Lyon 2025 Part 5

Au revoir, Lyon !

Yesterday was our last full day in town - besides packing, we tried another cuisine, Nepalese! Right next door, was the St Polycarpe Church and the arty Mermet stairway.

This morning, we finished packing, used the wheelchair to get to the metro quay, then I returned it to the pharmacy (easy peasy, took about 5 minutes to look it over, pay, and retrieve my deposit check). I picked up the rest of our luggage from the apartment, checked out, and met Rick on the quay. We had an easy metro ride to the end of the line, where we picked up the car and headed on to Annecy!

Lyon is a great city, with a ton of things to see and do - we had a list, and did what we could...

Normally, we try for a petit train, but even though I found references to three, the only one still running is around a large park (which we didn't do).

Likewise, there used to be two routes for Hop on Hop off buses, but I couldn't find the one around Croix Rousse.

When we stay in some cities, we like to use the Hop on Hop off buses - they get you around, and you get to see and hear about a lot of interesting places. But sometimes, we look at the routes to see what things we can get to on our own. For Lyon, we used a river cruise to see some, and used public transportation to see others. What we left for a future trip:

- Croix Rousse district's murals, viewpoints, and traboules 

- Les Halles, and nearby Ayla restaurant 

- Palais de justice at night 

- Hôtel-Dieu inside 

- Old Lyon traboules 

- Parc Tête d'or (petit train)

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The Lyon 2025 photo album has a few extra photos to see.

Lyon 2025 Part 4

We saw a *lot* of churches!

We went to a great event at the Basilica St Bonaventure, called Luminescence - it was an hour of history, chorale, and amazing light! 

That was the lit up inside! You definitely want to check the Lyon 2025 Luminescence photo album - see (and hear) some of the short videos! The basilica was built in the early 1300s.

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The Cathedral St Jean was built starting in 1180, and was the site of the wedding of the King of France, Henry IV to Marie de Medici in 1600. It is also known for its astronomic clock

Guess what date we visited!

See the Lyon 2025 Cathedral St Jean photo album for more, and read the captions for the clock (fascinating)!

We came back later by following the Renaissance Parade from the Bellecour Square - this is an event that commemorates the 1600 marriage of Henri and Marie, so the costumes are fantastic! 

And (of course) a little gruesome here and there..

Check the videos (and more costumes) in the Lyon 2025 Renaissance Parade photo album.

From the end of the parade at the cathedral, we walked (and rolled! - wheelchair, remember?!) along the Saône, 

Footbridge of Palais de Justice 

Palais de Justice 

The Weight of Oneself 

This sculpture is one of a series that "makes you think" - here's the description: THE WEIGHT OF ONESELF. At first glance, the giant marble figure almost 3 metres high appears to be a saviour. But the man he holds in his arms is none other than himself. In a new take on classical statuary, this anti-hero symbolises the issues of responsibility debated daily at the nearby courthouse, inviting us to reflect as well.

ELMGREEN & DRAGSET

We criss-crossed the peninsula to the St Nizier church, built and rebuilt from the 5th century. It has two spires, very different! 

See more of the Saône and the church (and read some more captions!) in the Lyon 2025 Saône River and St Nizier photo album.

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Well, culture isn't only about churches and history, right? Our neighborhood (actually our street!) had it's own festival, one celebrating fashion and re-use! Right outside our door, the street became a catwalk 🙂

The Intro-Announcer, doing his thing 

One of the neighborhood shops

Lyon 2025 Part 3

Getting around Lyon *should* be super easy - there are metros, trams, buses, and funiculars going all over, at just about any time. Our apartment is just a few minutes walk to a major hub, so we had planned on using the system extensively. Our apartment is in a pedestrian zone - we put our car in long-term parking at the end of the metro line that goes right to our corner, and bought 7-day passes for unlimited rides (all types of public transportation take the same ticket, ~23€).

Unfortunately, several things conspired against us! First, we have mobility issues, and so we checked on elevators and escalators - every metro station has them except one, which we could easily avoid. But! Almost every station we needed had broken equipment - we couldn't count on getting up or down without stairs. So, the metro is mostly a bust. Second, the bus routes for our neighborhood are severely disrupted - all our options on Saturday were completely cancelled, and our best options on other days had moved their routes over a block - that's fine once you know what's what, but meant a lot of extra walking to find out. (Not to mention all that waiting at the wrong place!) Third, our backup was to use Uber - but with all the road work going on, we usually waited 15 minutes for our ride, and then they had to drive waaay out of the way! It also meant we were paying for a trip (12€) that we had already covered by having a bus pass. Fourth, all of this extra walking and standing exacerbated our mobility; we ended up staying in the apartment for days, missing sightseeing.

Well, we had tickets for a light show, which we were determined to not miss! Looking at Uber, a reserved evening ride - one direction - would be ~30€. That was just maddening... Then, inspiration struck! I walked up the street to the pharmacy, and arranged to rent a wheelchair! Perfect! Later that evening, we had a smooth ride - the elevator we needed wasn't working, but the escalator was (stand up, fold up the chair, get to the top, and reverse); coming back, everything worked!

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Our next spin took us through a metro transfer - we got to the transfer point ok, but then (after a discussion with a metro agent) we walked the chair down a flight of stairs, then an escalator. The alternative suggestion? Get back on the first metro, take it to the terminus, then switch directions, then get off where we were (but on the other quay), then take the elevator to transfer. Well, it was inventive at least...

Coming back, we knew to get the elevator to the surface, cross the square, then get the elevator down. The problem then? We watched an elevator full of people successfully go down, then... It got stuck! Broken before our very eyes! Ugh. On to the bus.

