Lyon

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When we bought our train tickets to Aix Les Bains, the very helpful woman at the counter convinced my friend and me to buy a discount pass for a few more Euros. These passes allow you to travel very cheaply around the Rhone Alps region, especially on the weekends. So, rather than waste our new found travel freedom by staying in Grenoble the next day (Sunday) we decided to travel to Lyon.

Lyon is GORGEOUS! And, as the second largest city in Paris, it offers a lot of interesting areas to explore. As soon as we got off of the train, we took a "funicular" to the top of the "Fourviere hill" (a mountain that overlooks the city). This hill marks the founding point of the city of Lyon--a Roman colony in 43 BC.

The first stop on the funicular was the basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere. This was an incredible cathedral (pictures included) with gargoyles and religious relics reaching up toward the heavens. This was certainly one of those moments when I wondered how people possibly made such things without modern technology (moments like this happened a lot during my stay in France).

The Basillica overlooks the inner city of Lyon. Although it was really windy that day, and I was a little nervous to be beside the edge of the mountain, the panorama of the city was breathtaking and worth overcomming my fear of heights. We could see mountains surrounding the city, another cathedral at the bottom of the mountain that overlooks the Saone river, a ferris wheel, and lots of interesting shops and buildings to explore.

The highlight of the trip, however, was on the other side of the mountatin. We took the funicular down, and then up again to the other side to the ancient ruins of a Roman amphitheater. Built around 15 BC, the Amphitheatre des Trois Gaules could have accomodated 11,000 people in its day. From any point in the theater, you can clearly hear what is said on stage... we tested this out of course!

Lyon is known for its exceptional cuisine, so, after walking and exploring the city for hours, we were very interested in verifying this fact. We found a local restaurant called "Espace" that truly lived up to Lyon's reputation. From the cotes du rhone wine, to the fresh nicoise olive salad, to the scruptious steak entre and chocolate pot du creme dessert, I left feeling completely spoiled. I think this might be one of my favorite days in France so far!

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