Judy – Page 6 – Dear Liza

Back up the Hill that Prays Part 2

May 21

Dear Liza,

After a life-saving snack of cake and coffee at the Café Bacatá , Bridgett and I headed back to the museum, while Grandpa Nelson headed back towards home.

As with every museum in Lyon, the Museum of Marionette Arts was more than I imagined. It covered centuries of puppetry from all over the world, and how people have created marionettes from almost any material.

Wood, bone, cloth, clay, papier-mâché and even plastic bags can become animated characters, given a proper puppeteer.

The displays were delightfully thorough and creative.

We enjoyed old TV footage of a very French take on The Muppets (political satire, but my French isn’t good enough to know exactly about what).

After the museum, we headed off to see more of the Old Town. Some lovely old churches were closed, so we decided to head back UP the hill and find the Roman baths that we had overlooked on our visit to the Roman Theater.

So we went up, up lanes and up stairways, ramps, and alleys. Fortunately, a light drizzle started and kept us cooled off. See that red tower in the top of the picture? When we got to that building, we were almost there.

And after covering the same block five times, we found them, tucked behind apartment blocks with tiny “Propertie Privé” signs. Les Thermes Antiques, where Romans in the early 100s AD came to soak and socialize. A bit the worse for 2000 years of wear and tear, but amazing, anyway.

And, having come, seen, and photographed, we headed back down the hill.

All the streets and stairs were friendlier going down, and in no time we were at the Rhône, skipping on the fun promenades and crossing bridges dedicated to famous Ecumenical philosophers.

The last 46 steps of any journey are the hardest, the steps up to our apartment from street level. But what a day! History, puppetry, physical challenges, cake, espresso, a little rain, and a lot of fun.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Back Up the Hill That Prays Part 1

May 19

Dear Liza,

Lyon keeps surprising me! The other day we intended to have a simple museum visit and ended up climbing twenty flights of stairs! And right back up the Hill That Prays.

Let me start from the beginning.

The Musée de la Histoire de Lyon is housed in a Renaissance-era mansion in Old Town called the Gadagne. This museum is not on the hill, but on the flat by the River Saône.

The museum is spread over five floors of the mansion, with wonderful exhibits that tell the story of Lyon from pre-history to recent years.

There were, to put it mildly, STAIRS. These Renaissance standard, stone-carved spiral things went up and up… when I finally stopped to take this picture, we were on the next to the top floor.

The graphic at the top shows all the spiral stairs, but they look cuter than they feel.

But the exhibits are top notch, with sophisticated projections showing how the rivers Rhône and Saône caused the city to develop as it did over the millennia.

There was also an extensive history of the silk manufacture and lives of the workers.

This history of silk workers rights continued into the WWII era, with worker’s and women’s rights campaigns. It was fascinating to see what I think of as current events played out in a history museum.

By the time we had reached the current day, we needed some sustenance. We took the elevator down (whew!) and met Grandpa Nelson at a nearby café.

More on that, and the continuing adventure, tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

France Loves Food

May 18

Dear Liza,

France is famous for food, and Lyon is considered the Capital of Culinary Arts. And we have eaten very well since we’ve been here.

But French food means different things to different people, and as we’ve been here longer, it has come to mean different things to us.

At first, you think of the beautiful pastries and delicate desserts. These are iconic, perfect, and take a lot of skill to create. But for me, they are a lot of sweet cream in a pretty shape, and not very satisfying.

A step above them, actually, are more homely traditional foods, like the Croque Monsieur. This elevated grilled cheese sandwich has different kinds of cheese melted on brioche bread with just a few green onions tucked in. I swear, it would bring you back from the dead.

And what is becoming my favorite French food are the meals we make here in our apartment with ingredients from the twice a week marché across the street. Rotisserie Turkey rolls cooked with herbs and olive oil, are delicious pan seared with vegetables from local farms.

So far, that’s the best dinner I’ve had. And there was no reservation to make, crowd to deal with, bill, or language barrier. Just fresh, yummy food, simply prepared, at the end of a fine day’s site seeing.

Lunches are more grab and go, with cheese and veggies, bread and butter being my favorites. Vegetables here are bred for taste, not shelf-life, and the cucumbers are firm and flavorful. French cheeses number in the hundreds, and the butter is amazing.

