Lovely Lyon

A few months ago Jamie and I planned a day trip to Lyon for March 31^st.  In all honesty it had been pushed to the very back of my mind with a trip to Geneva, my parents visit, and settling back into school post-vacation I had been too preoccupied to focus on Lyon.  Usually before a trip I will investigate places to see, interesting facts, recommended restaurants, etc to have an idea of what to get out of the visit.  But for the day in Lyon that was not the case.  All I knew about Lyon was that it is France’s 2^nd/3^rd largest city (Marseille and Lyon swap between 2^nd and 3^rd) and that two rivers Le Rhône and La Saône flow through it.  But, for this trip there was no agenda and last minute our friend Jim decided to join in on the day, too!  We took an early train leaving at 7:21am and our train home wasn’t until 10:04pm- a full morning, afternoon, and evening!  Visiting larger cities always reminds me how small Dijon really is, as Jim pointed out we had been walking for 15 minutes from the station in Lyon and hadn’t even reached the city center whereas in Dijon you would have already seen so much.  Once we got to the main part of the city we were greeted by a large statue of Louis XIV- the sun king!  I found it fitting that he was the first thing we saw as our entire day was spent soaking in the warm sun. (And what a strong sun it was- Jim and Jamie got sunburns meanwhile I, of course, got tan.)

Louis XIV

There was also a lion by Louis so the Phi Mu in me needed a picture:

a Lion in Lyon-- that should count for double!

As we wandered further into the city we stumbled upon an open air market- oh so typically French.  The market was a treat- veggies, fruits, breads, seafood, cheeses, meats, flowers, and more:

In the market we purchased a loaf of bread with olives in it and found a café to sit and share it.  A cappuccino and amazing bread- breakfast of champions in my opinion! The nice thing about not having a plan or must-see list was that we just wandered about and got to know the city on our own terms. We climbed up to Notre-Dame and took in this beautiful view of the city:

On our way up we stumbled upon some ancient, Roman ruins:

 Theatre

Ruins behind the theatre

Then we wandered back down to the old city to explore some more:

It was such a relaxing day full of simple pleasures.  We had walked and climbed so much that during the afternoon we took a break to sit along the river Saône and eat some delicious gelato, which turned into playing a French game “Dobble”, which then turned into hours of conversation.  Certain cities hold a special place in my heart and Lyon is now one of them.  Lyon was a breath of fresh air as it reminded me of two important things: 1) that no matter how mundane and normal life has become here that there is still so much more to appreciate, discover, and love about France and 2) that so much of who I am is made up of by a need to travel, explore, and see new places.

Word of the Post: rafraîchissant -- refreshing