Lyon…

We took a bus tour of Lyon and got off at a few different places to take pictures and walk around. We explored an outdoor arts market with rows of beautiful artwork, pottery, and sculptures.

It was still damp and foggy. A wet chill clung to everything around us. Our warm breath filling the air with little clouds that burst forth and then vanished. Even the stone buildings looked cold.

This building is a complete mural. There are no real windows on the side. It is all painted on. Quite interesting. Lyon had many buildings with murals. Some had two real windows and one painted to look exactly the same so you almost couldn’t tell which were real and which fake.

We were dropped off in the Place des Terreaux, one of the main squares in Lyon. There were two art museums and this city hall official looking building. The statue to the left was sculpted by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi who is the same artist who created the Statue of Liberty. The sculpture is called the Fontaine Bartholdi and it depicts France as a female, seated on a chariot controlling the four great rivers of France represented by four wild horses.

From the Place des Terreaux, we walked back to the boat for lunch. We stopped at a market along the way and had baguettes and samosas. By this time the sun had come out and cleared away the fog. It warmed up a bit and we walked slowly back to the boat by the side of the river. Eating our baguettes and soaking in the sun.

After lunch we walked to the Christmas marked and wandered around. It was so crowded. It was so interesting to see all the different foods and crafts. We didn’t buy anything, but enjoyed people watching and looking at all the different booths. I went back to the boat for a silk demonstration. The city of Lyon is a huge producer of silk. They taught us about silk worms and the different production methods. A woman was there from a silk factory to show how the silk is hand painted. It was very beautiful. The scarves were very expensive. The processes is completed at the Hermes factory and Hermes scarves/silk are one of the most expensive brands of silk.

At night we had the Captains Dinner. We dressed up and had escargot, French onion soup, salmon tartar, crispy duck leg, apple tart, and lots of wine. Oh my, it was delicious. I even tried the escargot. Not my favorite thing, but at least now I can say I’ve had it.