Last Day in Lyon

For our last day in Lyon, I ask Betty what she wants to see.  Inspired by our boat ride yesterday, she wants to walk North, see the Saint Paul area of Vieux Lyon, and onward towards Saint Vincent at the foot of Croix-Rousse. She also doesn't remember seeing any of the famous Trompe d'Oeils of Lyon, so we plan a route that will include a few.  Today we walk 4.5 to 5km.  It's mostly flat, except for the big hill of Montée Saint-Barthélémy, and the 228 stairs back down Montée des Chazeaux.

We start our day with a lunch at the very touristy Bouchon Lyonnais Chez Louise. My salad with toasted goat cheese on toast is surprisingly good.  I make sure Betty has a chance to try a few quintessential Lyon foods: quenelle (pike dumpling) and Cervelle de Canut. Cervelle de Canut literally means "silk weavers' brains," which sounds hideous, but the dish is actually a tzaziki-like dish of yogurt, garlic, and herbs.  This flexible dish is sometimes offered as an appetizer, and other times as a dessert. The Cervelle de Canut here is truly the best I've ever had!  I'm really pleased to be able to offer Betty such a good example of the dish. For your culinary enjoyment, here's a recipe for Cervelle de Canut by Alain Ducasse, so it must be good. ;)

Around the corner from Chez Louise is the trompe d'oeil of the Cours des Loges. There is a big lineup for the historic icecream place René Nardone Glacier beneath it. Unfortunately, the (live) trees are blocking quite a bit of the mural from view. 

Turning left up Rue Francois Vernay, we see the former house of Laurent Morguet, who created the now-famous Guignol as a kind of self-portrait.  Today, the building is apparently home to a Baha'i Centre.

We continue on to Montée Saint-Barthélémy, and pass the Montée des Carmes-Dechausses, but due to the hot weather today, we decide against walking up them.  Instead, we take a peek at the famous courtyard traboules at #4 (La Maison Henri IV, shown below), #7 and #8 Rue Juiverie, which are visible from the Montée Saint-Barthélémy.

We continue up Montée Saint-Barthélémy to Montée du Garillan, where we get a good view of the Saint Nizier church, across the Saone in Saint Vincent.  It is unique among churches in Lyon for having two towers.  Perhaps what is most interesting is that the two towers were built in different eras: the pink tower in the 15th Century, and the white Gothic tower in 1856. 

 The site of Saint Nizer was originally a Roman temple to Attis, a beautiful eunuch demi-god who became the lover of The Great Mother Goddess Cybelle. Of course, as soon as I see "Attis" I think of the episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, where 'the gang' falls under a magic spell: while Xena is yet again obsessed with fishing (insert lesbian subtext joke here), Joxer channels Attis and falls for Gabrielle as The Earth Mother Gaia.  While the cult of Attis actually did spread to Ancient Greece (Xena's supposed homeland), the show's links to the myth of Attis and Cybelle are tenuous, as usual.  Here's a link to the full episode. Here's a link to someone trying hard to connect the various fictional events in Xena to real life history and mythology. 

Betty and I walk all the way up to the luxurious Villa Florentine, and admire the great views of the St Jean Cathedral.  We can even see the white clocktower of the Hotel de Ville.  Then we continue up the hill until we encounter the Montée des Chazeaux, and take its 228 stairs down to Rue de Boeuf.

Back in Saint Jean, we search up and down Rue Saint Jean to find the coolest possible location to stop for a beer and a snack.  We pop in to Le Petit Musée du Guignol gift shop so I can buy the most ridiculous postcard of a guignol I can find to send to my friend Sun Nee in Vancouver.  She has asked for the "Frenchiest" possible post-cards, so I am doing my best to oblige.  ;)

After walking up and down Rue Saint Jean two or three times, we settle on the patio of Le Petit Glouton, the creperie where we had our first "dinner" in Lyon. It seems fitting, and most important, it is cool and breezy.  The friendly owner welcomes us with lots of chatter, making sure we know where every other table hails from, while seating me in front of a traboule which funnels the cool breeze right onto me (where the man in the blue shirt is standing in the photo below).  :D  When I ask about the washroom, I am told that it is at the far end of the traboule.  I head in through the tunnel into a courtyard with a spiral staircase and an antique well, then through another tunnel on the far side of the courtyard to a single-room washroom. It's only on my way out that I realize I have been in this traboule before, on our second "traboule run."  The previous time, the restaurant had been closed, and the patio chairs all put away.

