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In Lyon
In Lyon inside apartmentFrance - and a bit more: Week 1
This blog describes our 2023 journey to Europe; specifically France (with the possibility of a small foray elsewhere as Italy & Spain are 'just next door'). As always, we segment the 'blog' into roughly weekly or fortnightly posts (this being the 1st).
Our travel blog has been written for family and friends to 'travel with us'. We now recognise we write the blog for ourselves; it is how we revisit our past adventures and remind ourselves of the the enjoyment. Thus, there is more detail included than merely a brief discourse for family and friends.
BTW, if you want to see the picture in a larger size, just click on it. May 12: Day 1 & 2 - The journey.
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Given the opening of borders after Covid, and some resolution to a couple of our medical 'issues', we decided on the spur of the moment to head to Europe. We got a last minute 'deal' with Singapore Airlines and headed to France.
We'd long cherished our Singapore Airline experiences, but the journey to Paris has changed
our view. We'd been able to get a return ticket in Premium Economy, but the plane used on the journey from Brisbane to Singapore does not have Premium Economy so it was just Economy. While the plane and staff were nice enough, the seating challenged us. The seats are far too narrow and the seating foam way too thin. Given we are relatively small and light, we wondered how typically framed Australians would cope!
An 8 hour layover in Singapore (maybe the reason for the well valued flight) allowed us to (re)enjoy the Changi Airport - we especially liked sprucing up with a shower and a Singaporean egg breakfast at the Spoke & Wheel (an outside centre targeting bike riders). We followed that refreshment with some relaxation in the
Jewel Centre.
Arriving in Paris at 9:30pm meant an overnight bed nearby (and it was just that!) before heading the next day on the
RER (limited stop express train from airport to city) to Gare de Lyon (station). There, we took a TGV (a very fast train like a Japanese Shinkansen) to Lyon. Though cool with a cloud covered gloomy sky, looking out the train window
revealed a landscape so inviting to the eye; verdant green pastures, Spring wildflowers, and trees in bloom. Along the way, it seemed odd to travel next to a freeway and see cars going at 110kph looking like they were dawdling along.
Lyon is reputed to be France's 3rd largest city. It's certainly smaller than Paris. But, then, along the way there were oodles of differing sized rural villages; meaning that the population isn't congregated into centres like Australia. Hence, the city plus outlying villages would make for a largish population. We read that the Lyon urban area is home to 500 thousand residents, but the greater conurbation is greater than 2 million. We found that the city layout (both building heights and thoroughfare placements) reflects a similar influence found in the
Haussmann fashioned (reconstructed?) Paris. Only in the past 2 decades has the height limitation within the CBD been challenged (and then only by a very few buildings).
Upon arriving, we made our way by Metro to the apartment we'd booked and sighed a relief that the pictures used to describe the place did really reflect the reality. We are now wary of the
Local brew
Not Craft, but thirst quenching. over beautification of the ordinary by artistic 'license' is so prevalent these days. After being welcomed and given the keys, we made our way to the nearest supermarket for some basic provisions. The apartment is in the 'suburb' of Monplaisir, about 6km from the city centre (of
La Part-Dieu).
Being a Sunday, we couldn't buy fresh bread or alcohol. Our resolution was to find a bar for a dose of liquid refreshment. Back to the apartment for a 'hit' of beautiful French cheeses and French salami (quite different - still chewy, but with a much softer flavour). After some pasta, we took our tired and sleep deprived bodies to bed and slept well!
May 15: Day 3 - Taking stock and finding our bearings.
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Morning seemed to fly by. A late start, several telephone calls to family, and a review of the literature about potential 'tourist' options found us scrambling early afternoon to go shopping for more provisions; a meal for dinner, beer, wine -
the important bits! We shouldn't have rushed, the shops are open to 9pm - about the same time as sunset. Anyway, we
Cakes
Just the 'ordinary'!!! did what we did!
The shopping centre was a single store; like a big David Jones type stand alone department store with a good supermarket within. It'd been a few years since our last foray to France (2015) and it was nice to be reminded how different French fashion is to the drab stuff served in Australia; there is a focus on colour that seems to escape the attention or interest of Australians. Without doubt, there's more
joie de vivre in the use of colour; from the romantic florals to the ultra smart chic.
