Lyon

 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 Dinner View

Our table group

Group picture of everyone on the tour

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.  

The Roman ruins - theatre (one of two here) is on the right

The Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere

Close-up of the facade - the detail!

Looking straight at the alter - right inset is close-up of the statutes on the columns on the left side of the alter photo

Looking up at the underside of the dome (all mosaic decor) and a close-up of the top

One of the several murals on the wall - right inset is close-up of the mosaic tile along the bottom, you can see the individual tiles!

Enjoying the panoramic view!

Panoramic timeline of development of Lyon

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 :)

Murals on the buildings

The traboule door - it opens to reveal the passage - exploring thru the passage

Following the secret passage

The spiral staircase to the residential apartments

Entering the courtyard of the traboule

OOOOOh la la!

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 :(

The lock opens for us to continue our voyage

Not a good prediction :(

Cluny Abbey

 October 6:  The AMAZING Cluny Abbey

This morning as we departed the ship it was drizzling, cold and overcast as we headed for the Cluny Abbey.  When we'd done this itinerary several years ago with Viking I was amazed when we visited here, and this was one of my most anticipated excursions of the trip.  But the time we were some 20 minutes from the ship the skies brightened to a partly-to-mostly cloudy day with lots of sunshine.  As we were within a mile or two of the abbey we came upon a castle - which I remembered from our previous visit.  Why did I remember it, because it's privately owned and the owners STILL live in here.  Though to be clear they only live in a small portion.....

We arrived and walked up to the abbey.  I'll try thru pictures and description to explain, but it's just way beyond what you can imagine how big it is - today.  And even more so to grasp how massive it was before most of it was destroyed.  First, let's take a look at the 1 minute video I made so you get some perspective........

Now that you kind of have a grasp of it....let's start with one of the models which is on display inside the remnants.  The white portion of the model is the ONLY portion still standing - see how massive it must have been?

Now, see my image on the model, this is where I'm standing in the video.  And here's a collage of stills from the video with a panoramic photo from the tower to the initial steps on top and me pointing to the tower on the left, and with the steps behind me on the right.

Just amazing, right?  So, let's start in the front - the bell tower shown below is the only one of the three original ones that remains.  And again, refer to the model - we are seeing it from "inside the church".  You have to imagine all of this is covered and we're in the main aisle way of the knave of the church looking at the alter - which would have been just behind the wall of the house on the lower left.  So this shot would have been taken approximately about 2/3 down the aisle looking into the main body of the church where the 400 monks would have been seated....chanting and singing.

When I turned around, on this same spot from looking at the bell tower, I can see way back to the main towers and the opening of the church (see the model) - and this photo shows me on the same spot with the camera shooting down the aisle to those towers.  Note the steps.......as our excellent guide, Agnes, explained - NOTHING was done "just because."  There are 35 steps here as you descend to the about center of the church.  That's to represent purgatory because according to scriptures there are 70 steps to hell.  Here to are half way and as you climb up and approach the alter you are working towards the light and your salvation!

One more look at a model, another one, all in wood, to again get the perspective.  On this one the darker wood is what remains today - the lighter is destroyed.  Note on this one....to the left, towards the towers at the entrance - see how the lower part is darker?  Those are the walls you see as you look at the photo above of me that are on either side of the steps.  Again, note the inset photo of me to show where I would have been standing.

Now....the photos as we walked around......

Here we have moved further up inside the church, at the far left of the photo would have been the alter

At a couple points they had these amazing 3-D screens that as you turned them what you were looking at now showed what it WOULD have looked like.  So, on the left we are looking down towards the alter, note the columns on the far right.  The photo on the right is as it is today - the large stone just to Kim's left is the bottom of one of those columns!

We've walked inside the bell tower and this shot is up at the height of the ceiling

You'll have to watch the highlight video of the trip once we are home to appreciate this.....our guide Agnes took off her microphone and did a monk's chant for a minute or so.  The resonation was astounding.  Now imagine an audience of hundreds of religiously dedicated medieval people, in this massive facility AND 400 monks singing and chanting.  I can tell you from just our guide doing it, it was moving and you can sense what must have taken place here.

Turning to my left - you get a sense of the immense size! - this is where the bell would have been (at the top)

Continue to the right side of the tower is a passage into a tomb.  This is the tomb for one duke - note how decorated and huge it is!

A close-up of the saints on the wall.  A few things which are hard to discern.  First, there's a platform on top of them - a statute of an apostle once stood here.  Second, they are sculpted in "3-D" so they appear to be leaping out of the wall - at the bottom are their feet apparently behind them, thus much smaller.  And finally, look closely at their noses.  They have been hacked off.  Why?  Because when the revolutionaries came to destroy this, the only way to destroy the holy spirit in a sculpture like this would be to completely destroy it OR chop off the nose....because now they can't breathe and will die!

Another amazing day!

One last look at the panoramic photo from the bell tower to the entrance steps (right-to-left)

Tournus

 Abbey of Saint Philibert & Macon Winery

Today we traveled about 40 minutes north to Tournus where we were supposed to have docked yesterday, but the river is too flooded.  Here we spent a great deal of time exploring the ancient monastery & abbey which was built in 1000 AD.  Was huge and amazing.  And in the crypt the ceilings were the original ones from almost 1500 years ago.  We then wandered around the medieval town which was interesting.  I particularly enjoyed when we went through a traboule - a secret passage through the buildings from one part of the town to another.  Back to the ship where lunch was being served and about an hour later we headed to a local winery which is family owned, run by a mother & daughter and operates with only four full time employees, producing 90,000 bottles of white wine annually.  It was another great day!  Tomorrow we have a morning tour then we're bypassing the winery visit to enjoy a full afternoon of sailing on the Saone River!  I love the cruising on the European rivers!  Enjoy the photos.

The flooded Saone River in Tournus - where we SHOULD have docked

The monastery - constructed as a fortress

The 1500 year old church

The interior of the massive church

Interesting notes - the interior used to be completely painted, still see some remnants (left)......the vaulted ceiling is not one long vault but a series of shorter ones - a subject of architectural study

The medieval organ with 1000 pipes!

Stone mosaics cover the floor behind the alter

The crypts - the original ceilings have NOT been restored!!

The cloisters - you can see the two towers....unlike other medieval churches which have twin towers in the front, this one has one in the front and one in the back

The monk's dormitories used to be here, but were destroyed by fire. What appears to be a window is actually THE DOOR which led from the dormitory to the study and on into the church

The coolest part of the town tour was walking thru the traboule - the secret passage....looks like "just a door" unless you know which one to go through!

The Ferrand Winery fields

Barrels just filled with wine days ago

Oh yes......I know wine :)

When in France.....

Yesterday was the Opening Day at Keeneland....won 3-of-6 races while traveling through France :)