The Malaysians at the next table joke around with our waiter.  He seems to be making the rounds, and we are next.  He sits down at our table and beckons at a man at another table, "Hey, Italia!!"  The man comes over and joins us.  The owner announces proudly, "We are both Italian!"  Gesturing at the waiter, the man asks us, "He says you are from Vancouver... Are you REALLY from Vancouver?  I'm from Toronto!"  We chat about his daughter, whose visit to Lyon has extended to a six month love affair with the city.  Since the man is speaking to us in English, the restaurant owner quickly loses interest and moves on to the next table. Our savory crepes arrive, and the man goes back to his own table.  After a rest and another beer, we decide to top off our dinner of savory crepes with a dessert of sweet crepes.  Did I mention that I am putting on weight here?

After what turns out to be more of an early dinner than a snack, we continue walking along Rue Saint Jean to the Cathedral Saint Jean. We head inside for a little self-guided tour.  Unfortunately, the gorgeous astronomical clock is away for repairs, but the inside of the church is still lovely, with several stained glass windows, and archways that echo the design on the outside of the church.  In a back room, a choir is practicing.  We can hear their voices emanating out from one of the hallways. 

After we are finished touring inside, we start walking around the outside of the church.  On the North side of the church is the Jardin Archeologique Saint-Jean, which holds the remains of two Saint Etienne churches. The three churches together were started around 150 CE.  Saint Jean continued to be built upon for many centuries, until the 18th Century. Today, it is the only one of the three that remains intact. We peek down a traboule at Rue Sainte-Croix, the head down Rue Bombarde to the Saone.   

We cross at the Passerelle du Palais de Justice and begin walking North along the Quai Saint-Antoine towards Saint Vincent. There are several people hiding out from the sun under the bridge. We get a much better view of the two-towered Saint Nizier church from here. We also see the tiny front of the 18th century church of Notre Dame Saint Vincent, the bulk of which is hidden from the Saone.

At Rue de la Platière, we can see the 4300 square foot trompe d'oeil mural called La Bibliotèque de la Cité, which portrays a giant library of titles whose authors were born or worked in Lyon. On the North end of the Passerelle Saint-Vincent we revisit the 8600 square foot La Fresque des Lyonnais, featuring famous personages of Lyon, past and present.  Today we have a lot more time to spend examining the mural.  

On the triangle formed by Quai Saint Vincent and Rue de la Martinière, we see a few more amazing trompe d'oeil murals. Another mural is so well-done that we at first don't realize it is painted... the artist has managed to mix in painted windows alongside real ones!  While the Restaurant L'Emil is very real, the life-sized lion in the doorway of the Ameublement Saint Vincent tips us off that the next window is probably made of paint. There are more amazing murals in Lyon, but we just don't have time to visit them all. 

Looking North up the Saone along Quai Saint Vinvent, the buildings are colorful rectangles. Heading further in that direction would be "the walk that never was."

Looking across the water to Saint Paul, we can see the really neat multicolored buildings lining the Saone on Quai de Bondy and Quai de Pierre-Scize.  (I can't help singing "Little Boxes."  It sticks in my head the rest of the day.)  They seem to blend seamlessly with the old ruins.  Behind them, the mini Eiffel Tower is visible up on the Fourvière hill.  From here, we can barely see the statue of "The Good German" at the foot of the Passerelle de l'Homme de la Roche.

We cross the Saone again at the Passerelle Saint-Vincent and head into Saint Paul. We go to see the church of Saint Paul, which like the Cathedral Saint Jean, has undergone construction over many hundreds of years, from the 6th century to 1899.  We do the full walk around.  Looking from different angles, it's hard to believe it's all one church.  

We head back towards Rue Octavio Mey and notice there is a Ninkasi Saint Paul on the corner. It is 9pm, so I text Colin to see whether he wants to join us after his work shift.  He appears in front of us before his text arrives on my phone.  We sample the Ninkasi beers and nibble on a four-dip platter while Colin has a big salad for supper. 

Afterwards, we walk Betty back to her gite, and say our goodbyes, as she will be leaving tomorrow morning and heading home to Canada.  She will walk the 3 km to Gare de Lyon Part-Dieu bright and early in the morning, hoping to beat the heat.  I volunteer to walk with her, but she declines, trying to build up her solo-travelling cred.  ;)  I tell her to email me frequently, and to call me if she runs into any trouble at all. 

The next morning, Betty sends me a message that she has successfully made it to the train on time.  I receive periodic updates throughout the day.  Many hours later, she lands safely at home:  all of her flights are on time and none have been hijacked.  It may seem as if I am being silly here, but sadly, the same day Betty flew Westjet home to Vancouver, another Westjet flight received a terror threat, and had to be diverted to a nearby airport for an emergency landing.  Apparently, it was the fourth threat within five days for the airline.  Fortunately, none turned out to be more than threats. Unfortunately, it seems that Black Friday is still casting a shadow over our trip... and the rest of the Western world.