More of Lyon

Saturday, Apr. 8, 2017--Lyon, France

I awoke around 1:00 a.m. realizing that my lips were dry and remembering that I had not taken my melatonin.  I knew that I needed to use my lip balm or they would be worse by morning.  And I knew that without the melatonin I would not be able to sleep past about 4:30 in the morning.  I got up and took care of both problems.  Then I went back to bed and slept until 9:15 with lips that felt fine!

I am staying in a portion of Lyon, Presqu'ile, that was built in the late 1800s/early 1900s.  It is a peninsula between the two rivers--the Rhone and the Saone (and is across the Soane from the Old Town).  Today was my day to explore this area with a short side detour back to see the Old Town briefly.

Heading southward, I passed the City Hall and the Opera House which I saw yesterday on my way to the Old Town.  Then it was completely new territory.  I went down streets lined with exclusive shops for the wealthy and sophisticated.  On the way, I passed Place des Jocobins filled with people enjoying the sunshine.  Next came the huge Place Bellecour which my guidebook declares as the largest clear square in Europe.   From there, the main street south was a pedestrian street which serves as one of the main streets for ordinary shopping. 

The final stop heading south was Place Ampere--a small park that held a special surprise.  There was a food market set up with stalls along the pathways of the park.  There were lots of choices of interesting items.  Some stalls were making food for sale in large paella-type pans.  One had form of macaroni and cheese.  Another had potatoes with a sauce.  A couple had sausages that were cooking, but I could not tell what would be served with them.  One had a seafood concoction that included what looked like crayfish.  In addition, there was a stall with tables set up serving oysters-on-the-half-shell.  Most of the stalls were just selling items to go--honey, breads, pastries, steaks, cheeses, etc.  It was fun to see everything.  I would have bought a pastry, but the stall selling them was so busy all the time that I passed on the idea.

Returning northward, I took another pedestrian street--Ave. de la Republique.  It was a bit fancier with department stores and other larger stores than had been on the other streets.

I crossed the river back to the old town and stopped that the other branch of Chez Jules to buy a sandwich to eat.  Today, I got the Italian with Italian ham, various cheeses, red roasted pepper, and raw greens.  It was in a seeded bread with 3-4 kinds of seeds worked into the dough. 

I walked back through the Old Town while eating my sandwich just to observe the crowds--tourists, groups of men or women celebrating before a wedding, and some locals.  All the sidewalk cafes and restaurants were filled, since it was sunny and warm.  Many people were wearing shorts with short-sleeved shirts.  I paused briefly at Place du Changes where I was yesterday to finish the sandwich.  I looked up, and a sky-writer was completing the "O" as he wrote out "Lyon" against the beautiful blue sky.

Music was playing inside the cathedral, so I entered to find it was coming from the organ.  I sat nearby and listed for about 20 minutes before it ended.  I don't know if it was someone rehearsing or a planned concert, but I enjoyed it. 

My last destination for the afternoon was another high-altitude point in the city that is located north of where I am living.  To get there, I crossed one of the bridges over the Saone where people were sunbathing with a few guys going shirtless and almost everyone in shorts or in pants with the legs pulled as high up as possible.  Then the climb began with steep streets at first which led to even steeper stairs.  One set of stairs had to have had about 500 steps. 

At the top, there were some good views of the city.  The area is called Croix Rousse and was built as a working class part of town for employees weaving silk fabrics.  Today, with metro access to avoid the climb, it is a popular place to live--close to everything but really its own little community, too, due to the isolation caused by its altitude.  There is a long, wide shopping street that follows where the old walled fortifications for the city once existed.   And at one end of it, there are great views eastward to the newer part of Lyon where I arrived by train two days ago and where the tall office buildings and huge shopping centers exist. 

Actually, it was an easy walk back to my apartment from that end.  I just had to follow one street down for maybe 8 blocks to arrive back home.   By then, it was 15:45, so I came inside to read the news and to read some on my current book.  It is now 18:15, and the only outing I have planned is to go back down to see the lights on the City Hall that I missed last night and to find something to eat in that area.