We were getting better at navigating, and at watching out for bumps - some we could get over, some not.

Choices...

You wouldn't believe how much un-asked-for, but very much appreciated, help we got from practically everyone, everywhere! Someone invariably grabbed the other end of the wheelchair to help us over a bump, onto the subway, or up/down the stairs! 💞💞

On top of that, the bus driver extended the wheelchair ramp automatically when he saw us - we were all set to walk everything on, but no! One less thing to worry about!

One fun thing - when we switched to the bus, we saw these signs - these stops were not going to be served for a lot of the weekend. At first, this was just more frustration. But a second thought was - hmmm... What's going on; is it interesting?

Spoiler Alert! It was!

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Helpful links:

Very helpful pharmacy (34€ to rent a wheelchair, without a prescription) - https://www.pharmacie-croix-paquet.fr/materiel-medical-orthopedie-contention/#mat

Lyon transportation company - https://www.tcl.fr/

Metro exits - information, maps - https://www.sortiesdumetro.fr/lyon/hotel-de-ville.php#google_vignette

Helpful hint: To find the location of metro elevators, use the "exits" link above. If you want to know which elevator to take from the street to the metro quay in direction you need, use street-view to look at the sign. Note that the direction is always expressed by the name of the terminus.

Lyon 2025 Part 2

We spent a sunny afternoon at the top of the Fourvière hill! 

You can see the basilica from all over Lyon - and you can see a lot of Lyon from the hill!

Basilica 

Lyon

We walked through the basilica (which has an elevator entrance on the side), admiring the architecture and mosaics

Joan of Arc*

I only saw one description of the mosaics - here's what it says about Joan of Arc:

Joan of Arc

Work by Charles Lameire (1909) and Georges Décôte (1917)

THE EVENT

At the time of the construction and decoration of the basilica, Joan of Arc was already a powerful symbol of France.

Inspired by a fearless faith, she supported the Kingdom against the English. She acted under the banner bearing the names of Jesus and Mary. Her commitment, even to the point of death at the stake in Rouen, testifies to authentic holiness.

She was beatified in 1909, during the episcopate of Bishop Coullié, former Bishop of Orléans, then Cardinal Archbishop of Lyon.

At both ends, the beginning and the end of her life. On the right, Joan listening to her voices, Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret.

Above this scene, the image of Our Lady of Le Puy recalls that Joan of Arc's mother, Isabelle Romée, went to the sanctuary of Le Puy-en-Velay during the Jubilee of 1429 to commend her daughter, who had just left for war, to the Virgin Mary. In the center, the triumphal entry into Orléans, on May 8, 1429.

To the left, the pyre, on the Old Market Square in Rouen, on May 30, 1431. Joan's eyes are fixed on the crucifix held out to her by a monk.

In the upper section, we see, in the center, the coronation of Charles VII in Reims, on July 17, 1429. On the cathedral square, the king appears beside the woman who has returned his crown to him. In the same scene, on the right, John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, defeated at the Battle of Patay (June 19, 1429), surrenders his sword to Joan of Arc.

On the left, Joan is taken prisoner at Compiègne (May 23, 1430).

THE INSCRIPTION

Blessed Joan of Arc, at the command of her voices, frees Orléans, besieged by the enemy. Amidst a large crowd of people, she stands victorious beside King Charles VII, who is crowned in Reims. She dies amidst the flames of Rouen in 1431.

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After touring the main floor, we went down to the crypt. To us, a crypt is usually a small, dark, almost depressing place. But this one had the same footprint as the main floor, and had renditions of Mary from around the world. It was very interesting to see just how much her image can differ!

After the basilica, we sat in a restaurant, enjoying the view - I had some fun identifying some of the landmarks, and making some things up 😉

Opera house (black roof), and Hôtel de Ville (rainbow flag)

Hôtel-Dieu 

Squint, and you'll see 4 sailboats!

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There are more photos in the Lyon 2025 Fourvière album.

We had a few false starts due to problems with metros and buses - more on that next!

Lyon 2025 Part 1

Lyon is the third largest city in France, and an easy 4 hour drive from Sète (the A9 freeway turns into the A7 freeway, and you're there!). It's known for its architecture and cuisine - we saw a lot of the former; we had to skip most of the lyonnaise specialties (dairy), but took advantage of the huge selection of Thai and Indian restaurants in our neighborhood 😋.

Our apartment is just up the street from the Place des Terreaux, which has a fabulous fountain by Bartholdi, and is bounded by the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) and the Museum of Fine Arts.

The museum is great! We were able to borrow a wheelchair, and there was no line at all to get in. Right away, there were these two enormous statues, representing the two rivers

La Saône is feminine, since it's a rivière - a tributary

Le Rhône is masculin, since it's a fleuve - a river that flows into the sea

We started at the top - with an entire floor of paintings

A Scene of the Flood, Court

Good and Evil, Orsel
Detail of a Young Woman listening to Evil

Lucrezia, Cagnacci

Dancers on the Stage, Degas

Charing Cross Bridge, the Thames
Monet

Defeat of the Cimbri and the Teutons by Marius, Heim
Detail 

And sculptures

Tiger Attacking a Deer

Boy in Turban 

The Kiss

Harlequin 

We moved down to the Roman, Greek, and Egyptian artifacts 

Another day, we returned for the sculpture garden 

See all my museum photos here - read the captions for more information. See the sculpture garden photos here.

We took a cruise along the Saône (see photos here), and saw a lot of *very* different architecture styles! There were buildings that you expect to see in medieval Europe 

And then...

Stay tuned for Part 2!