Lyon

So this past Saturday I found myself in Lyon, the third biggest city in France behind Marseille (or 2nd biggest in urban population). I was also surprised to learn that it's considered the capital of gastronomy in France, which meant that I ate very well. Unfortunately we only spent a day there but I plan to return this summer, especially since it's only an hour from Grenoble. We arrived Saturday morning and the weather couldn't have been better! The first thing we did was take a tour of the old section of the city and afterwards we ate (for about 2 hours) and then went up the hill that overlooks the city, right next to the old quarter, where I explored the Roman ruins and the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. As always there is simply too much to describe in detail, but I'll give some highlights.

In a large square in the heart of the city. You can see the Basilica of Notre-Dame atop the Fourvière hill. To the right of the Basilica is would appeared to me a radio tower inspired by the Eiffel Tower

Cathedral of St. John, in the heart of the old city, with the Basilica of Notre-Dame in the background.

The tour was very well done and I loved seeing the old architecture, especially the atriums that we saw in the center of some buildings. We never actually entered any of the buildings, but some atriums (if that's what you call them, some were tiny!) were open to the public. I'll post some pictures for you to see. The final part of the tour was the Cathedral of St. John which was stunningly beautiful, partly due to being very recently renovated. It was one of my favorites because the outside looked so clean and white, the inside was filled with stained glass, and there was a very intricate 14th century astronomical clock. The clock goes of at least once a day (I think twice, but it could be more) with an array of mechanical figures playing some music. We witnessed it at the 12 pm sounding, but unfortunately my battery died as I was taking a video and I couldn't change it in time. I guess I'll just have to go back!

One of the atriums, if that's how you call them. My back is against the opposite wall. We walked through what felt like a small catacomb to reach the center, it was very cool.

Cathedral of St. John with some fountain in the courtyard

The astronomical clock. There was a crowd of people waiting around it for it to go off, 

so it was tough to get a good picture

Afterwards we went to eat at a nearby restaurant called 1 2 3 Café (which was on a small street composed solely of 8-10 restaurants). We had a nice 3 course meal and of course I opted to eat the most traditional, bizarre food as possible. My first course was a Lyonnaise salad (Saladier Lyonnais) which is veal foot, a hard boiled egg cut in half, lettuce with a brown mustard dressing, and I think snout. The meat was delicious and rich, but a little fatty. However it was one of the best salads I've eaten; I ate it all and half of another student's. Next I had "Tablier de sapeur à la lyonnaise" which is cow stomach. It was good, but a little more bland than I'd like. It's chewy and a bit tough, but of course I was satisfied with my choice! The desserts were pretty normal so I had crème brûlée (so delicious!!!). However, as I ordered it, I realized that the name literally means "burnt cream" in English. Oh the things you realize when learning a language!

Saladier Lyonnais

Tablier de Sapeur, or cow stomach

The next thing we did was take a small tram up the hill to see the basilica. It was hands down the most beautiful church I've ever seen, much more lively, ornate, and colorful than any of the other cathedrals. Unfortunately the main area was being renovated and scaffolding covered the ceiling, but the floor was decorated with colorful patterned tiles, lively mosaics told stories on every wall, and the entire place was simply a work of art. The interior was just as grandiose as any typical cathedral and I exited through some other rooms (a marble room for a stairwell and another relatively large, ornate room for I think prayer). About 15 minutes later, after taking some pictures of the city, I returned to see were the stairs went (I thought it was just going to be some small area, possibly off-limits), but to my surprise it opened into more or less yet another church. It's actually the crypt of Saint Joseph, but I don't fully understand Catholic traditions/architecture so I don't know the purpose. 

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

The bottom part of the basilica (and me!). The two doors next to me lead to the crypt of Saint Joseph, but they were off limits and we had to take the inside stairs.

Cool floor decorations. I didn't take many good pictures of this part because of the renovation work, but believe me, it's amazing. I didn't get a shot of the ceiling because it was covered, check other photos online

You can see some of the mosaic art on the wall, though not very well, in this picture.

The crypt of saint Joseph, directly underneath the room in the two previous pictures.

Lyon! You can see the Rhône and Saône rivers parallel to each other, forming the "Presqu'île", or "almost river", between them. I took this picture right next to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.

My next and last destination was the Roman ruins. This was another very pleasant surprise because I had no idea that the Romans had a role in ancient Lyon, let alone that there are ruins there! It was a short 5-10 minute walk and the ruins consisted of a large theatre (which had been big enough for 10,000 people in Roman times) and what seemed to be a smaller theatre right next to it. It was a spectacular sight and very nice because no part was really off limits (I ended up climbing all over the place). Well this pretty much sums up the trip (yes, I know it was a long summary...). If you want to see more pictures, find me on facebook.

Roman ruins

The view from the top (with my shadow). You can see the city in the top right corner and the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière in the top left.

On the smaller ruins next to the large theatre.