Europe 2014 - Lyon, France

OK!  I'm back again (this is getting ridiculous isn't it?!)!
It's almost 6 months gone, but I'm determined to get the last bit of our trip onto this blog.
For anyone who wants to read about it...but mostly for me, so please bear with me!

As we head toward Lyon for two nights, I realized that our journey was almost at an end.
To be honest, at that point in time I was ready.
We were both ready.
But we were also still looking forward to the few sights we had left.

We arrived at the train station late in the afternoon.
The trip from Italy was long - even taking us through Switzerland for a quick train change.
By the time we got into Lyon and found the bus to take us to our room, it was dark.
I didn't love that, but thankfully I had been able to contact our host for some final clarification on directions so we weren't wandering the city too late at night.
When we got to the room, our host Hédi was kind enough to make us a light dinner.

The next morning we took the transportation necessary to get us to an area called Vieux Lyon - Old Lyon.
Before heading there, we ate a proper French breakfast...coffee and a delicious butter flakey pastry of course!

This sounds ridiculous, but when I look at this picture I remember that at the moment we sat down with our food, outside on a gorgeous morning in a park area...with our whole day ahead of us...I felt so content.
It was just a perfect moment.
Seems silly considering all the things we had been seeing and doing, but for some reason, this delicious coffee and chausson aux pomme (apple turnover) brought me a lot of joy!
Simple things sometimes!

Lyon is considered by many to be the gastronomical capital of the world.
I guess that would really depend on what your tastes are but there were no shortages of delicious looking places!
They are known for places to eat called Bouchons.

They are pub/tavern like in their atmosphere and typically serve food that is meat-focused...and what we would call offal.
Guts.
I was keen to give it a shot.
I like chicken liver and pate.
I loved Haggis in Scotland and will basically eat beef nearly raw if its an option.
But Hannah wasn't so anxious - especially after a closer look at the menus.

So we decided on savory crepes instead for our lunch.

And that did not disappoint.
It was pretty amazing!!
Hannah had a salmon and potato crepe, and mine was a Mediterranean style with feta cheese, spinach and pine nuts.

Afterward we wandered around for a while - it was a beautiful part of the city.
Some places were very similar in their appearance to Venice.
Old buildings and narrow passages.
But there was definitely a different feel and architectural style.

 Some unusual shops...

 An arcade...

Irish pubs - there were a few of these actually...

Something else unique to Lyon (and a few other cities in France) are the Traboules.
They are covered passageways that lead from street to street.
Apparently they were used often by silk merchants to take their goods quickly from their workshops to other places.
Our host told us that most Traboules are now inaccessible because they connect private residences to courtyards and passageways.
We were able to find one though that we could view.
So simple but so gorgeous to see!

From our spot in Vieux Lyon we could see Fourviere Hill.

So instead of walking up over 200 steps to the top, we decided to take a Funicular.
Yep...tired of walking!

Once we were at the top, the views of the modern city of Lyon were panoramic and amazing!

At the top of Fourviere Hill, there was a mini Notre Dame and a mini Eiffel Tower.

 It was also the location of an ancient Roman settlement.

It was a rainy day, so we made our way inside the Gallo-Roman museum for a look around.

We noticed that there was a problem with preserving noses in old roman statues...

It was a pretty wonderful day!

After returning to our apartment that afternoon, we walked across the Rhone River (which ran right outside of our room), and over to a large commercial center...yes...a mall!

Apple stores are everywhere!

We had some coffee and macaroons and then bought a few things from a grocery shop to take back with us to our room which was in one of the white apartment buildings on the other side.

And, well...that's it for Lyon!
The next morning we left fairly early to catch a train to Paris and then to London to conclude our trip!

Prochain Arrêt:  Paris, France