May 23 - Lyon & Vienne

Jan & I were in Lyon 8-days ago.   We saved today's highlight of Fourviere Hill for this morning's excursion.   Here we are gathering outside the AmaCello as the staff is loading food and wine.   Looks like the relay line we use for firewood at Timothy Lake!

Our bus snaked up the narrow and winding roads up the steep hill.   Jan took a good picture of the remains of the Roman amphitheater getting set-up for a concert.   Two Roman emperors were born in this area known as Lugdunum .. Claudius and Caracalla.

To give you a perspective of the next spectacular site, here's a view from the Saone River looking up at the hill.

This is the magnificent Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourviere.

The inside was amazing.  It was built between 1872-1896.   The mosaics on the side walls were impressive.

Jan likes to take pictures of the floor tile designs.

Every surface takes your breath away.

Outside the church we walked over to see the views from the railing.

We drove down to explore the medieval part of Lyon and walk through more of the passageways called Traboules, which wind their way through buildings, courtyards,  and up and down staircases.  Some of these were built in Roman times in the 4th century!   Their use were continued by the French resistance in WWII!

There are approx. 400 of these passageways throughout Lyon!

We were bussed back to the boat for lunch before cruising downriver to Vienne.    Lunch selection was .. beef bourguignon.   Yummy!

During lunch we started to cruise to Vienne. 

We docked in Vienne, a very ancient city with many Roman ruins still standing!   It was known in ancient times as .. 'Little Rome'.    Unlike Rome on seven hills, Vienne is built on five hills.

This Gallic capital was transformed into a Roman colony under Julius Caesar in 47BC.   Legends from the 13th century mention that Pontius Pilate died in Vienne.    Let's look at some Roman ruins.   Here's a very large amphitheater up on the hill that's still used for concerts.  It can seat up to 9,000 people !

Here's some views from the top of the hill overlooking the town.

Here are some arches left standing that was part of a theater.

Here's an interesting view that shows several historical periods.

And .. a most impressive ruin, The Temple of Augustus and Livia.

This was an influential sight for one Thomas Jefferson who visited Vienne in 1787, and other Roman ruins in southern France.

We visited the .. Cathedrale Saint-Maurice de Vienne, .. I know, I know, ANOTHER church !!    They're just so impressive.  This one was built from .. 1100 to 1600.

Back to the boat for dinner.   Tonight it was just Jan & I as the Englishmen; Rex, John, and Stephen were enjoying the special Chef's Table menu in the forward restaurant.    On the menu for us was :

Appetizer:  eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, tomato, mozzarella, cured Parma ham, and grissini  :

Soup:  parsnip cream soup, croutons

Main course:  braised veal shank in red wine sauce, mushrooms, carrots, mascarpone polenta :

Dessert:  traditional chocolate tart, raspberry ragout, cinnamon ice cream  :

Tomorrow it's on to Valence.    What a trip!    See you there.