Day 12: Romans and Tartines
Food and Beverage of the Day
Tartines
Cider
Practicalities
Cities: Chamonix
Lyon
Weather: Sunny
Hotel: Élysée
Sights: Gallo Roman Museum
Roman Theater
Place Bellecour
Related Links:
Rick on Dangling Slowly and Silently Past Europe's Tallest Mountain
Trish on Why Climb Every Mountain When You Can Take the Lift
Europe The Day After a Terrorist Attack
We woke up this morning to the news of the Bastille Day attack in Nice. What’s it like to be in Europe the day after a terrorist attack? Much like it is to be in the United States. People are sad. Everyone is watching the news. Memorials pop up. Security is tighter.
During the remainder of the trip we saw a much more active armed military presence – patrols in the Lyon train station, around the Eiffel Tower, even in the Place des Vosges in Paris when we walked out of a restaurant on our last night.
On a practical level, it took us longer than usual to run the gauntlet of security procedures in Charles de Gaulle airport when we left, so make sure you allow yourself plenty of time, more than you normally would, if you’re flying out shortly after one of these incidents happen.
Did we feel that we were in danger? No, no more than usual. We live in Orlando and took this tour less than a month after the Pulse nightclub shooting, which hit very close to home for us, so we know tragic incidents can happen anywhere. I actually feel safer in Europe than I do in the U.S. these days. So it was sad, but it didn’t change any of our plans for the rest of the trip.
Related Links:
We wake to the news that someone drove a truck into a crowd of Bastille Day revelers in Nice last night in a suspected terrorist attack. It's a somber moment, although it does not change our plans for the day. The tour is officially over after breakfast, and we plan to eat, check out, and catch a train to Lyon. And so we head down to breakfast where we see Rick and Trish wearing their Keep on Travelin' t-shirts, a good choice for a day with a shadow over it.
Continuing with the plan, we check out, walk to the train station, and find our platform. And soon we are rolling along toward Lyon. I have always wanted to visit Lyon, but we didn't quite find time for it on our trip to France two years ago. Bill has been before on high school and college trips but wants to go back. I didn't want to bring the whole Rick Steves France book for this stop, so I ripped out the Lyon pages and put them in a binder for a makeshift Lyon guide book, although it pains me to desecrate a book that way. I suppose it's the librarian in me. In any case it's a good time to re-read the Lyon materials.
Chamonix train station
Lyon "guide book"
We change trains twice and arrive in Lyon about 1 pm, in time for a full afternoon and evening. We find the metro station and metro over to Place Bellecour for the short walk to Hotel Élysée. We check in, drop off our bags, and immediately go back out.
Obligatory view from the hotel window
It's a short walk from the hotel to the funicular up the Fourvière hill, and soon we are admiring the view of Lyon (see top of page). We continue on to the Gallo Roman Museum, which is the big reason I wanted to come to Lyon. When we visited France in 2014 we saw the ancient history museum in Arles, which has wonderful Roman remains, including a boat. I'm picturing the boat traffic between Lyon and Arles. I won't bore the non-archaeology geeks in the audience with a blow by blow account of the Gallo Roman Museum, but it was absolutely worth the stop in Lyon. It's built into the hill and has a commanding view of the theater outside, while inside it has beautiful mosaics, death masks, and many other artifacts. Here's a couple of favorites.
We exit and take a look at the theater, where we meet another feline friend. I enjoy meeting cats in Europe.
Then it's on to the cathedral.
Next we return to Place Bellecour. Bill took a photo with some friends in front of a statue when he was here before, and he wants to find the place and take a selfie, and so we do.
We consider having a fancy dinner tonight, but neither of us are in the mood, so we opt for a simpler meal of tartines, toasted open faced sandwiches, a local specialty, and Breton cider, which we tried when we visited Mont St Michel in 2014 and are glad to have a chance to enjoy again.
Lyon from Fourvière Hill