Friday 19 October 2012

More time away...


So after Paris we took one of those speedy double-decker trains down to Lyon. Why Lyon? Partly just because it's a part of France we've never been to before. We arrived in Lyon on the Saturday afternoon (6th October) and it was hotter than a Scottish summer's day and busy and really very lovely as cities go. We walked, saw the new town, the quite old town and then very old town. Then we got the funicular up the hill to see the views out over them all... and then we went back down again to eat a very nice meal indeed (guidebook said the food in Lyon is some of the best in France - quite some statement - and it seems the book was right). Young one had such a nice chocolate dessert that she went quite giddy...



whilst Mark pronounced the white wine I'd ordered (some Mâcon) the "best he'd ever tasted" (we were, fairly evidently, high on life... or wine and chocolate anyway). For me it was just nice to be outside and not fighting off pigeons (as in Paris). I do not like to eat with pigeons round my ankles!

Anyway on the Sunday we made our way to the Institut Lumière for it was here, in Lyon, that the whole business of cinema/film really started (and remember we have young film fan on board). The Institut, as you might expect, is not the most kid friendly tourist attraction in the world but she still enjoyed it (all worship the audioguide!) and we did too (it was quite laid-back, old-school...). The photo at the top is just one of the rooms in the museum... there was a film showing... there was no-one else in there... I liked the shapes.

After this we took the bright and shiny Lyon metro back into town:

 
ate more, even went to the cinema (in French... mais bien sûr!), ate ice-cream, took another metro...

And then on the Monday we picked up a hire car and headed, quite literally, for the hills. First Chambéry (lunch break - nice fountain full of elephants) and then Annecy (to see the lake, to eat more...). Annecy, for most visitors, is picture-postcard-pretty:


 
 
and judging by all the restaurants it must be HEAVING in the summer months. We stayed in a place just on the edge of the town (quiet, up in the hills really) and then the next day headed for Switzerland. But that will be next post.

11 comments:

The Solitary Walker said...

I really like Lyon.

Rachel Fox said...

And now you mention it... didn't we see one of those yellow shell signs you guys follow there? A chemin/camino of some kind?
x

The Solitary Walker said...

I'm not aware of a Camino going through Lyon, Rachel, but I could be wrong. However, Lyon station's the place where you catch the train to Le Puy-en-Velay, the start of the incomparably beautiful Via Podiensis, which cuts across SW France to the Spanish border (and thence to Santiago). I was there earlier this year, and took that train from Lyon to Le Puy via Saint-Étienne:
http://solitary-walker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/setting-out.html

Rachel Fox said...

Well we did come into Lyon train station (the Part Dieu one) so maybe that's where we saw the shell. M might remember better than me!
x

The Weaver of Grass said...

You certainly get around Rachel.

The Bug said...

Looks like fun! I need to remember to get back to your FB pics (It's been a crazy week here!).

hope said...

Like you, I loved the shapes of the first photo!

Travel on...I'll be the one in corner, looking at the photos and eating chocolate so I'll feel present. ;)

Domestic Oub said...

I lost concentration on your post once you mentioned wine and chocolate. All I had dancing around my head was wine and chocolate. (Let it be noted, this wasn't due to the quality of blog post, just my obsession with wine and choclate...)

Rachel Fox said...

Ah chocolate... and we haven't even got to the chocolate tasting in Switzerland yet! Just thinking about it forced me to make some chocolate buns this afternoon. In theory they are for visiting children but in reality they are for me just as much.
x

Domestic Oub said...

Lol :) And now I've the urge to go off and bake some buns!

Rachel Fox said...

Sorry!
x