Friday, January 01, 2016
Hello!
And I wonder how long it’s going to be until I remember that
it actually IS 2016 and not 2015!
It was fairly lively along the quai in Lyon last night, with
people walking back and forth until the very wee hours of the morning. As a telephone went off in our bedroom
somewhere around 3 a.m. (unknown caller in Tucson; probably a recorded
solicitation for funds) it was a bit difficult getting back to sleep, but
finally we both managed, and we awoke this morning to a very overcast and gray
day.
However, it was also a
towel-washing and sheet-changing day, which I wanted to get started early …
having no idea how long it would take for either sheets or towels to dry!
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| Cathedral St. Jean and attached palace |
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| Fourviere from St. Jean |
After the sheets were washed, I did the towels. For drying them, I turned the heat up in the
bathroom, and arranged the towels on a rack which is installed above the
door. Actually, in no time at all, they
were dry too, so now we’re a very clean household, which feels great!
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| Ancient well of the Cathedral |
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| Ancient lawyers house, renovated by lawyers! |
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| Didn't realize that "Lyon" meant Lion! |
For breakfast, R was able to find a small shop that was open
(Chez Jules was closed today) and
brought back both a baguette and three croissants. Not as good as Chez Jules, but it made for a manageable breakfast, along with some
cheese and orange juice.
We spent the rest of the morning reading and relaxing (yes,
I actually do that on occasion!) and before we knew it, it was time for
lunch! This time, we decided to picnic
on what we had in the house. So, with
some slices of excellent ham and salami, along with baguette and our exquisite Papillon Roquefort that we bought at the market several days ago – oh, and
spreading it over the Granny Smith apples we found yesterday, we were all set.
By this time, we decided that we should go out for a walk,
just to “take the air” as it were. We
headed over to the funicular to St. Just
(which is opposite the funicular to Fourviere)
and took it all the way to the top.
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| Part of the longest Traboule |
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| Through several buildings to a different street! |
Traboules are
secret passages and walkways that wind around the town, heading in the
direction of the Saone River. Silk was
one of the main commodities in Lyon, and the traboules were built to accommodate the silk workers to enable them
to get the silk to the river and onboard ships, without having to walk through
rain or other inclement weather. Many of
the traboules are now part of private
residences, but a number of them in Vieux
Lyon are open to the public. We were
able to find a map on-line (although we may pick one up at the tourist Info
office tomorrow) and just started looking at doorways – and voila, how fun! We went through several interesting places –
the longest one that runs from Rue Saint
Jean to Rue du Boeuf, as well as
the red tower – just spectacular!
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| Red tower, 5 stories high! |
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| Painting on the side of our building! |
Our plan for tomorrow is first, take a load of “stuff” to
the Post Office to ship back to the U.S. (Bob and Stew, may we ship to you?)
(It’s amazing how things seem to accumulate…) and then head to the Croix Rousse and see what traboules we can find there!
In the meantime, back to the flat for a bit more relaxation. Not sure what we’re going to do for dinner,
but we figure that with Roquefort cheese,
good bread, and bottles of red and white wine, is anything more really
necessary? (We also have leftover
chicken, green beans and potatoes, as well as rice … hmmm.)
So, here’s looking at a more adventuresome day tomorrow! (In
spite of the predicted rain!)
Lots of love and best wishes for a wonderful 2016 for all!
m
xxx
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