out and about: Day 5: Lyon

A great view after climbing a lot of stairs.

While day 4 had left us questioning how nice Lyon would be, we were pleasantly surprised today as we hiked the streets. It’s a very hilly place. We began by climbing up to the Basilica de Notre Dame Fourviere. Although I’m sure it has a very nice interior, it was covered in scaffolding (which seems to be a trend in every city we visit—lots of repairs going on at this time of year I guess) so we couldn’t really see much of it. The climb was still worth the view of the city though. You could especially see how green the river was! I’m not sure what gives it that color—perhaps because it’s not tidal? We then made a few stops at places such as the Mur des Canuts (the largest fresco in Europe—1200 square meters), a square with the Hotel de Ville, Musee des Beaux Arts, and Parc de la Tete d’Or. I think the park is my new favorite park yet! It was incredibly large, also had a lovely green body of water, and lots of tall trees. For lunch we strolled through a sort of farmer’s market along the Saone where we had some fresh strawberries. We were pretty tired as I am now so we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit. On our way back to the hotel we also passed through the square that had previously had the many tents. It was now adorned with tables of books, records, old post cards, and CDs for sale. A couple hours later we went out for dinner (kababs) and then a walk through town at night before calling it a day. Tomorrow morning we leave for Nice! Lyon is a great city and I’m glad we stopped here although I’m sad we missed Colleen Gallagher! Maybe next time. Thanks for reading!

The nicest hotel room we will probably be staying in.

Saone River

Some Roman Ruins we walked by.

The basilica (left) which was actually under construction (right). I don't think I've mentioned this before but it seems like everywhere we go everything is being renovated haha. Probably because it's the down season.