Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Croix Rousse

Yesterday was hot so we were tempted to return to the pool, but we still wanted to see Croix Rousse, an area of town we hadn’t been to before.  The walking tour for Croix Rousse was REALLY long, so we just picked a few things to see:

-Place Croix-Rousse- the best patisserie in all of Lyon is in Place Croix-Rousse… unfortunately, it was closed L

-Gros Caillou (“Big Stone”)- local legend holds it to be the petrified heart of a merciless Lyon bailiff… it is also thought that this block of stone was transported by a glceri from the Jura region of France during the ice age.  It was discovered in 1890 when the funicular railway tunnel was being dug.  This was much less impressive in person than we had imagined.

-Villemanzy Gardens- the book said that there would be incredible views of the whole city from here.  Evidently the book was written before the trees were so high… there really wasn’t much of a view.

-Place Colbert/ Cour des Voraces- really cool stairway… this is where there were silk-worker revolts in the early 1800’s

-Church of Saint Polycarpe- impressive outside, but it was locked… another let-down.

-Lyonnais Fresco- 800 square meters of “trompe-l’oeil”… 24 famous characters “born between the Rhone and the Saone” including St. Irenaeus, the Lumiere brothers, Antoine de Sainte Exupery, and more.

It was still really hot when we got back to the apartment, so we went down to the mall and walked around in the air conditioning for a while.

Doug doesn’t think he can take anymore of the heat… only a few more days and we’ll be heading to Paris where we will stay in an air conditioned hotel J

Liz

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