The pre-Olympics security restrictions deprived us of a boat ride on the Seine River. On the Friday morning prior to our departure from Paris, our tour group had been scheduled to have the quintessential tourists’ experience of the bateau mouche. I was not unduly disappointed, as we were about to meet our river ship in Lyon. There was likely to be enough time on the water to satisfy me.
The tour directors settled our group onto a bus and we set out for — where else? — the Gare de Lyon. There was very little shade at the station, and the midday temperature climbed as we queued for our train. The train was delayed, another normal occurrence in France. Much as I like to participate in local daily activities when I travel, I make an exception for waiting on line in the heat.
Our train was not, in fact, delayed. When our guides learned that the train was to leave on time, they began herding us to the platform with some urgency. Unapologetically conflicting announcements, too, are typical of the French railway system. Our carriage was the last on the TGV train to Lyon.
The platform for the TGV train from Paris to Lyon
TGV was the abbreviation for Train à Grande Vitesse, a high-speed passenger train. Its average speed was about 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, per hour. It did not move so quickly as to blur the landscape. Visible from the windows was a bland succession of fields bordered by trees that failed to keep me awake.
This was our cabin on the M/S Chanson, the river ship that we boarded at the dock in Lyon.
This flower bouquet sculpture by Jeong Hwa Choi was next to the dock. It was part of a temporary show in Lyon in 2003, and proved so popular that the city purchased it for permanent exhibit.
La Place Bellecour is the largest pedestrian square in Europe. Located in central Lyon, it was once a parade ground.
Another bus awaited us in Lyon, a city sprawling across the ridges above the confluence of two rivers, the Rhône and the Saône. Owing to its strategic location, Lyon, called Lugdunum by the Romans, had been the capital of Roman Gaul. I had not realized that Lyon today was such a populous and proud city. The Lyonnaise like to believe that their home rivals, if not surpasses, Paris in terms of architecture, food, culture, and every measure of urban quality. Within the next few days, I would be able to form my own opinion on the topic.
The Rhône at Lyon, facing towards the Old City, with the Basilica of Nôtre Dame de Fourvière visible on the hilltop.
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