolate torte and D had another CB! He really does like other desserts but he loves crème brulee and his horrid wife never makes it for him.
Day 4 (15)
The transportation system in Lyon is super, Metro, buses , trams and bike stands , where you can rent by the hour and drop off at any convenient stand. They are all over the city. Going to Croix Rousse yesterday we took the metro, I’d never been on a metro train that went UPHILL in places. There is a city pass that combines transport and museums and is probably a bargain but we just used a carnet and walked a lot.
One of the main things David wanted to see was the Museum of Resistance and Deportation. Lyon was the major center for the French resistance forces, who took advantage of the tabroules and the terrain. The museum is well laid out and easy to follow the progress. All the exhibits have explanations in English and there are many film episodes to view. The corridors and rooms are kept dark and that adds to the feeling of fear and the desperation the people must have felt.
After a quick lunch we found a tram to take use see the famous painted walls of Lyon that are part of the Tony Urbaine museum. Now this is :”graffiti” I could live with not like the stuff that covers so many surfaces in Lyon. That graffiti really takes away from the charm and good feeling of the city. We only covered a few streets but some of the walls are truly amazing.
We had dinner reservations at Gailleton at 8 PM but when we arrived the place was shut up tight and other people were milling round with bewildered looks. As it was late and we were leaving early the next morning we went back across the street to Vivirais. They couldn’t understand what was going on at Gailleton either. You would think they would have at least posted a sign on the door , even if it was in French! It was no big deal as we had enjoyed Vivirais and were pleased with our dinners of swordfish, beef bourg, Lyonnais rice cake with marinated oranges and tarte de poire! A nice ending for our 4 days
I'm glad we spent a few days here but Lyon doesn't "sing" to me like Paris does.
Off to St. Exupery early to pick up the car then on the road to Burgundy for a few days!
The plan was three nights and take a daytrip to Beaune the middle day. Because I did not feel well we scratched Beaune. So the next year we went to Beaune for 2 or 3 nites before Paris! And got more tastings in sans rhume! ;D
hahahha