Lyon, France

     A little late is better than never I guess. The stories from Lyon and Bordeaux have taken some extra time due to business and sickness. When we arrived in Paris after our night north of Bordeaux, I got quite sick with a sinus infection that required a couple of down days of sleeping and popping ibuprofen to break the fever. Izzy ended up doing a lot of things with our friends we stayed with while I kept myself in bed getting better. In Lyon, we had an absolute blast. We had to stop our couchsurfing experience because all of the people we contacted were busy with exams that weekend. And unfortunately, some of the friends of the people we stayed with in Toulouse are from Lyon and invited us to stay with them but they wouldn’t get to Lyon until we had already returned to the States. That part of the trip was bitter sweet as it would be the last city we would have our friend Mollie with us. The last morning in Lyon, we would awaken and take her to Geneva for her conference and probably not see her again until we take ourselves to Australia. But alas, these are the types of friendships we’ve made with people but its good and lasting. Upon arrival to the city, we caught a lucky break and I finally listened to Mollie’s suggestion of finding a map of the city right away so we don’t waste time looking for streets with bad directions. We found the Tourism Office right away and acquired a map of the city. We discovered we were quite close to our hotel and headed on over to drop off our stuff and the car. We walked back towards the main square and found ourselves in a city we fell in love with right away.

     The Bellecour Square was open and covered with a fine red sand layer and had a huge 3D sign in it that read “Lyon”. The square is the largest open square(meaning no trees or stuff like that) in Europe and the largest pedestrian area in Europe as well. It has a statue in the center of Louis XIV. 

     From there, we headed up one of the side streets that led to the north off the square and found some really lovely buildings. The architecture had an old yet modern feel and everything seemed to flow and fit together nicely. Both of the girls couldn’t stop talking about all the different shops they wanted to go into but we agreed that shopping would be done later during the World Cup game so all could be happy and we could all tour the city together. We continued along the Rue Emile Zola looking in the shops until we arrived at the Jacobins Square. It was decorated with a nice ornate fountain and another confusing roundabout.

     Further up we found the Saint Nizier Church and more beggars wanting money outside of it. The church has quite an interesting history. It was built in the 6^th century and named for Nicetius of Lyon. It was sacked and burned by Charles Martel and others and later rebuilt in the 9^th century. Some of the church goers, sickened by the vast amounts of lavishness, decided to set the place ablaze in the 13^th century. Over the 14^th and 16^th centuries, it was slowly rebuilt and maintains the same form today. From there, we ventured up to one of the many Opera houses and it was impressive to say the least. But even more impressive is the City Hall that has its back to the front of the Opera. 

     We walked down the street to the Terreaux Square that is the front of the City Hall and has the famous Bartholdi Fountain built in 1891. The same sculptor, Frederic Bartholdi, built New York’s Statue of Liberty five years earlier. We had an ice cream break due to the baking sun and ambled further north only to discover that the area gets quite a bit rougher. The area is sprinkled with tons of public parks and interesting characters. We wandered towards the western side of the peninsula along the Saône River and enjoyed the view of the hill overlooking the city. 

     We had dinner at one of the restaurants along the pedestrian street Rue de Merciere. I don't know if it's a tourist trap but there are some nice restaurants along the street. We stopped and had steaks, salads, and rich French desserts. On the eastern side of the peninsula, we took an after dinner help the steaks and crème brulée digest stroll to get some pictures of the Rhône River and the Hôtel Dieu de Lyon. It was built at the end of the 12th century as a place for traveling clergy members. In the 15th century, it was converted into a fully functioning hospital. At night, its one of the highlights along the Rhône River. 

     The next day, before heading off to Geneva, we took a drive up the hill to see the Notre Dame de Fourviére Cathedral and small tower fashioned in the shape of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  It was built towards the end of the 19^th century on the Fourviére area overlooking the entire city. The inside is quite impressive and holds an even more detailed crypt downstairs. Even though it has a towering position and nice architecture, it is not considered the principal church in Lyon as that position belongs to St. John’s Cathedral at the bottom of the hill on the river bank. Our time in Lyon was brief but very memorable and we know we must revisit the city one day and continue our journey through its streets and discover more of its Roman ruins.

     Getting out of Lyon was a bit tricky and involved a couple of illegal U-turns. But hey, no cops pulled us over so no harm no foul. The drive between Lyon and Geneva is incredible. We put up some pictures of that drive and our others across the vast French countryside. It's a great place to rent a car and get lost on the back roads. The highways will break your wallet.