We found the supermarket cakes to be akin to that served in Australian patisserie's (the French term for these offerings is Patisserie Traditionale). French cakes are more flavoursome than at home and without the level of sugar that Americanised Australians appear to prefer. Within the department store was an actual (or specialty) patisserie - there the cakes were mind boggling; each an art form. The quality of product in the (actual) patisserie within the store was oh-so wonderful; there may be a couple of similar offerings in Australia (in high end suburbs). Stocking up with craft beer, patisserie, and other
City green - Monplaisir
Instead of mown grass, Lyon lets it be 'au nataruelle'. provisions, we headed back to our digs.
Lyon does not 'do' the typical pavement / nature strip / corner park design as we'd see in Australia (or, most urban cities). Here, natural grasses, wildflowers, native small shrubs are encouraged; probably planted &/or maintained that way. Along the wide boulevards there is pavement for pedestrians, bikes and cars, but instead of just trees dotted along (maybe edged with lawn / gravel or bitumen) there was the 'wild green'. This 'wild green' consists of some (obviously) planted shrubbery, but also native grasses are allowed to grow and within are wildflowers like (Flanders) poppies, Cornflowers and so many more. The only obvious place we saw mowed lawn is where the trams run - unlike Australia where tram tracks are embedded in concrete - the 'green' tramways makes for a much softer ambience. In the parks, there is mowed grass, but it is mowed infrequently with the cutter blade leaving some 100mm uncut (unlike the 5mm typical in Australia).
May 16: Day 4 - Heading out for a shufti.
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Our original plan for the day was to start by wandering up to the nearby
Panorama de Lyon, from Fourviere
This is a panorama of Lyon - from Wikipedia. The weather did not enable my pics to be as good. marche alimentaire (fresh food market; like our growers' market) that the landlord had raved about. Turns out that his idea of close proximity was quite different to ours - we felt the distance required public transport to attend. But, a cold change overnight sent the temperature further down and the idea of wandering looking (buying) food was no longer appealing. Instead, we rugged up, went to the Metro to take us to the streets of the 'old' town.
Lyon (as a town/city) has occupied the present site on the convergence of the Rhône and Saône rivers since before Roman occupation. To the west of the rivers, the landscape is marked by a relatively high escarpment; an eroded hill on the west and another to the north. We understand that prior to Roman occupation, the 'city' was a busy trading port and straddled the river convergence as both offer navigable waters. The Romans chose to build up on the escarpment, with many of their (now ruined) civic theatres still intact. We learned that following the departure of the Romans, the urban area around the old Roman civic area remained
in situ till the 14th century. We wondered why
people would cart water up a 500m embankment when the surrounding plain offered a better opportunity. Apparently, the black plague encouraged townsfolk to build lower down, making their mark on the west side of the Saône River. In the 7th century, the 'city' moved to the peninsula of the convergence. By the mid 18th century, the core became centred on the eastern side of the Rhône River.
As tourists, we noted the attractions lay in the historical parts; on the top of the hill to the west , the north
La Croix-Rousse, known as "the hill that works" because it is was home to many small silk workshops, an industry for which the city has long been renowned] the peninsula between the 2 rivers and the city administrative and retail centre .
When leaving our apartment, we didn't adequately realise how biting the cold wind was to our bodies recently departed from the sub-tropics. We braved the cold wind to the (underground) Metro and took it to the western side of the city, changing
to ascend the escarpment using a (seemingly ancient)
Funicular. Upon exit, we headed straight to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière and admired the fresco'ed interior and relished the relative warmth. This destination is popular as from the courtyard at the rear of the church is a magnificent view over the city. With a biting wind and a dark gloomy sky, the scene was not worthy of a photograph. We quickly headed back to the Funicular.
