Le Jardins de Beauvoir, Lyon: 45°45’22.1″N 4°49’07.2″E

(8 Rue de Trion, 69005 Lyon, France)

We spent today exploring Lyon. No car for us – we had enough driving yesterday. Time to give FiFi a rest.

Our hosts told us that they have lived on the property for about 25 years and started their B&B business about 10 years ago. The property was originally a small convent.

 

 

 

PHOTO ABOVE – THE B&B HAS A LARGE WALLED-IN FRONT YARD WHERE THE NUNS KEPT CHICKENS & LIVESTOCK

PHOTO ABOVE –  THE VIEW INTO OUR BREAKFAST ROOM

PHOTO ABOVE – OUR UNIQUE BATHROOM ACCESSED BY A SPIRAL STAIRCASE IN OUR ROOM

We had a great breakfast at our B&B and then headed out to explore the old city. This was very interesting because where we were staying in the city was very high elevation overlooking the Rhône river below and the city of Lyon. On route to the basilica we passed more Roman ruins.

Those guys were everywhere! We made it to the basilica of Notre Dame, located even higher than where we are staying so we had a pretty good climb on steep streets and sidewalks to get there.

Our efforts were well rewarded though because the basilica was very ornate with mosaic floors and frescos as well as a gorgeous vaulted ceiling painted dark green with gold stars.

We were fortunate enough to get inside the cathedral as a morning mass was being celebrated. We sat quietly in the back with many other people while the congregation participating in the mass were seated further forward. The service was in French & even though we didn’t understand much of what the priest was saying it was very beautiful.

Everything else that we wanted to see was on the streets below us so it was all downhill from here – but certainly not downhill as far as the sights we were seeing.

The streets in the old city are very narrow and the buildings about 5 stories high so it makes for long shaded passageways. It is easy to understand how Lyon became a centre of the French Resistance in WW II as there were many ways to avoid detection and pass through the city relatively unseen.

Many of the buildings are painted pastel shades of yellow, pink and cream. We walked across one of the several bridges to see another part of the city that had more modern buildings blended in with the old ones.

PHOTO ABOVE – THE VIEW OF THE OLD CITY AND THE MODERN CITY TOGETHER

PHOTO ABOVE – AN AMAZING FOUNTAIN IN A BUSY SQUARE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER

We went to another cathedral of St. Jean Baptiste, a gothic cathedral begun in 1180 and completed in 1476, considered to be the heart of the old city.

From there we walked back to the Gadagne Museum which told the story of the city of Lyon. Attached to this museum is the MAM – museum of marionettes which hosted a collection of puppets of all eras from around the world. Fascinating. Outside of the museums is the Charvet clock, built 170 years ago, which features marionette figures that move when the clock chimes on the quarter hour.

We walked along the cobbled streets to find the funicular to ride almost straight up and stopped just steps from the B&B.

 The funicular was surprisingly mostly underground from the bottom of the hill to the top. It must have been a massive project to do all that tunneling up such a steep incline.

After resting for a while back at our B&B had dinner at a charming bistro close to “home” and walked back in the pouring rain. Steak again for me! A full day!

Tomorrow we’re back on the road again to explore some of the Burgundy region & check out the canals there – for a future cruise? But this time we’re sticking to the smaller roads – no multilane freeway for Fifi!

Cheers!