Lyon

Afternoon Arrival - April 12

Trains in France are by far the best way to get around. After waking up relatively early in Montpellier we packed, which takes a variable amount of time depending on if it is pre or post tea intake, and took a quick step to the station in the rain. Approximately 3 hours on the train and by early afternoon we approached the busy station at Lyon.

Metro systems have to date been the bees knees in Europe. They make sense, are regular and reliable, fast and much (much, much, much) better than walking. Across town in Lyon to Vieux Lyon station at the bottom of the fenicular railway we exited convinced that the best way to the hostel was a quick jog up hill. 20 minutes later we were dripping with sweat and being ignored by the little French barmaid/receptionist/hotellier. Our advice to all non-European born travellers is to pay attention to lunch time and make your arrival either before 12 or after 4pm.

On being offered single sex dormitory rooms without lockers plus the necessity to buy a hostelling international card, it worked out to be $25 cheaper to find our own room in a 1 or 2 star hotel. At this point the work began! Steve asked in relatively clear French for recommendations on nearby cheap accommodation to be told clearly in English that the "information" attendant only sold fenicular rail tickets and had no idea.

A phone booth was then next step so with 4 or 5 phone calls the textbook questions where utilised. Our decision was made on two factors, how much less than the overpriced hostel and how close to this exact phone booth. Our room was on the second floor of an early 18th century apartment block with high cielings, long corridor, spiral staircase, big room, french doors and our own balcony. Catering over the next three days was an event on the balcony each evening, Camilla even carried the shopping all the way across town.

Tourist information did the big sell on us so we opted for a Lyon City Card at 15 euros a piece to explore all the attractions of this exciting city. Time for some sleep as tomorrow would be a well packed day of sightseeing.

Day 1 - Friday 13 April

With the snooze button firmly pressed Steve dove out of bed to prepare poached eggs, tomato and camembert on a fresh flute (bread) complimented (of course) with tea.

The Lyon card includes unlimited travel on the metro, bus, fenicular rail and tram system. We started at the Musee des beaux Arts for an hour of inspirational Roden sculptures, more mummies and Greek artifacts before Monet, Matisse, Picasso ... in the contemporary wing which smelt of Camilla's high school art room. The Lyon art gallery was very well laid out so the entire facility could be toured in a logical and efficient way.

Our visit to the Minitures museum had us wondering what we were in store for with the advertisement giving little away. Once inside we walked through a recreation of sets from 'The Parfume', a movie recently released with Dustin Hoffman set in the 1800s (a little spooky). The permanent exhibitions were realistic creations of everyday scenes, comedic moments in life and fantastic models of building, match stick carvings and paper cuttings done with attention to minute detail.

Back to our roots a little, we visited Lyon's hospital and the museum of medical relics from the 1600s onwards. We are so glad to not have to meet the plague doctor in thier black crow like mask and gown or be bled of bad blood. We can't believe they had beds made for 5 patients at a time, post slots for abandoned children or dental tools suitable for work on semitrailers.

Our first fully relaxing moment was on the river cruise (all included) which took us to the Ile Barbe in the Soane river upstream from Lyon. For an hour we delighted in the sights of gorgeous homesteads and giggled at the young tour guides English pronunciation.

The highlight of our day was attending the famous Guignol childrens puppet theatre. 'Le Tour de Monde' was so entertaining with 50cm tall dolls with charismatic faces play out a search for treasure around the globe. To add to the spectacle the children from 5 to 10 years old (at least we had a good view over all their heads) interacted with the characters throughout the show. It is so funny hearing them yell in French at the characters and sqweel with delight at the baddy losing out to the good guys. Our tour backstage revielled the intricate setup of puppet faces, props and sound effects as well as the puppetiers.

A quick pitstop at our balcony/restaurant/kitchen produced bread and vegetable soup before leving for the fenicular railway to the top of the hill. What an injustice to glide past the point we struggled to on the first day with no effort at all. At the top we walked around Notre Dame de Fourviere, a spectacular cathedral situated high on the hill overlooking Lyon, the rivers Rhone and Soane and the farmland beyond.

Day 2 - 14 April

Camilla took the risk and let Steve off to the Boulangerie for fresh baguette while she paid 2.50 euros for a shower (not the best either) to wash the mop. Purchased a mobile phone card and a ticket to Le Puy en Velay to start our rural adventures the following day.

A stroll through the old town took us via willow trees along the river and boats holding smart cars on their roof. A splash out included coffees and citrus tarts while listening to a ceilo and violin players outside the church. We decided to come back in the afternoon for a free jazz/rock concert outside the even bigger church and on our walk to the venue we were passed by approximately 500 motorbike riders rallying against something or other.

The final splash was a local delicacy called tuile, basically a pan fried anzac biscuit covered in almonds and curved around a big tin. It was a great couple of days and was enjoyed in style in a city well worth the visit. If it weren't for Paris, Lyon would definetly attract the world to it's winding streets, great restaurants (our balcony) and entertaining venues as a must see in France.