Still persisting with the 'touristy' bit, we took the Funicular and Metro in reverse order to the
Presqu'île. We arrived at a stop and wanted to change direction to head north. We got our directions wrong and finished up at the southern end near the convergence of the rivers. We emerged, found a cafe for a
cafe and a loo stop, before heading north between tall (5 to 7 story) buildings lining the pedestrian oriented boulevard. The shops here are high end, and the window displays were wonderful, often with amusing additions to catch the viewer's attention. We eventually arrived at the centrepiece, the famous
Place Bellecour. Grand, it may be, but it was also open and the wind cutting. We took
refuge in the Tourist Office to add ideas for our 'adventures'.
Moving on northwards we entered the more commercial part comprising fashion and food. We found a great cafe serving soup and the Lyonnaise version of Onion soup with Croutons made our journey noteworthy. Further north was the
Hotel de Ville, or Town Hall, with another (windy) square and massive statue. The landscape rises up towards
Le Croix-Rousse (the northern escarpment). We made headway on the steep streets and stairways to eventually arrive at
Amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules. There is
much history in the site, but we couldn't enter as it was being set up for a concert. Like similar structures in Greece, it's great they are used these days for that which they were originally intended. Looking at the surviving walls leading into the amphitheatre, we weren't sure that concerts alone were the order of the day back then. Nevertheless, turning around gave us a great view over the
Presqu'ile.
We used a trolleybus to to take us back to the Metro, and 'home' to warmth of our accommodation.
May 17: Day 5 - More 'sightseeing'.
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Yesterday, when attending the Tourist Office, we booked ourselves onto a Walking Tour of
Courtyards and Traboules of Vieux-Lyon. Vieux-Lyon is that flat area on the north side of the Saône River.
The
Traboule, or covered passageway, is not only an urban feature of Vieux-Lyon, these passageways hold a fascinating history. We learned that initially, the traboule was used to enable dwelling residents to access the Saône River for daily water use. The door leading to the river was especially heavy in order for security, but also to minimise the impact of flood waters. Later, as
Vieux-Lyon grew in population, streets further away from the river were developed. At the time of this expansion, we were told, each building site was developed to be about 5 or 6 story's high, with a shopfront to the street and a passageway beside. The passageway led to a small courtyard from whence stairs led to each level. And, with the multiple apartments on each level, another passageway occurred to connect the apartments. In some cases, ground level courtyards abutted and so the passageway may be u-shaped (2 sites) or back to back meaning the passageway went from one street to the next.
Traboule
The stairwell left of centre, covered walkways between apartments to the left, and bay windows to the right. At the time of this enhanced development in
Vieux-Lyon, Lyon was a (the?) major trading centre. Apparently, so we were told, a wealthy Italian 'magnate' began the building 'craze' that adopted the traboule system on each floor. Other history, we learned, is that the French used the traboule with considerable success in evading the impact of Nazi German occupation. As the 'city' moved eastwards and the
Vieux-Lyon area fell into disrepair, the traboules were also a means for the 'unsavoury' to evade police. In the 1960's, locals sought to have the (now) decaying area declared 'historic' so as to enable preservation. Now, it costs an arm and a leg to buy an apartment in the area!
Having spent the morning in
Vieux-Lyon, we wandered south to
St Georges (next 'area' south) and now in sunshine, had an enjoyable cup of coffee with home made 'cookies'! The temperature was still icy, so we made our way by Metro to
La Part-Dieu.
La Part-Dieu is the commercial and retail district, the latter dominated by a massive Westfield shopping mall. We wandered around, looking at fashion, stocking up on a couple of electronic items and getting warm! There was
Traboule - Italienette
The stairwell of an Italian designed building. This would service the whole building and be for one wealthy family (and servants, etc.). a time when the pricing of goods was quite different in each country. Here, we discovered that perfumes, electronic goods, household appliances and the like are pretty much the same price in Australia as we were witnessing here. Clearly, the multinationals have taken 'globalisation' and product pricing to heart.
We decided we'd had enough 'touristing', and took the tram back to our apartment.
Lyon is an amazing place for public transport, especially the connectivity and frequency. It's so easy to change from a bus to a tram to a trolley bus or metro as the cross-overs have been designed to ensure minimal walking distance between each mode. And, during the day, we found metro, trolley buses and trams arrived between 2 and 4 minutes apart. If that was not surprising, it's also that most vehicles were full or nearly full; meaning that the Lyon citizens utilise the network over car driving. Perhaps the reason (aside from the convenience) is that car driving is painfully slow. There are quite expensive tolled motorways for between cities, but the non-tolled roads are really slow.
