Lyon

We arrived in Lyon at 8 pm last evening.  We took a taxi from the train station to the hotel, then went out for a snack.  It was a warm, balmy evening, with thousands of young people having dinner at outside tables, and clearly enjoying the evening.  We did too!  

We woke up to heavy rainfall this morning.  We had breakfast at the hotel, then spent the morning reading,  as rain continued.  At noon, we met our friend, Thanh, for lunch, and we went for coffee after.  We had a wonderful visit with her!  

We left Thanh at 3, and walked across the Saone River and up the hill to Lyon’s Roman ruins, the Odeon and the Theatre - both were impressive!  We visited the adjacent Lugdunum Museum, with beautiful mosaics, tombs, and other Roman ruins, most dating to the 1st and 2nd century AD.  The Museum’s architecture was impressive too!

We continued our walk to the Basilica Notre Dame de Fourviere, built in the late 1800’s on the site of an ancient Roman Forum.  The Basilica interior was covered in tiny tile mosaics, from floor to ceiling.  We visited the Basilica’s crypt, and came out to an overlook of the city of Lyon below, and the Alps beyond.

We continued exploring Old Lyon, and came upon traboules, or secret passageways.  There are over 500

traboules in Lyon, built in the 18th and 19th centuries.  We had a nice dinner at the Michelin recommended L’Institut.  A good day in Lyon!