Lyon, France

---

Today I explored Lyon. This city was not on my tourist radar before, but it turns out to have a number of interesting sights and a very good fine arts museum. First thing this morning I visited the Tourist Information office to buy a Lyon CityCard which gives me discounts to many sights and free use of public transportation. I used it right away to take the funicular up the hill to the Notre Dame Basilica, a church built to thank Our Lady for saving the city from the Prussians in 1872 (see photo of the church at the top of the hill). I forgot to mention that before I bought the CityCard I watched a bit of a "boules" tournament on the city square (see photo). I have seen the game being played many places in France. Don't ask me what the rules are, but it looks like fun. OK, back to church at the top of the hill. There is a nice view from there over the city (see photo). There are two rivers, the Sôane in the foreground flows from its source north of Dijon, and the Rhone comes from Geneva. They meet here and thus Lyon has been an important city for thousands of years. Yes, thousands. The Romans made it a capital city and there is a nice Roman history museum here, complete with remains of a large theater (see photo). There used to be a fairly large arena, too, but it was quarried down to a few scattered blocks so it doesn't make a very impressive picture. Lyon is a pleasant, walkable city (see photo) and has a lovely Old Town that is fun to explore. For several hundred years its chief industry was silk and even today there are silk screen "factories" where artists produce scarves, dresses, etc (see photo). The last place I visited today was the art museum. I was quite impressed with the quantity and quality of the sculpture and paintings. Rick Steves says that it is the second best art museum in France (after the Louvre) and I can well believe it. The museum was a bit crowded because we had the beginning of the predicted rain. We shall see if the rain persists or clears up by tomorrow.

---