06 May 2011 – Lyon (Friday)

Today we decided to have a walk around the old part of the city and explore the Cathedral of St. John, the Roman theatres and museum.  Because the distance to the Cathedral is only about 2 ½ km from our hotel we have decided to walk today.  The weather is beautiful, sunny and warm.   So Wes has mapped a route for us to walk and we have agreed to take a leisurely pace.  We stepped outside to a bit of a breeze which actually only made it more pleasant.

In order to get across to the Cathedral we will need to cross 2 bridges.  Lyon is located around the junction of two rivers (Saone and Raone).  These two rivers flow together but on a tangent course creating a large and long peninsula  like (since it is rivers and not sea, I am not sure if this is the correct term) but it does form a long narrowing finger of land between the two rivers.  The original development of Lyons (originally called Lugdunum in 43 AD) was recorded as a political city designed and built by the Romans on the west side of the Saone River.  The steep sloped hill rising above the river is called Fourviere and today is a district of Lyon.  It was to this area of Lyon that we planned to explore today.

We walked across the city, over the bridge unto the old part of the city which is between the rivers, over the second bridge to the base of the Fourviere Hill.   As we walked through the city we had views of old narrow streets that seem to wander through areas rather then having a sense of straight and orderly flows.  In many cases the streets are one way because with sidewalks and parked cars there really is only room for one lane.  There are a few modern main streets with trams and buses which are wider and straighter.

In the center of town (as far as I could tell the center) is a wide open square called Place Bellecour with much of it unpaved but covered in red packed gravel.   From this large open space in the center of the  one can look across the Saone river to the Fourviere Hill.  To the north but running north and south are rue de la Republique and rue du President-Herriot the shopping streets.  To the southeast is the bell tower of the 17C former alms house.   Just to the north of the Place Bellecour at its west end is the Place des Jacobins which has in its center the Dominican's erected in 1888 in memory of four local artists dressed in the styles of their times.   It is the largest clear square (i.e., without any patches of greenery, trees or any other kind of obstacles) in Europe.  In the middle is a statue of king Louis XIV mounted on a horse, made by François-Frédéric Lemot in 1825.  Another statue, representing the Petit Prince and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, is located at the west end of the square.

 Here we took a ride on the funiculaire to climb up the face of the steep hill hoping to gain some great views and picture opportunities.  We were a bit disappointed to discover that we actually ride up inside a tunnel ensuring no photos.   The funicular lines (of which there are two), are the oldest in the world still active.

When we got to the top we stepped out of the ‘station’ to look across the street/lane to the Catholic Basilica of Fourvière.  The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière is a minor basilica in Lyon. It was built with private funds between 1872 and 1896 in a dominating position in the city.  It features fine mosaics, superb stained glass, and a crypt of Saint Joseph.  The site it occupies was once the Roman forum of Trajan, the forum vetus, thus its name.  Perched on top of the Fourvière hill, the basilica looms impressively over the city of Lyon, where it can be seen from many vantage points. The basilica has four main towers, and a belltower.

Fourvière actually contains two churches, one on top of the other. The upper sanctuary is very ornate, while the lower is a much simpler design.  Fourvière is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who is said to have saved the city of Lyon from the plague in 1643.    We toured both levels and were awestruck at the beauty of opulence.  I suspect that not all things that look like gold are, but there were lots of things that looked like gold.  The ceiling was painted and the windows were all very large stained glass marvels.

We left the Basilica and checked out the view of the city from the front terrace.  The surrounding area really does look flat and explains why the area is called the ‘plains’.   Lyon's geography, which is clearly seen from this vantage point, is dominated by the Rhône and Saône rivers that converge to the south of the city centre forming a peninsula; two large hills, one to the west and one to the north of the historic city centre; and a large plain which sprawls eastward from the historic city centre.  Note:  I was standing on the west hill viewing this panorama. 

The Tour métallique de Fourvière ("Metallic tower of Fourvière"), is a steel framework tower which bears a striking resemblance to the Eiffel Tower.  With a height of 85.9 metres and weight of 210 tons, the "metallic tower" was built between 1892 and 1894.  Its construction was assisted by the local council who wanted to build a secular monument to counterbalance the Catholic Church Basilica of Fourvière which is less than a hundred metres away.  Although used as an observation tower until November 1, 1953, nowadays it serves as a television tower and is not accessible to the public so we never got closer than the gate of the fencing surrounding it.  At 372m, it is the highest point in Lyon.

Lyon was historically known as an important area for the production and weaving of silk and in modern times has developed a reputation as the capital of gastronomy in France.  There are several Silk tours available in the city and even a silk museum.  I mention this since it is an important influence on tourists but we did not find time to take any of the tours on this trip.  We have been told they are worth taking. 

Another industry that intrigued me was the wineries in this area.  The reputation of being known as the French capital of gastronomy is due to the part of the fact that two of France's best known wine-growing regions are located near Lyon: the Beaujolais to the North, and the Côtes du Rhône to the South. Beaujolais wine is very popular in Lyon and remains the most common table wine served with local dishes.  I did not get a chance to do a wine tour but that is definitely on my list for the next trip.

