Visiting Lyon: Day 2

I got a later start than anticipated because I could not sleep the night before. The weather was looking a bit gloomy and my body was kicking me for walking up that giant hill the day before that I decided I should go back down to the center of town first and then I would hopefully have enough energy to walk back up the hill again in a little while. I descended and went to the shopping area as I had the urge to window shop. As I learned at the museum the day before, one of Lyon’s major exports was silk, and I hoped I could find a great silk store as I love textiles. Alas, I saw nothing of the sort much to my disappointment. In this area alone I walked three miles before 1PM.

I finished seeing all I wanted to see in the lower area (it’s called “The Little Island” as it is between the two rivers. I started toward the Saone and saw there was a fresh market that day. I love walking through street markets because the fruit always smells fantastic as does the stinky cheese and the meat looks so fresh. Yum! After browsing, I started to move toward the river walking under some trees when I felt something hit my head. I heard the flutter of wings and hoped it was not what I thought it was. Much to my dismay, it was; a pigeon shit right in my hair. I remember the last time I was pooped on by a bird. It was May 1996 and I was at the Detroit Zoo when a bird pooped on the sleeve of my yellow hoodie. This occurrence in Lyon will certainly be as memorable. I walked over to a fruit vendor who was packing up and asked her if she had a napkin and then showed her my head. She frantically began looking around for one as did her husband and the woman they were helping at the time also searched in her bag. Between the three of them they got a napkin and got me cleaned up. People can be so generous and kind at times it’s incredible. I thanked them thoroughly and continued on my way with a smile on my face thinking my trip to Lyon was now complete.

I did a lot more walking around the foot of the hill looking at different shops and bakeries and funny museums (they have a lot of unusual subjects for museums in Lyon such as one dedicated to miniatures that were used in films and animated wooden dolls/puppets). I made my grand ascent up the hill once more, which was a bit easier this time even though my body was exhausted. I made my way to the Musee Gallo Romain which happened to be free on Thursdays – woohoo! The museum was fantastic too! Lyon was a very important city in the Roman period and it has the finds to prove it! I took a lot of photos for future use in teaching and just enjoyed the museum. 

After the museum I walked outside to the Roman theatres which are right next to it. To my joy, another concert warm-up/practice was going on and I got to see another show for free! Once they finished, I walked slightly uphill again to the highest part of the city to see their famous (though not old) Notre-Dame de Fourviere which was perched on top of the hill overlooking the city. It offered a fantastic view of the city. It was incredible to see because Lyon, while it is the second or third largest city in France, it does not feel that big. Seeing it nestled into the river valleys though, the expanse of the area is evident and breathtaking. The other incredible thing of note is that from this point it is possible to see Mont Blanc on a clear day (and it was for me) which is 250km (155 miles) away! Unbelievable!

I headed back to my Couchsurfing host’s apartment and waited for her there. We made some pasta for dinner and she suggested we see a concert of Caribbean and African music that was playing in a park for free. Lyon has great summertime festivities for its residents and this concert was part of an event called “All the World Outside” which features different types of music each week. Well, we underestimated the precise distance of the other park and did not realize we would have to descend our hill only to climb up another. While on the map it is about 2 miles round trip, with the going up and down, up and down it was probably much more than that. We took one path that probably had no fewer than 300 steps going down. It was incredible and had me laughing most of the way. When we finally made it up the last hill to the concert it was packed with people, but we found a good spot on the lawn and had a listen. I really like African music because it sounds so happy and there are so many distinct sounds each instrument makes. Some jugglers came and were performing next to us too, so we had music and a show. We stayed for some time and then headed back to the apartment where I had no problem sleeping that night.