between two rivers

I went to Lyon this weekend with most of the group, and I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed myself. It wasn't a planned group trip or anything--we simply decided to go somewhat spontaneously. Mostly, I just wanted to get out of Dijon for a while. I'm still enjoying most aspects of life here, but after a week of classes I was ready for a change. But Lyon ended up being much more than that.

After another wonderful train ride (on first class even, thanks to our student train cards!), we arrived just as the sun was setting and headed off toward the metro. Yes, there is another city in France large enough to have a metro. Surprised? I was too. I was surprised to find that there is another city in France large enough to be called an actual city. So a bit dazed and in awe, we lugged our belongings to our hotel, where we were once again pleasantly surprised by Lyon. The eight of us were split between two hotel rooms, one with three and the other with five. Both were great, but ours, with five, was amazing -- a balcony looking onto the street, a kitchenette (with a fridge and a stove), two TVs (one flat screen), and stairs leading up to a loft with most of the beds. All of this cost us 20 euros a night. We were ecstatic.


The view from our hotel room.


The downstairs of the room, with the stairs to the left.

At this point it was time for dinner, so we headed out. Lyon is divided up pretty neatly by two rivers, the Rhône and the Saône. On the outside of the Saône, where we were staying, it's more modern, and as you cross each river it becomes more historic and more beautiful. We had to cross the Saône to get to the good restaurants, and as we walked down by the river, we pretty quickly fell in love. The city is beautiful at night, with all the bridges and monuments lighted up.

Our destination was a street filled with Lyonnaise eateries, and luckily we found one that fit all of us. We even got a complimentary kir while we waited. (Kir is an apperatif made of white wine and creme de cassis, and it's delicious. If you ever get a chance definitely try it.) I fulfilled one of my food goals and tried steak tartar (raw beef with a raw egg on top), and I quite liked it. It doesn't really surprise me because I like my meet pretty rare and I love sushi, but it was still an odd experience. I think I'd get it again, though.

On Saturday we walked across both rivers and into Old Lyon to see the Basilica.


Does one of those monuments look familiar to you? This was one of my favorite things about the city. Apparently, as our tour guide told it, Lyon was jealous of the Eiffel Tower after it was built for the Great Exhibition. So when their turn came around to host one, they built their own. Except, instead of building a whole tower, they just built the top half and placed it on top of a hill. Every time I looked at it I couldn't help but laugh because it's so silly.


The Rhône


The main square, with the ferris wheel and the statue of Louis XIV


The Basilica. From far away, it looks like a castle, especially at night when it's all lit up. It's actually a church.


The Saône. As I said before, the city gets more and more beautiful the farther we walked.


The outside of the Basilica.


The view of Lyon from the Basilica. I love all the red roofs.


The inside of the Basilica.

This was probably the most beautiful church I've ever been in, and possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. It was covered in mosaics, with rich golds and saturated colors, all of which glowed brilliantly when the light shown through the stained glas windows. I could have stayed there a very long time.


This is what it felt like to be in there.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a tour of Old Lyon. The tour guide was a nice older lady who meant well but tended to talk about a lot of history that went over my head. It was a lot of information for two hours on foot and in French. However there were some definite highlights to the day.


The astronomical clock inside the churhc of St. Jean. It can tell the excact time and date, plus the position of the sun in relation to Lyon. It rings several times every day and each time figures come out of the clock and reanact the Annonciation (the moment when the angel Gabriel informed Mary of her task and Christ was placed inside her.) Also, the figure at the top of the clock changes at midnight every night, because there is a different figure to represent each day. (It was Mary for Saturday.)


The traboule are covered passageways that connect a lot of the old houses in Lyon. They were used during the French resistence of the Germans in WWII.

The tour guide talked to us afterwards, and she was very sweet. She was impressed with our French and the fact that we were there and taking a tour in French. She ended up taking us to a silk store that a friend of hers owns. We got to go into the back and see where he makes silk garments using a rare and ancient machine. (Importance of silk.)


The silk machine. Sadly, his was one of the last pictures I took before my battery died. I stupidly forgot to charge my spare.

After the end of our private little tour some of us walked around for a bit. We went to a store that Emma and Amanda found which was the closest thing to a thrift/vintage store I've seen in France so far. It was seriously awesome, but I didn't buy anything. I'm trying to be good. As we walked back, I only could think how unfortunate it was that we had so little time to see Lyon. We passed lots of neat looking places, including the Museum of Miniatures of which only barely had time to look in the front room before it closed.

We went back to the street of Lyonaise cuisine for dinner that night and I once again I was adventurous, though with not quite so much success. I tried veal kidneys and they were... interesting. There was nothing wrong with the taste, but they very much looked like and felt like what they were. It was a bit much. But I'm glad I tried them.

For our last night we tried to experience some of the night life in Lyon. First, we hung out in the room, watching the Olympics, having a few drinks and fooling around a bit. Emma, Alex, Amanda and I then decided to head out. We walked around a bit and found a few bars. The first one was on the water, but filled with old guys. We had one drink and went to find another bar as it was getting late. Luckily, we found something that ended being good and cheap just ten minutes before it closed. Not the most successful night out, but still entertaining.

On Sunday morning we had a bit of time before we had to catch our train so we went to the Roman amphitheaters up on the hill. Unfortunately, because the hotel closed in the afternoon we had to lug all our crap up to the hill to see them. But it was worth it. The day was clear and from all the way up there we could see the Alps off in the distance. It was beautiful. And the amphitheater was so awesome -- to see something so old and think about all that had happened there. I love history.

All in all, a fantastic weekend. I think some of the group said that they liked Lyon better than Paris, and while I couldn't in all honesty say that, it's a wonderful city.