Lovely Lyon

From Paris, we travelled to the south-east of France by TGV. It soon became clear to us that being closer to the equator doesn't necessarily mean warmer and less snow. By the time we arrived in Lyon we could see snow piled up at the side of roads and footpaths, much more so than in Paris. Fortunately, it hasn't felt particularly cold here, but we have had to be very careful not to slip on the ice. You can see all the icicles on the fountain below:

On our first afternoon in Lyon we spent an hour travelling around the city on their truly excellent public transport system. Some of the metro lines are completely automated, and there are space-age trolley-buses and trams:

We wandered through the old part of Lyon after that, visiting some of the wonderful shops and looking at the various restaurants, thinking about which one we would eat dinner at later in the evening.

Our hotel is a pleasant surprise: we knew it was only 2-star, so our expectations were low, but it has turned out to be very nice indeed, and perfectly located on a big square in the middle of the city. There is a large ferris-wheel in this square, and after a lovely dinner with an "interesting" young waiter, Peter, Natasha and Jamie went for a spin:



This morning Jamie was feeling very sick, so he and Janet stayed in the hotel while Natasha and Peter went up to the top of the hill in Old Lyon to visit the basilica and the Gallo-Roman museum:

It's on the site of Roman ruins and is very nicely set-out. There was a special exhibition about Roman funeral rites, and we each had an audioguide which really made it come alive (as it were).

After lunch, Jamie was feeling somewhat better, so we set out for the Art Museum where we expected to find an exhibition including Picasso and Matisse. We found the museum, but it was closed (the French, eh!). We drowned our sorrows by going to a nearby Haagen-Dazs for decadent waffles and crepes (it's behind the fountain above). We then headed for the nearest metro stop to go to the cathedral in time to catch the incredible 14th century astronomical clock strike four! We very nearly missed it, but it was worth the rush:

Janet knows Lyon well, as she spent a year here in 1987-8. So after the clock experience, we hopped back on the metro and got off at her old stop. She reminisced about old times as we looked for and found  the building that she lived in:

Dinner was a bit of a dilemma for us: do we try another of Lyon's renowned restaurants and risk it not being up to scratch, or do we go back to the same place as yesterday, where we know we'll get good food at a reasonable price, but be less adventurous and spend another evening with the same slightly invasive waiter? In the end, we went with what we knew, but only after embarrassing Jamie hugely by walking out of one restaurant after we had been seated, because it smelled strongly of cigarette smoke!

We have had a very nice time in Lyon, and in France in general. Tomorrow, all going well with the TGV and Eurostar, we will go to London. Au revoir!