09-15-2025 Walks

Vivid dreams in the night, probably because of the late dinner (<!>). Had a fairly light breakfast and some good coffee, then we decided to take a walking tour of Lyon in the afternoon. We headed over to Les Halles, a local food court, for lunch before the tour, after buying 2-day Metro passes to get us around the city. The shops at Les Halles were mostly closed on a Monday, which was disappointing. We walked around, saw some beautiful baked goods, and ended up having a cheese tasting with wine at a nice little shop. Then we took a tram and a subway to a stop near Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Here's where the really bad thing occurred. On the tram, which was quite crowded, Ann's wallet was stolen out of her fanny pack. She had forgotten to lock the zipper, and somebody unzipped the pack and took her wallet out of it. It happened really quickly, since we were only in the car for a couple of stops. She noticed as soon as we got off the tram, then we stopped while she put a hold on her credit and debit cards. She lost cash as well, so a major bummer. I was surprised at how well she took it, I would have been devastated and probably would have wanted to go back to the flat. But she wanted to continue with the day, so we took the subway over to near the cathedral. Walked to the square (it took a little looking around to be sure we were in the right place) in front, but the cathedral was closed on Mondays. So we waited until 1:30, when we met our guide Bertrand for a walking tour of old town Lyon. He was engaging and mildly funny, and the tour was about the right length, maybe just a little short on the number of stops. I captured notes and include them here.

• Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste, earliest remaining sections are from the 9th century. Basilica at the top of the hill is from the late 19th century, it's the symbolic high point in city, has always been a holy place.
• This region of Europe was Gaul during Roman Empire, it had a Celtic culture and was conquered by Romans, Lyon (Lugdunum founded in 43 BCE) was capital of this area, top of the hill where the Basilica currently is, was fed by Roman-style aqueducts. Because of its important strategic location at the north end of Rhone valley, it was the 10th largest city in the Roman Empire at its height. It moved down the hill to present-day old city during Middle Ages (hard to main water supply through original aqueducts). From 150 AD, it served as a location of an ancient Christian community.
• Potato-shaped area centered around the area between the Saone and Rhone rivers is UNESCO site. The current Lyon City Center is located between the two rivers. Along the Saone River is the Justice Building, where the Klaus Barbie trial was held.
• There are a number of secret passages (Traboule) in the city, most of them running perpendicular to the river. Many were used by French Resistance during WWII. More than 500 still exist, about 30 of them are publicly accessible.
• Renaissance period, particularly during and as a result of the reign of Charles VII, was the second golden age of Lyon because of him deciding to make it a cultural center. It became an early book printing center, and Italian bankers and merchants moved there as well.
• Bouchon are traditional Lyonnaise restaurants. The Rue du Boeuf has the most Michelin-starred restaurants in the world. Female chefs (Les Meres) were particularly famous, many were former chefs to upper class who left around the beginning of the 20th century. Eugenie Brazier was a particularly famous female chef, who tutored Paul Bocuse, the chef with a rooster tattoo from WWII Resistance. He was the inspiration for the ghost chef in the movie Ratatouille. 
• We saw a cool clock, the Charvet Clock, featuring five automatons that move at each hour. Around the city you would see statues with missing heads, heads removed by Protestants. There is a cool rooftop café at the Gadagne history museum.
• Wealthy people lived close to the hills in Lyon and therefore farthest from the river and possible floods. King Francois I established a  silk manufacturing site in competition with Genoa, another major city at the time.
• Medici family members lived here, including  two women who were queens, one of whom was Catherine de Medici. Six circles or balls in the family emblem. Saw a cool galerie connecting two sets of apartments, designed by Philibert de L'Orme, who became the official architect for Catherine de Medici and has been regarded as the founder of French Renaissance architecture.
• Part Dieu is one of the most important rail transit locations in Central Europe.
• We walked over the only surviving bridge over the Soane, others were destroyed by retreating Germans in WWII. Up on the hill is a mini Eiffel Tower, not beloved by Lyon residents. Saw an interesting mural on two sides of a windowless building, with Claudius, Verrazano, Ampere, Jacquard, many others. The Jacquard loom was likely the first programmable industrial machine, 5 m high.

After the tour we stopped for a drink and then walked to a Franprix fancy market to get some stuff for dinner and the rest of our stay. Took the Metro and a tram back to the flat and had a quiet evening, pasta for dinner and reading a fair amount.