Lyon – we walked our legs off

For those not familiar with the Afrikaans idiom- we set off and walked and walked and walked a long way in exploring the city of Lyon.  After the initial expedition on day one up the hill to Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere then walked down through the rose garden into the old city and along the banks of the Soame back to the boat located at the southern tip of the Pesquile.   A short afternoon, evening stroll to orientate ourselves.  We also established that there was an audio guide for hire from the tourist office at the Bellecour square.

Day two with audio guide at ear we took the metro to the Hotel de Ville – the Town Hall to get the background of the new Lyon National Opera house built inside and on top of the original walls.  The roof is a black barrel vault of steel and glass which hovers over the Neo-Classical shell with its statues and columns.  One wonders why Sydney Opera house is acclaimed as great?

From there back onto the metro for the ride up the hill in to the area of the silk workers of the past, the Croix Rousse or working hill.  (Fourviere is the praying hill with all its churches).  This area was the main silk producing district of Lyon which gave birth to the canuts apartments (not dissimilar to Venice) where the work was conducted on the ground floor with its long, large windows for light and high ceilings, the next floor for trade and the top levels for living.  This area is regarded as the site of the first social revolt of the workers against the silk merchants.  The local still view themselves as rebels and different which it is apparent in the architecture and streetscape.
From the top of the hill we walked down the main Boulevard to the site of Croux Rousse which was in the C16 a large limestone cross but today it is marked by the Gros Caillou – big pebble which now looks like a stone too large for a frontend loader to move so the city fathers turned it into a tourist feature!  It’s a long walk for a look at a rock but the view east over the city is rewarding and one realizes just how extensive Lyon is and how it has been built in waves extending outwards from the river and not in circles like other cities.
From here we took a Traboules - they are corridors that connect the internal courtyards of the adjoining buildings and apartments but also link the parallel streets.  A short cut to get to work quickly if you know the route.  The one we followed was through four courtyards and down many steps before we can out at the Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls said to be the largest in Gaul but not used then or today to martyr Christians or to host concerts.
We were back at river level and walked down the Rue de la Martiniere to a mural of the famous people of Lyon painted on the side of a five story building.  Next we crossed the bridge back into the Old Lyon - the narrow strip of land between the Fourviere hill and the bank of the Soame.  The largest Renaissance area in France so the tourist guide states.  Bounded by the three churches St Paul, St George and St Jean which we had visited the previous day and would return to hear a choir on Wednesday.  Inside we watched the astronomical clock of the 14C go through its routine right on the hour.

Back along the rue de Beouf for a snack – just kidding.  We entered a Traboules at 27 to come out in Rue St Jean.  The door is closed so all you have to do is ring the bell and the door will open and you will enter the world of the past with narrow corridors, steep steps and narrow internal courtyards, with people living in all the apartments.  Not the place to have an argument.
It was almost six o clock and we had to return the audio guide to Bellecour square which we did and took the Metro at 17:37 back across the Soame to connect with the venicular to the top of Fourviere to see the two excavated Roman theatres.  No people just modern lighting, speaker systems, scaffolding and a large stage.  It may have been great in its day but today it just looks like a construction site.  The heat was getting to Denny so we stopped on the steps for a rest.  The minutes ticked by.  We set off back to the venicular but just missed the down and had to wait.  The next leg across town was a few minutes wait thenout onto the street level for the tram back to Malua.
Lyons transport system is great, it works, is interlinked and simple to use.  Don’t ride it without a ticket. We had been checked twice that day. The other thing is that you can ride for one hour on the same ticket.  Jump on, jump off.   We started our hour at 17:37 taken four legs when we caught the penultimate leg across town to connect with the tram south to the marina.  The display board at the tram stop stated the next tram would arrive 18:36 and we would have just one minute to spare.  How good is the system and their clocks? The tram arrived at 18:35 I rushed in and punched the ticket and got a green light from the machine to indicate I had a valid ticket.  Relax, my legs where killing me. Just two stop to go.  Alas at the next stop six ticket inspectors stoped the tram and boarded the two carriages checking every passenger’s ticket with their portable machine.  I offer up my ticket, They swipe mine, a bell goes off, swipe again and some comment about un minute but gave it back.  Great system, it works because I could not have walked another block for I had walked my legs off in Lyon.

Eating out in Lyon

It is said that Lyon is the French capital for food and wine and one can not get a poor meal in this town.  To those of you that have heard my rant about choosing a restaurant and eating out now is the time to click to another page because you would have heard the end of this story not once but many times before.  But for those of you that are new to Harry’s helpful hints to eating out, settle down with a good wine and a few pieces to nibble on – supplied of course from your own cellar or larder and let me begin.
Being a scientific sort of chap I like to gather information, review, research and then make an informed choice on most things I invest money in.  Now try to do that in the area of choosing a restaurant is a challenge in itself.  You say read a review, yes I reply, great decide to go, phone to reserve a table…..sorry only in three weeks time.  Not the way when you are travelling.  Well look at the menu displayed outside.  If displayed outside deduct 5 points, if in English deduct a further 10 points.  If printed on glossy paper, minus 5 and if includes pictures a further 5 points.  Now on balance any loss of points would exclude a restaurant in France but having passed these test proceed to the next step.

If large with many people all looking relaxed, skip to next location – they are not locals.  I could continue as Denny would say ad norsiam but you must get the idea.

On this occasion I did my research and found in a well respected guide book that Lyon has a Rue du Beouf and on the corner of this rue and that of Place Neuve St Jean is a statue of a bull.  That must be a good indicator of the restaurant especially as the restaurant is called Le Comptoir du Boeuf right next door to a famous wine merchant Antic.  The menu was displayed but not obtrusively and there was no visible English.  We chose a good table and then decided on a E15 and E20 menu of the day from a menu given us which now containing English subtitles!  The piece de resistance for me was the thick cut beef steak with French fries.  I did choose to start with salmon soaked in dill and wine.  After tasting the pink blotting paper (for the younger readers substitute paper towel) I should have realised that something was amiss.  The steak arrived and as we do on these momentous occasions I duly recorded in digital format the meal to pass on to future traveller or to savour again and again as we discus the memorable meal while viewing our pictures.  The first cut into the juicy tenderloin was a give away.  I spilt the wine in the glass as a sawed my way through a small piece with the steak knives provided.  I realized that even my preference for underdone meat would be challenged so I requested that chef at least light a match under this piece of meat.  It returned no better in taste, cooking or texture.  To such an extent that I chose to leave the better part of the meal on the plate.
Denny’s meal – neither of us could remember what it was suppose to be because it was just bland and the potatoes did nothing to improve the meal.

Being a reserved sort of guy I held back on the answer to “Did you enjoy your meal?” and put it down to poor research and laziness because after a few minutes after sitting down I wanted to leave but chose not too.  Next time as soon as you see an electronic order taking machine in the hands of a French waiter in an “authentic restaurant” leave immediately and seek out a menu written on a black board or better still eat at home with produce chosen from the local market.