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Cannes/Marseille, France

      On Wednesday morning, we headed out of Nice and along the coastal highway to see some more of the small towns along the riviera. We made our way to Cannes because of its fame with the celebrities and as you can see from the first two pictures, its really not all that special. The beach is almost gone due to the over development of high rises and every hotel feeling the need to have a restaurant out on the beach. The people swimming in the sea look like they are right on top of the people trying to eat an over priced meal. Good times. 

     When we left for Marseille, an interesting problem came up. We texted our next couchsurfing host to check on what time we should arrive and to our surprise, he called and told us that he was out of town and had sent us a message saying he wouldn't be able to host us. We later looked and couldn't find a message so it was an interesting miscommunication. He called us back twenty minutes later and made arrangements with his father to drop the keys by so we could stay at his place without him. It was an amazing gesture and we are forever grateful for the hospitality he showed us. We hope he will come to visit us in Madrid. I know the French have a bad reputation for being cold and mean but outside of Paris, they are really quite lovely. 

     We met his father around four o'clock and he showed us how everything worked around the house. We spent the rest of the evening organizing, grocery shopping, and relaxing instead of running off for sight seeing. On Thursday morning, we jumped into the car and headed into town. From our experience the day before of trying to make a grocery run, we learned that driving in Marseille is no easy task. I do miss the simpler format of American cities and how easy it can be to maneuver in the grid type cities where as European cities are a mix of winding streets. Take three rights and you not only won't be back where you started but in a place completely unrecognizable as well. 

     We didn't have a map and spent quite a while just winding through streets thinking we were close to the port area until we finally parked the car and had to walk an hour to get to where we wanted to be. Luckily, the parking garage was next to a metro stop so we wouldn't have to make the long trek back to the car. We walked around the old port area for a while as its always enjoyable to be so close to the sea. Marseille has an interesting spot in French history as its the oldest settlement in the country. There are caves in the mountains right outside the city that have cave paintings that date back to 30,000 B.C. The Greeks set up shop in Marseille in 600 B.C. and the area has enjoyed quite a position of maritime importance. The area has a lot of old architecture like the Hotel de Ville(City Hall) around the port and its quite nice to just stroll along. Around the docks area, we found a lot of different globes painted in different fashions like each country by its flag or different things they're famous for, it was interesting to see all the different representations. 

     From there, we walked up to the Arc de Triomphe, which was nice but pales in comparison to the one in Paris. Near the Arc is one of the best cathedrals we've seen in Europe, if nothing else for its more unique design. Many of the older cathedrals we've seen all start to look the same after a while but this one had a striped outside that made it more pleasing to the eye. It's called the Cathedral Saint Marie Majeure and it reminded me of the Mezquita building in Córdoba, Spain and seemed to have some Arab influence. The inside was dark because none of the lights were on and no one was inside so we just sat and enjoyed the intenseness of the silence of being in the large building all alone. As we were leaving, more visitors trickled in. Afterwards, we briefly stopped by to see the Vieille Charité, a complex and church built to house vagabonds and orphans. 

    One of the culture centers of Marseille is the Opera House and the building is in great shape considering that a fire almost destroyed it some years ago. It was built in the classical style in the 17th century and still hosts many famous opera performances. 

     The heat started to get to us so we headed for the metro and caught a train back to our parking garage stop and got in the car. A friend of ours told us French people don't like artificial air like air conditioning blowing on them but how can you not enjoy it on a day where its 91 F(34 C) and humid outside. We cranked the air and attempted to drive to a couple of the other sites we wanted to see but after a lot of zig zagging through the same streets, we said to hell with it and headed for the last major place we had to see in town, the Notre Dame de la Garde that sits on the hillside overlooking the city. 

     The style of the church is similar to the other cathedral we saw and because its smaller, its technically called a basilica. The vantage point of the church is incredible and you can see everything for miles around and for this, the place has been very important to many leaders of the area. The idea for the church began in the 13th century and has evolved into the present shape it has today. The church has a plaque dedicated to the visit from John Paul II before he became pope to the church. 

After the church, we called it a day and for the first time, navigated our way without too much difficulty back to our hosts' house to relax with some food and a cold drink. If you think Cannes is nice, forget about it and head to Marseille!

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