May 18: Day 6 - And, the 'sightseeing' continues.
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Little did we know but in France May 18 is a public holiday to celebrate Ascension Day. The French have 3 more public 'holiday' days than Australia, and 5 of them are religious days; Ascension Day, Whit Monday, Assumption of Mary and All Saints Day.
Other than the Metro was quieter, it didn't matter to us as we'd planned to venture to
La Croix-Rousse. We took the Metro to the top of the area with the intention of walking downhill. Seemed preferable to the reverse.
There is a well known tourist icon near where we alighted; a huge mural on a monolithic building. In English, known as
Canut Wall Fresco, it was originally painted to 'beautify' a large blank concrete wall and the inspirators sought to depict the daily life of the
Canut’s, or silk workers. Interestingly, every 20 years or so, the Mural has been repainted, and the most recent was to add a decade to the age of those depicted.
Unlike our experience of
Presqu'ile, Vieux-Lyon and
La Part-Dieu, La Croix-Rousse is well vegetated. Admittedly, there is considerably more 'space' between buildings and the streets
are considerably wider, allowing for shrubbery, flowers and trees. In any event, we felt much more relaxed amongst greenery AND the sun was also shining.
After wandering along for a while, we came across a square with a
marche alimentaire, which is a small fresh food market. These markets operate in a locality on specific days (eg. Monday, Thursday, Saturday) and comprise vendors selling fresh foods like meats, fruit, florist, etc. There are always at least one patisserie / boulangerie in a community (generally more) so these providers are absent from the
marche. It's a service that is not only essential in rural France, it is also a destination where locals congregate to discuss / decide / deliberate.
Heading downhill further, we caught glimpses of the city below, and eventually arrived at another small square. Here, the ambience was very relaxed and it seemed appropriate to get a cup of coffee at the cafe. Our
Je ne pas parle Francais, parle voux Englais? is sometime productive, but here it was
non. As we do, we pointed, used our phone translator app and got by. With a delightful cup of creamy coffee and a
rochers View - Croix-Rousse
This is one of several views we 'captured'. coco or Coconut Macaroon, the afternoon just got wonderful.
Rochers coco actually translates to coconut rocks, and we can see why. The filling was the same as Oz, but the outside was sugar coated and lightly burnt - a bit like a
Crème caramel topping.
Continuing onwards, we eventually arrived at the flatter area and
Hotel de Lyon. We decided we'd had enough for the day; especially as Judy had picked up a nasty cough and rest seemed appropriate. We used the tram to return, and being a public holiday it wasn't crowded. The route we took was south of the river confluence and into an area of older apartments. It was obvious by the people in the area, this was where immigrants (especially Nth African and Muslim) were housed. Surprising us, we saw many wearing the Abaya (like the Burqa, but without the full facial covering), but rarely were the garments black. Only on very old women was black used. So, it was informative to see the various colours; greens, beige, reds, yellows, etc. Given that French use florals, we didn't see any floral printed Abaya's, only plain colours.
May 19: Day 7 -
To the park.
Close the city centre is a very large park, and that's where we headed. With the sun shining, we had high hopes of recharging our 'batteries'.
Upon entry, it was obvious the city has a quite different approach to a park than that to which we are accustomed. Officially called
Parc de la Tête d'or translated as
Park of the Golden Head, it not only contains expansive lawns, but also four large rose gardens, huge greenhouses, a botanical garden, a small zoo, a massive lake and a velodrome. The large grassed areas for recreation, which today not being a holiday was still well used by families for games, picnics and sunbaking, are ringed by paths and trees. We imagined that the park would be crowded on weekends and holidays. As noted earlier, the grass is cut quite long (100mm) and so the presentation was of a relaxation (not the formality we're accustomed with short grass). And, with the mature (huge) trees fringing the pathways, in places it had a sort of forest feel.