Ok, so now we have spent some time getting a sense and feel of the city, it was time to study some of the history.  So not far from the Basilica is the Roman Theatre and Roman Odeon remains.  Lyon's Roman theater is the oldest in France, built by order of Augustus from 17 to 15 BC and expanded during the reign of Hadrian.  Ruins of three ancient Roman structures - a theater, odeum and temple - cluster together on Fourvière Hill just south of the Notre-Dame Basilica.  The theater has steep seating galleries, a decorated floor, and the foundations of a large stage.  The remaining sections of seats of the Roman Theatre are still used today as a venue for summer night concerts, the Nuits de Fourvière festival.   Unfortunately for us we are here in May and they start in June.  We are told that at its prime the Roman Theatre could seat 10,000 people.   The size and magnitude of the the place is hard to imagine as we are only seeing the ruins with few standing structures.  The stage area included all the staging needs  but also a tall wall  at the back to help with acoustics.  However, we were able to get a better sense when we visited the Roman Museum after touring the ruins.

Very close to the Roman Theatre is the Roman Odeon.  The Odeon of Lyon is an small ancient Roman theatre near the summit of the Fourvière hill in Lyon, France.  It forms a pair with the theatre, one of only two such pairs in Gaul (the other is in Vienne).  The Odeon was built in the early to mid-second century.  It has a 73-meter diameter and a 3,000-seat capacity, which justifies its classification as Odeon, i.e. a covered building used for musical performances and reading public, less popular than the theatre performances. It was also used as meeting room for the notables of the city.  The odeon is a much smaller theatre that was used for musical shows and poetry competitions. It was richly decorated and its floor still contains inlaid marble and porphyry.

We walked around the ruins taking the pictures and then tried to walk out onto the stage area of the Roman Theatre only to learn that it was closed as they prepare for the summer performances.  However, in chatting with the gate monitor we learned about the gardens just below so we headed over walking through an arbour of grapes to find a quiet place to sit and enjoy our lunch. 

After our lunch we headed back up through the Roman Theatre ruins to find the Gallo Roman Museum. This museum is really a gem if you are interested in the history of human geography and development of Lyon as a major center in France.  We enjoyed a large number of exhibits and the Roman artefacts but what was really useful were the miniature models of many Roman structures including a model of Lyon during Roman dominance.  Since we had just left the theatres I was very interested in looking at the reproduction models of the theatres and other key Roman buildings.  This 3 dimensional view was a fantastic way to understand the ruins we had just walked through.

After we finished touring the Gallo-Roman Museum we were delighted to find we had the opportunity to visit the current exposition - The Confluence Museum UNVEILS ITS RESERVES.  The museum collections Confluence inherit more than two centuries of history, the cabinet of curiosities at the Museum of Natural History. They develop and enrich the past ten years in four areas: life sciences, earth sciences, humanities and science and technology. By revealing some of its reserves by nature invisible to visitors, the Confluence Museum presents the major themes of its acquisitions.

We left the museum and decided to call it a day since we both were feeling a bit tired.  We took the funiculaire back down to the river level and walked back to the hotel.  We got back by 4 pm but Wes had noticed that there was a concert on tonight at 8:30 at the Eglise Saint-Polycarpe with the performance of les Surprises.  So after dinner and a rest we headed back down to the old section of town (about 3 ½ km) to locate the concert.  We are getting better at finding our way around the city on foot although there is lots of transportation available.

 

Surprise Concert: Love, Leisure and Music: 

Brandenburg concertos #5 and Coffee Cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach-by all the surprises:

Anaïs Vintour: Soprano

Remy Mathieu: Tenor

Bazoli Etienne: Bass

Louis-Noel Bestion of Camboulas: Harpsichord

Sandra Latour: Flute

Beatrice Linon: Violin Baroque

Gabriel Ferry: Violin Baroque

Alix Boivert: Che

Juliet Guignard: Viola da gamba

Simon Luce: Bass

The setting was very interesting as we walked into a church that was completed in 1670.   The church has a famous organ, built by Augustine Zeiger in 1841.  In 1982, the church was classified as a historical monument.  The setting included hard pews arranged around a small platform.  The setting was likely impressive but since it was getting late the lighting was poor we could not really see well.  However it was cool and the anticipation was high.  I have to admit that at first I was reminded of sitting in an unfinished basement with a cooler temperature and the smell of stone but that quickly passed.

The concert was incredible and the talent of the musicians evident as they performed excellently.  Of course, since we did not speak French, we were not sure what was said as a form of introduction, but that did not detract at all from the enjoyment of listening to the music.  I have never heard a harpsichord played before and was amazed at the dexterity of Louis-Noel Bestion de Camboulas as he performed in a solo piece. 

The union of voice and musical instruments blended to tell the story of the Coffee Cantata.  Although it was sung in German Wes was able to read enough of the French translations handed out to understand the story.  Later when we got back to our room we were able to use Google to obtain the English translation.  Regardless of not understanding what was said, the voices and musical instruments blended to create a highlight of our visit to Lyon.   (For those interested here is the url for the translation:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweigt_stille,_plaudert_nicht,_BWV_211 )

We finished the evening by have a wonderful walk back to the hotel enjoying the night lights on the bridges and other monuments.  Because I did not take my camera with me I was not able to take pictures but we will likely return tomorrow night with the camera and tripod to see what we can photograph.