Lyon

In order to give me a moment to process my thoughts and look over my notes before writing an entry on immigration and work at l'ASSFAM, I'm going to (buy a little time and) go back a few weeks and present to you the lovely city of Lyon... Hope you enjoy...

As promised, finally a blog on Lyon, Yann's hometown. I hadn't heard much about the city before going, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. It resembles Paris in that it has a vibrant restaurant scene, lots of great shopping, a lovely river (actually two) crossing through it (keeping me perpetually confused, unable to figure out which was which).

However, Lyon is smaller, much cleaner and a stone's throw from the beautiful countryside. Some of its most distinguishable features are the provincial style rose/reddish roofs covering the whole of the city and the hillyness creating a layering affect, giving the town depth and contrast. Both can be appreciated going up towards Croix Rousse, where you will stumble upon super old Roman ruins and eventually reach a (not so old) immense white Baroque-stlye Basilica, Notre Dame de Fourvière.

Yann, and surely many other Lyon residents, thinks this big white domed-block on the top of the hill is distasteful and ridiculous. It absolutely perturbs him that they would dare build a church as late as the 18th century in such a style... there is no baroque influence in Lyon! Nonetheless, though my Lyonnais friend will never admit it, the originality of the church alone makes it quite impressive and the mosaics adorning the interior's walls are sublime.

So, for Yann, I will also mention the ol' "respectable" gothic-style cathedral (Saint-Jean) found down below which houses one of the oldest clocks in the world (13th or 14 century). It operates based on an astronomical calendar, functioning with most of its original parts.

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In the old section of Lyon, the cobble streets and medieval style buildings are in pristine condition. Even though a great deal of commerce is geared towards tourists, it still holds a lot of charm. One neat feature about the town is that there are a lot of hidden passage ways that cut vertically through the stone-lined streets. Apparently, back in the day this made transporting weaving materials and goods through the town much easier. For a long period, Lyon's wealth came from its textile production.

Lyon is also known for its excellent cuisine. Yann said we'd eat well and he did not let me down. We had a very nice meal in one of Lyon's traditional-style restaurants called "bouchons".

But, more important than appreciating Lyon's loveliness was getting to meet and spend some time with Yann's parents in their home. The house is welcoming... spacious and comfortable with a lovely garden in the back. His parents are fortunate... their professions (both doctors), 3 beautiful children and life-styles afford them a really superb quality of life. While enjoying good food and fantastic wines over dinner and sipping tea in their cozy den, I had the opportunity to hear about the family’s adventures and travels. Conversations were always lively with Yann's father, who loves to talk... the man seems to know something about everything. Now I now where Yann gets it from! Yann's mother is very sweet... she is an excellent example of a woman who manages to balance her career and caring for her family. And, I really enjoyed testing out her new oven that uses induction to heat. Somehow it only warms metal so even when on high you can still touch the burner with your hand. Way cool.

Our last day, we shared what Yann calls a typical Sunday... a rather large lunch and a fun family excursion. Ahhh, how relaxing... wake up late, eat a nice meal together, drink a strong coffee before heading out to the countryside for a brisk hike. Lyon is right near wine country. Yann's dad took us up and down windy roads (at race car speed, eeeeekkk!) to a spot with a few different trails and lots of great views. In this semi-mountainous region you can find pre-historic fossils of mollusks from when the area was submerged by sea water. We gathered up quite a few during our walk. Though my search was not as fruitful as Barbara's magnificent find, I found inspiration in a bright orange snail shell I collected from the wood's damp floor. Our mushroom hunt was much less successful, all three of us came up empty handed.

All in all, a very nice trip... a peaceful place to think and a welcome change in scenery during the 11 days of banlieu rioting.