Lyon

Thursday we took the day off – no wine and chocolate. This is supposed to be a vacation – why are we getting up early to be ready to go by 8:00 a.m.? Anyhow, we slept in and had a leisurely day playing Backgammon and just relaxing. Jan beat Dick at Backgammon 3 games to 2. She actually skunked him twice.

Friday we made it for an early morning bus tour of Lyon. Lyon is the third largest city in France. Its location is almost perfect – it lies between the Rhone River and the Saone River and is close to Paris, the Alps and the South of France. It was founded as a Roman city in the first century BC. There doesn’t seem to be much left of the Roman ruins. The medieval part of the city isn’t very impressive; nothing exciting except for the hidden passage ways that run all over the old city. Lyon became the center of silk manufacturing in Europe in the 15th Century. The hidden passageways were originally developed to keep the silk out of the rain and the sun as it was transported from place to place. During World War II, French resistance fighters used the passageways to elude the Nazis. Some other interesting facts about Lyon: Motion pictures were first made here, the first school for veterinary medicine started in Lyon, the author of the Little Prince was born in Lyon, and Lyon was the center of the Resistance Movement against the Germans in World War II. Here are some of the city sights. Supposedly, you can see all the way to the Alps on a clear day.

This is the church they call the white elephant on its back:

Streets of Lyon:

The city has several painted scenes on its buildings. This building has famo0us French personalities painted on it. There are no windows.

After the bus tour, we snuck into an impressive old synagogue with a Canadian doctor we met on our cruise. The three of us had lunch together in a “typical” French café instead of returning to the boat for our meal. We then spent the rest of the afternoon touring a museum established to honor the French Resistance Movement. The museum was very well done and described the support that Vichy France provided to the Germans during the war as well as efforts of the Resistance movement to try to stop the Germans. We were moved by what we saw.

Today, Saturday, is our last full day on the cruise. We have an early morning tour planned in the French city of Beaune. In the afternoon, we are taking a bus tour up to Burgundy. We disembark the River Royale on Sunday morning and have a 12:45 p.m. train to Paris. Unfortunately, we were not able post last night because we were sailing up the Saone River and didn't dock until early this morning. We will not be able to get an internet connection again until we’re in Paris.