Sunday March 13 was a beautiful sunny day with a high of 17C. It seemed everyone was out walking on the pedestrian streets, sitting out in cafés and enjoying the sun after a few gloomy days.
We headed out late morning to La Boîte a Café, a coffee shop in the Croix-Rousse neighbourhood nearby. They carry our favourite Mokxa beans. It turned out to be on a lovely square with two other busy cafés.
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| Outside the café |
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| Alain with an orange raisin scone and our coffees |
We had a small city guide to the Les Pentes (the slopes) of the Croix-Rousse neighbourhood. Stores were closed on Sunday (stores are only allowed to be open in Vieux Lyon), but coffeeshops and restaurants can be open. There were lots of small places serving coffee or brunch. It was fun to check out a few streets in the 'hood.
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| Great name- Vintage store- Carrie Bradshop!! |
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| Les Fromagivores! Another great name. |
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| À Chacun sa Tasse-- busy with folks having brunch |
We walked back through Place des Terreaux, the square with City Hall and the Museum of Fine Arts.
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| Sunshine on the square |
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Alain on one of the Daniel Buren striped pedestals. These are square shaped-
the ones at the Palais Royal in Paris are round and at different heights. |
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| The fountain |
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| A very stylish couple |
We headed across the Saône to Vieux Lyon. We would be taking the funicular to the Basilique (Basilica) Notre-Dame de Fourvière.
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| The funicular |
It was the perfect day to visit Notre-Dame de Fourvière, the Basilica that dominates the skyline of Lyon. Under the Roman Empire, Lyon, called Lugdunum, became the capital of Gaul. It was founded in 43 BC. Lugdunum was built around "forum vetus" (old forum), which lead to its name of Fourvière. "La colline qui prie" (the hill that prays), as it is known by locals, reaches a height of 300 metres.
In 1192, the first church was built on the hill and rebuilt at the end of the 16th century during the Renaissance. In 1643, the Alderman of Lyon vowed to make an annual pilgrimage to Fourvière and offer one gold coin and seven pounds of wax, if the town was saved from the plague. Their vow was answered. Every September 8, elected representatives still go to Fourvière for a mass in honour of the Voeu des Echevins (Aldermen's Vow).
On December 8, 1852 a gilded statue was erected on the bell tower of the Virgin Chapel. Ever since then, the Lyonnais light small candles every year in memory of the event. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war, the people of Lyon promised to build a large church devoted to Mary, if their town was spared from war, which it was. Building work began in 1872. The Basilica was designed by Pierre Bossan (1814-1888) and has Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine architecture.
The new church was dedicated to Mary in 1896. It was granted the title of "Minor Basilica" by the Pope in 1897. Fourvière Hill is part of Lyon's UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Approaching the entrance to the Basilica |
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| Stations of the Cross around the square in front of the Basilica |
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| Communication tower off to the side |
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| The gilded statue on top of the bell tower of the Virgin Chapel |
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| Inside the Virgin Chapel |
There was a mosaic donated by Larissa Perekrestova from Odessa, Ukraine for the centenary of the consecration of the Basilica on June 16,1996. It is entitled: Hymn to the Family of the Child-Mary.
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| Beautiful Mosaic in the Virgin Chapel 1996 |
We then went into the Basilica. The interior was incredible. Beautiful mosaics, colours and statues.
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| In the main building |
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| Gothic and Byzantine |
There were a number of beautiful mosaics on the walls.
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| Beautiful scenes depicted in the mosaics |
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| Another mosaic |
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| Very beautiful interior of the Basilica |
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| Statue of John Paul II- he visited Fourvière in 1986 |
We walked over to a railing with incredible views of the City.
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| View of the Saône River, with the Lyon Opera House on the left side (with the 1993 Jean Nouvel glass-domed roof added to the neoclassical 1831 building). |
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| Another vista |
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| Near the main Railway station |
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| Place Bellecour and the Ferris Wheel |
We then walked down to the small Jardin du Rosaire (Rosary Garden).
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| A short walk down a path beside the Basilica |
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| The Rosary garden, with daffodils and budding plants. |
We sat in the garden for a while and then walked over to the Lagdunum Roman Theatres. There are two preserved Roman theatres, the Grand Theatre, built by Augustus in 15 B.C. and the Odeon which was used for poetry and musical recitals and built at the end of the 1st or start of the 2nd century AD.
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| The Grand Theatre |
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| Another view with the stage |
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| Waiting for the opening curtain |
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| Fabulous stage--- used for music concerts in the summer |
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| Looking back at the Basilica near the Roman Theatre |
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| One last look |
We took the funicular back to Vieux Lyon.
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| Keeps the funicular going |
We decided to have a drink at Brasserie Gabriel in the square in front of Saint-Jean Cathedral.
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| The Cathedral |
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| Alain in the sun |
We both had Camparis (it felt like early summer today) and shared a salade Lyonnais.
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| Campari and salade Lyonnais (when in Lyon...) |
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| Brasserie Gabriel |
We wandered a bit in Vieux Lyon where everything was open. There were lots of people in the streets and the place was buzzing. We stopped to buy some of the famous Lyon pink pralines at Bruno Saladino.
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| A Lyonnais treat |
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| More ruins behind the Church |
We then headed over to our side of the Saône.
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| View of the Palais de Justice on the Vieux Lyon side of the Saône |
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| Looking the other way |
When we got to our side of the Saône (the Presqu'ile peninsula), we walked by a huge outdoor café on the same Quai as the Marché Saint-Antoine.
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| Everyone outside enjoying the sun |
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| Another busy café across from the large one on the Quai |
We walked down to Place Antonin-Poncet.
The Flower Tree was created by Korean artist Jeong-Hwa Choi for the 7th biennial festival of Contemporary Art in Lyon in 2003. It was moved permanently to its present location close to the bank of the Rhône in 2007. It has 85 flowers and is made of stainless steel with a durable polyester resin coating.
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| The Flower Tree, Jeong-Hwa Choi - burst of colour on a sunny day |
We had wanted to check out 7 Place Antonin-Poncet. During WWII, Number 7 was a hotbed of resistance activities. Gynecologist Dr. Jean Rousset, was the chief lieutenant to famous British agent Virgina Hall and aided her in a number of ways. He set up a fake psychiatric hospital on the top floor of 7 Place Antonin-Poncet, to hide Allied pilots. Rousset was arrested in November 1942, brutally tortured at Fresnes Prison near Paris and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp for 18 months before being liberated in April, 1945.
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| #7 Place Antonin Poncet (with the blue door). |
We walked back to the apartment on a different street than we have taken.
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| Great statues |
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| Then we walked through Place des Jacobins (one of our favourite squares) |
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| Magnolia and cherry blossom trees have started to bloom in Lyon |
It was a wonderful last full day in Lyon. We had a great week exploring the city, its fascinating history, food and the many neighbourhoods. Our apartment was perfectly located as we could walk everywhere. We head to Paris on Monday March 13, for the last 10 days of our trip. Our train leaves at 12:42.
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