Sean Gillies (Posts about lyon)

Fourvière

Sean Gillies — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 13:50:00 GMT

Au Revoir, Lyon

Sean Gillies — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 11:31:20 GMT

After sending our friend back to Montpellier to join her dad, my kids and I are on a train to Paris. We will be spending 1-1/2 days doing tourist stuff, try to see local open source folks, and then will fly back to Atlanta and Denver.

We had a fine time in Lyon. There is a lot to see and do, much of it free, and the Transports en commun lyonnais (TCL) makes the city accessible. Our friends' apartment is one metro stop from the cool Croix-Rousse neighborhood. Many shops and restaurants are closed for vacation, but the place was starting to wake up and be inhabited again. I saw about twice as many people on the street Monday as I did on Sunday, and twice again as many on Tuesday.

Obligatory goofing at the Mur des Canuts.

On Sunday the four of us went to the top of the famous pentes (steps) of Croix-Rousse and had brunch at a place called Le Desjeuneur. The wait was long due to the restaurant's popularity and the relatively large size of our group, so we wandered up and down the steps and found the Cour des Voraces, a symbol of resistance, unions, and the silk-weaving history of Lyon, while we waited to be called. The wait was worth it. Among other things, Le Desjeuner serves pancakes with maple syrup and bacon (Bea ordered this) and pancakes with maple syrup and bananas and toasted hazelnuts (Arabelle and E. ordered this). I had shakshuka in a skillet and a cappucino in an enameled camp mug. The portions are generous and the food very good at Le Desjeuneur.

After, the kids stayed in the apartment to relax while I went back out and took the metro and funicular to the old gallo-roman theatre site and museum on the top of the hill above Vieux Lyon. I had forgotten that the Roman emperor Claudius, he, was born in Lugdunum (Lyon) in 10 B.C. One of the highlights of the museum is a transcription of a speech of Claudius in bronze.

I exited the museum, walked over to the Basilica, took photos from the deck, and then walked downhill through Vieux Lyon, across a pedestrian bridge over the Saône River, and then returned to our apartment via the metro.

Montée des Chazeaux.

On Monday I went for a run in the Presqu'île neighborhood, down the bank of the Rhône and up the bank of the Saône, up to the top of Vieux Lyon, and then back across the river and up the steps of Croix-Rousse. My tracker recorded 250 meters of climbing, which is good since the Black Squirrel is only 2-1/2 weeks away.

Mural by Kalouf in Croix-Rousse.

The rest of Monday was spent in Lyon's fabulous Parc de la Tête d'or. We saw animals in the (free) zoo, had lunch, played mini-golf, rode ponies, ate ice cream, and enjoyed the park's many green and quiet spots.

Enjoying the shade in Parc de la Tête d'or.

I like Lyon! I need to figure out how to get back here soon, in the fall or spring when the restaurants are open.

In Lyon

Sean Gillies — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 21:11:19 GMT

My family's summer vacation reached a turning point today. Ruth is staying in Montpellier for the Evolution 2018 conference and will be going on to another meeting in Zurich afterwards, I am in Lyon with three kids at the apartment of a friend who has moved here for his sabbatical. He is in Montpellier at the Evolution meeting, his wife is in Fort Collins for a few more days, and his daughter is here in Lyon with me and my two daughters. I'm in France's gastronomic capitol with three fussy eaters, but am determined to make a great time of it.

We boarded a TGV bound for Rennes at Montpellier's old Gare Saint-Roch, took on more passengers in Nîmes, and then blew past Valence and went straight to Lyon's Gare Part-Dieu. The atmosphere has been clear lately and we got great views of Mont Ventoux and the Vercors Massif in the distance as we flew through the vineyards and orchards of the Rhône valley. French train travel has its problems, but I remain a fan. Security is less heavy-handed than at airports, the seats are much more comfortable, and the views are great. The SNCF and Ouigo mobile apps are better than adequate. Yes, getting on and off the trains can be chaotic, and you have to handle your own bags (a shitshow today, in my situation), but still I'm looking forward to the day that we have equivalent high-speed train service on the Front Range of Colorado.

I've passed through Lyon's Part-Dieu station before, but have never stayed here in this city. My friends' apartment is in the 4th arrondissment near the hospital. It was easy to get here by bus from the train station. Along the way we saw the Parc Tête d'Or, which looks wonderful, and passed over the Rhône on the Pont Winston-Churchill. We had to drag our bags to the top of the hill from the bus stop, and the wheels on my roller bag almost quit in protest, but we made it, and installed ourselves. After a little shopping, we made a meal in the apartment, watched an episode of "Nailed It", and I tucked the kids into their beds.

Now, I'm going to watch the Lyon episode of Parts Unknown and get inspired about where to eat in the next two days. Lyon is still on vacation (and this particular neighborhood is a ghost town) but I'm sure we'll find some good food somewhere.