Walking from Lyon Part-Dieu (train station) to the city center. Everything in this part of the city seemed to be salmon colored.
A nice riverwalk along the Rhone.
Proof that I was actually on the ground in Lyon!
Walking under a bridge along the Rhone.
And the view from the bridge!
Check out those clouds.
Walking across the Saone river to get to Vieux Lyon
A view of the pedestrian foot bridge
A look up Fourviere hill and the Basilica de Notre Dame at the top!
I was inside this church. It was... fine.
Starting up the stairs to get to the basilica! I learned later that there was a bus that took you up there too...
Here's a terrible picture I took while having to stop on the stairs because I was wheezing too hard. The picture was just a front for the old couple motoring up behind me.
How I felt at the top of the stairs.
And the journey continues...
More hills!
Our conquering hero.
Another terrible picture I took whilst wheezing up the hill!
But hey! I brought a friend along!
Lyon's answer to the Eiffel Tower?
I made it to the church! I wonder if the parishioners here back in the day pre-bus got extra God points because getting up that damn hill was such a pain. Or maybe their best and only reward was that their thighs and butts looked awesome.
JP2!
A nice view of Lyon from the top of Hell Hill.
And again!
I was promised an "orchard" by a sign on this hill but I only found this. Some orchard!
After making my way down the hill (and reading about 100 pages of a Civil Action on a bench), I went to the Musee Gadagne-- which I was under the impression was a history museum. It turned out to be an adventure of epic proportions. Not really. You see here a set of poorly marked stairs. I went up said stairs only to find that they deadended into a white wall.
The museum was filled with stuff like this. Poorly made shoes and other sundries.
Any idea what this is supposed to mean? Close your eyes? Put out your eyes? No eyes allowed?
A painted ceiling. I can't remember anything about this.
If this were a New Yorker cartoon, the caption would be "What do you mean 'Just a clock'"?!
So after reading about the seemingly endless history of Lyon, I wandered into a series of deserted rooms filled with... TERRIFYING PUPPETS
Here are some more.
And more.... The description of this one was really long in French and the only translated bit into English offered that "the hands and feet of chicken are of real animal"
I've got nothing for this one.
So the big one has a puppet and then the medium one has a puppet and the little one has a puppet. But wait, here's the catch, THEY'RE ALL PUPPETS.
Nothing like some light reading about a leukemia cluster. But actually, this is a great book. Thanks dad!
I don't have pictures of the rest of day 1 but it included: a nap, a movie, a walk after the movie and helping an old man zip up his coat. I'm a hero. I sometimes wonder how quickly this country is going to crumble after I leave. Probably pretty quickly!
Day 2 in Lyon... I found a Montessori school on my walk to the park.
A rainy day for a park. I should have known it was going to rain considering my foot scar had been throbbing. Just kidding, that doesn't happen.
Ah yes. Here's where some deer lived in the house from The Secret of Roan Inish
This is perhaps my favorite part of the day. There are turtles in this picture...
I don't know if you can read the sign but apparently this is where Floridian turtles go to retire!
Some nice smelling bushes. Much nicer smelling than me considering my luggage for the weekend was a change of underwear and three pain au chocolat.
You can't tell in the picture but these flamingos were in an epic war with the seagulls that kept dive bombing them for food.
Just like on safari!
I found a greenhouse!
Hanging out with my plant friends.
So that's all I've got. I think I can declare my little solo trip to Lyon a wild success.
