No blog yesterday, we were checking out in Avignon, travelling and checking in to Lyon .
This
morning we set off to explore this large city, making our way, after a longish
walk from our digs, through the bustling main rail station, Gare Lyon Part Dieu. With a couple of kilometres still ahead of us
to reach the Tourism Information Office we succumbed and caught a taxi. Good
decision.
After
stocking up on information and maps from a very helpful young fellow we again
surged forth (on foot this time), crossing the Pont Bonaparte over the Saône River to the historic old town.
Time for lunch at Johnny’s Kitchen, served to us by a young man with a
French mother and American father, who took one look at us and advised us to
share the fish, frittes and salad meal rather than ordering one each. Good decision.
Then to St
Jean’s Cathedrale; built on the site of a sixth century church; work began in
1180 but was not completed until 1486. A
huge building, Gothic in style, with stunning stained-glass windows everywhere
you look. It houses a 14th
century astronomical clock and a treasury with some true treasures; a 10th
century ivory chest, clerical vestments and accoutrements spanning back over
the centuries, including robes designed by the architect who designed the
Notre-Dame de Fourviere Basilica (we’ll be up there tomorrow). Henry IV married Marie de Medici here in 1600. An interesting wedding; the groom wasn’t
there – he was tied up elsewhere fighting a war. His
Majesty sent his Grand Squire, Roger de Bellegarde, to marry in his place. The squire
arrived on September 23 in Florence, Italy – where the wedding was to be held –
with a power of attorney authorising him to marry the future queen on behalf of
the king. And the bride had never set
eyes on her husband-to-be; she was not to meet him until December 2, in Lyon,
and the wedding was formally sealed by a Papal legate during a mass at St
John’s Cathedral on 9 December.
Then off to the Museum of Cinema and
Miniatures, which absolutely blew us away with its vast collection of costumes
from films, models made for animation use, large spaceships and other vessels
as stand-ins for the real thing, and then an amazing display of literally thousands
upon thousands of miniature models and individual items set up in displays of
homes, shops, schools, movie sets. We
watched a film by an internationally-acclaimed South Korean animation artist
who worked primarily on Batman movies. A
wonderful hour and a half spent marvelling at the artistic talents of so many
unsung behind-the-scenes creators who, over many decades, have brought the
impossible to life.
We left to wander back home, passing
the enormous Lyon Court of Appeal and Assizes, again crossing the Saône and also the Rhône (the two
rivers meet here), pausing at the Hostel Dieu Chapel
with its beautiful pulpit, admiring yet another fountain and stopping for
refreshments at an impossible-to-walk-past patisserie. Did most of it on foot but eventually
succumbed and hailed a taxi for the final couple of kilometres. Good decision.
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