The greenhouses are unbelievably big. Upon entering, the warmth and humidity took us immediately to home. Ironically, the entry we
used took us into the 'Australien' plants section and it was if we were somewhere like the upper Currumbin Creek in the National Park! Another irony was that plants we call weeds at home were growing here and had nameplates! For example, tobacco bush; each to their own! Though the sun shone, it was still a crisp air and so we didn't feel any rush to depart the greenhouse. But, we eventually did.
Ambling through the park, we next encountered the zoo. Though small in scale, we were impressed with the highly vegetated enclosures for each of the animals. It appeared to us that the guardians have made a home for each of the animals on display and the visiting humans may have been fortunate to see them within the enclosed forest. It was a great contrast to the Australian zoo's we've seen where, though there is a token effort to make the enclosures vegetated, the real purpose is that the animals are on display for human viewing.
We spent the remainder of the day enjoying the park's offerings, having a light lunch beside the large lake, and 'recharging' our batteries. While dense city
Vieux-Lyon
Very narrow streets landscapes are invigorating, they are also taxing. We do prefer the more natural landscapes.
We made our way back to our digs to prepare for our departure from Lyon tomorrow.
May 20: Day 7 - To Provence.
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We'd booked a car with Avis, so Bruce went to pick it up at the designated time; 10am. We were given an automatic hybrid Toyota Corolla, which was a nice car to drive. Most rental cars in Europe are manual, so we appreciated the option. On his return to our apartment, he noticed the handbrake light wouldn't go off and there was another warning sign showing. We decided to return the car rather than take a risk. The car was changed over for a manual Opel 'Crossland', a front wheel drive vehicle much like the Toyota Rav4 (but nowhere near as good). Sadly, the satnav only works in French language, despite the car also being sold as a Vauxhall in Britain (go figure!).
We decided not to use the motorway as it's expensive. We had the time (we thought) to use the local highway. Whether it
Cathedrale St Jean (Vieux-Lyon)
Note the exposed wall and the various uses adopted over time. was because it was a Saturday, or it's normal, the actual traffic speed was often far less than the nominated. And, with passing lanes few and far between, the traffic didn't seek to pass the 'little old ladies out for their daily Baguette'. We noticed little consistency in speed limits; anywhere from 30kph to 110kph. We were enjoying the scenery, the 'quaint' life in the villages, etc., but were struck by the 'life' along the very wide Rhône River. Not only houseboats, but scenic cruiser boats, goods hauling boats and tugs towing barges. It is a well used waterway. And, in several places, the hills close in on the valley and the scenery changes from rolling agricultural hills to a quite intensely vegetated valley.
After a while, we got frustrated and headed for the motorway (and 130kph). We encountered less of the Rhône but more of the mountain scenery.
We arrived at our accommodation later in the afternoon near the village of Monteux, which appears to be a satellite village to Carpentras; both being near Avignon.
While the pictures showing our accommodation in Lyon were spot on, the idea we gleaned
Hotel de Lyon
City Hall square with fountain celebrating something (but we couldn't find out what for). from the pictures at our accommodation here at Monteux was quite different to the reality. Essentially, the 3 bedroom 1960's style house is at the village edge, has views over (unused) farmland and though dated is comfortable. And, is oh,so quiet 😊
We found a decent supermarket in Carpentras, stocked up as needed and thus began the next section of our holiday.
Reflections...
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There are 3 parts to this week's journey; travelling to Lyon, France; Lyon and arriving to Provence.
Travelling is typically forgettable, but we did like our time in Singapore. It's such an ordered place, with a heavy emphasis on greening the walls and landscape with attractive plantings. And, so, a quick 'immersion' is always enjoyable.
Lyon took us by surprise. Clearly, we would have preferred better weather, but nevertheless we found it a charming city. It's sort of like a country cousin to Paris, and at a scale that is far more manageable (for we tourists). We were extremely impressed with the public transport system and that tourist information is readily available.
Apartment
It was 2 levels Perhaps another factor assisted us. Over the past decade, mobile technology has improved immensely. With a (relatively cheap) data card, we were able to use our phone as a means to navigate, learn about places, and generally feel confident 'touristing' independently. It really has been a game-changer for us.
Arriving in Provence begins the next part of the journey. And, hopefully, better weather.
Cheers
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