October 7: Day 8
About Last Night......
After posting pics for the day yesterday we had a very special evening as our travel group - hosted by our wonderful friend Rene - had dinner at the specialty restaurant, the Chef's Table. It was particularly cool because as we went through the seven courses we were sailing and had an ideal view off the back of the ship.
Our Morning In Lyon
We were up and off the ship at 9am to meet our guide for our tour of Lyon. When we arrived late last night we sailed through the confluence of the Saone River and the Rhone River, and we will be continuing our voyage south towards the Mediterranean from this point forward on the Rhone. The weather this morning was overcast and significantly warmer, 64 degrees as we ate breakfast. We boarded the bus with our guide and drove to the top of Fourviere Hill. Before we arrived at the Basilica of Notre Dame, we stopped briefly to view the Roman ruins of a Roman bath house and theatre. Construction of the basilica began in 1872 and it was completed in 1896. It's a beautiful place, and the most unique thing about it is that on the interior ALL the ceiling and wall decorations are mosaics. MILLIONS of small tiles, not a single painted item in the building. Very unique and very cool. We exited the basilica and headed to the panoramic overlook where you could see the history in the layout of the city. Initially the Romans settled on the hillside as it sloped to the Saone River. Then in medieval times they pushed the settlement across the river to the banks of the Rhone. And as we moved into more modern times the city has expanded past the Rhone and into the countryside.
Once we were back on the bus we took the short drive down to the old medieval town portion for a walking tour. As we approached we passed several buildings with cool murals painted on the side. The medieval part of Lyon is fairly small but it has one of the coolest features of any European medieval town we've ever visited.....the traboules - the secret passages between the streets. These were designed as short-cuts, available to all citizens so they would not have to walk all the way up to the corner and back down. As the years have passed they have become more and more privately owned and are how residents get to their second & third floor apartments; and to their courtyards. But some traboules are still available for the public to explore, BEFORE 7pm before they are closed to the public. And when we were "released" for free time we took advantage of the opportunity to find a French bakery and sample some French éclairs :)
Finally, as we sailed out of Lyon we went through one of the many locks along European rivers. ALWAYS fascinating....note the waterline and how far we were dropped! Sending best wishes for safety for our friends and family, and residents of Florida as Hurricane Milton heads for the west coast and is predicted to sweep across the state as a hurricane :(
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