After leaving my sister and brother-in-law, my husband and I flew to the south of France to board a river ship, the Viking Buri. The cruise was to take us from the Saône River to the Rhône and then down almost to the coast. Our first day put us in Châlon-sur-Saône, from where we took a bus to see the wine fields. They were gorgeous and went on for miles over the hillsides!
From there, we went on to Beaune, with a visit to the picturesque town and its fascinating Hôtel-Dieu. Look at those roofs! For some reason, they reminded me of quilt blocks. 😉 This was a place for the poor to come for medical care from the nuns, though of course that care was far different from what we experience today.
Also in Beaune, we had our first wine tasting of the trip. We went down a twisting staircase into a cave, or cellar for this, and we bought a bottle to take onto the ship to enjoy with a future meal.
The next day saw us in Lyon, where we toured the city and its beautiful basilica. The gothic arches were spectacular, and the murals on the walls were exquisite.
Here you can see the basilica in the distance, but can you also see the Eiffel Tower? Oops — the Eiffel Tower is in Paris, not Lyon! But there was a replica of the top section here, as well.
One really interesting thing about Lyon is its troupe-l’oeil wall art. Many of the buildings have windowless walls for one reason or another, so the people there have painted amazing things there — so amazing that you’d think they were real. This one, for example has balconies, windows, and people in various pursuits — so realistic that you’d swear you were seeing people going about their daily business!
In Lyon we also wandered around a small commercial area, stopping to have a cool drink (have I mentioned that the weather was hot?). Also in that area was a lovely little confiserie, full of all sorts of cookies and candies, jams and jellies. Yum! On the left are some of the cookies and macarons available, and on the right are some of the fantastic marzipan confections. Delicious!
There’s more to come! 🙂
