On Thursday I was hoping to travel to Labouhyre to where my grandparents were married, unfortunately there was not a rental car to be found in all of Bordeaux due to the recent rail strikes. Additionally, an international tennis tournament begins on Monday so all cars were spoken for and the train to Labouhyre would arrive after the registrar office would be closed. Instead I spent the day touring more areas of Bordeaux, visiting St. Michel area and their open market. Also walking along St. Catherine street which is basically a very very long shopping district with every store imaginable. On Friday, I packed my bags and spent 3 hours in the Bordeaux airport waiting for my flight to Lyon.
I arrived in Lyon around 7 last night so I spent the day today touring as many sites as I could. I visited 4 churches, 2 open markets, the public square of Bellecour and climbed over 380 stairs. I also toured Lyon’s Opera House which was an ordeal due to a special day the Opera company was hosting. I stood in line longer there than any other location I have visited so far in my travels.
Old Lyon has a wealth of history and is built on a hill. As you walk down from Fourviere hill from the Notre Dame Basilica there is the old roman sites with the theatres and then the Renaissance area with the cobbled streets and buildings. I am staying in one of the buildings in the heart of old Lyon. There are passageways called traboules that you can move through during the day. I went through one area which was where I encountered the steps.
The people in Bordeaux were much more relaxed, laid back and friendly than I have found in Lyon. The people in Lyon are a little less tolerant of someone who does not speak French and who would rather eat fish or chicken as opposed to beef, sausage or pork.
One thing I have noticed about both Bordeaux and Lyon – dinner is an occasion and the local women forgo tennis shoes. I honestly do not know how they balance in heels on the cobble stone streets. I know if I had heels or wedges on I would either break my ankle or backside. I have a hard enough time walking in flat shoes. The cobble stones are not only uneven but in all the streets in old town Lyon they slant to a gutter down the middle for drainage purposes. On top of that the streets are literally only 6-7 feet wide with clearance in most instances of less than 2 feet on either side of the cars that drive through. In the areas where there is more clearance the local shops set up table and chairs for serving.
Tomorrow I am leaving for Marseille but I should have enough time to visit the Park de la Tete d’Or, St. Just and 2 museums I missed today.
talesbytess.com 