We are having lunch out with some new friends at a new place in a few days, and I’ll let you know how that goes!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Day and Night in Lyon

May 17

Dear Liza,

We have been so active during the day here in Lyon that we are worn out by evening, and make an early night of it. But this past weekend was the European Night of the Museums, and every museum was open, free, from 6:30 until 10:30.

You know we had to get some of that!

But first, it was a pretty, sunny day, and a walk was called for. Auntie Bridgett and I wanted a short stretch of the legs before resting up for the long evening, so we explored some new corners of Parc de la Tête d’Or.

This small, humid greenhouse had incredible jungle growth.

Huge leaves, bright blooms and bizarre shapes were hanging and sprouting all over! it was amazing.

Once evening came, we took the A line metro to Place Bellecour and walked to a place Grandpa Nelson had seen, Café Française.

It looked nice, but their terrace was crowded, smoky, and we sat for 30 minutes without seeing a waiter. We like leisurely French service, but this was ridiculous.

So we headed a few streets off the main drag and found Aperothéque, with fewer people, a cool interior, and waiters who acknowledged our presence. Their food was good, too.

And finally, to the main attraction! We started with the Museum of Printing, which was full but pleasantly orderly. Housed in a Renaissance mansion that used to be Lyon’s City Hall, the museum tracks developments in printing from carved wood blocks to moveable type and its effect on religious reform, to multi-colored computer printing. It was reading-intensive, but well done and fascinating.

We were feeling a bit foot sore, but a delightful walk through bustling pedestrian streets got us to the Fine Arts Museum.

I didn’t take many pictures inside the Museum, because there were so many people coming and going so quickly, I felt like I just needed to hold on! Here is a lovely marble bust of August Rodin, looking as concerned about the crush as I was! We didn’t stay long.

Once we found peace and space outside in the Place Terreaux, we saw our first sunset in Lyon and made our way back across the bridge and home.

This is a wonderful city, day and night!

Love,

Grandma Judy

More Tête d’Or

May 16

Dear Liza,

One of the best things about having a long stay in a wonderful city like Lyon is that you can visit your favorite places more than once.

We have been back to the Parc de la Tête d’Or four times, and keep finding new things! Miniature golf. Free Range deer. Climby ropey things.

And today, we found the Buvette de l’Observitoire, where they serve all sorts of lunches, desserts, and drinks. Auntie Bridgett and I shared a ricotta chou sucré, where ricotta cheese and pistachio cream are blended together and put inside a sweet bun. SO good! I also enjoyed a cider and Grandpa Nelson had some rosé.

We also found several new ways to get lost on the way to the Orangerie, discovering a bunch of peony beds that are blooming like crazy.

There was also some crazy turtle convention going on in one of the ponds.

By the time we got home, we had walked more than five miles…. And we do this A LOT. We could walk the park every day all summer and see something different every day.

117 hectares is a lot of park!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Finding the Families at Lyon’s Gallo-Roman Muséum

May 14

Dear Liza,

Once they got settled in, the Roman Empire was in Lyon for a long time. For 368 years, from 43 AD to 411 AD, the Roman Empire built and ran Lyon, which was then called Lugdunum.

It’s no wonder, when the Empire fell and the Roman army left, that a lot of stuff was left laying around.

Great piles of that stuff has been collected by folks who came later, from Medieval farmers to modern archeologists, and put into this wonderful, modern Musée at Lyon.

The museum itself is a wonder. Built right into the back wall of the cliff that houses the amphitheater, it spirals down, leaving only the entrance and a few windows to give it away. Artifacts are arranged by era and type, so we can see the progression in ceramics, jewelry making, and glass work.

We get to see the variety of religious articles, from tiny pocket divinities to greater than life sized statues that Romans looked to for comfort and protection.

And the floors. I told you there would be floors, didn’t I? Many of the houses of Lyon, once they were properly excavated, were found to have these magnificent mosaic floors.

I actually got emotional, sitting right there, touching a floor that Roman moms played with their babies on, that dogs ran across, that people hugged and cried and celebrated on. These weren’t characters in a stone fresco. They were humans, making their way through life.

We kept spiraling our way down, learning about how people moved around the Empire, from Turkey and Spain, Germany and Iraq, to make the Empire diverse and powerful.

And when we reached the end, we were at the bottom of the Amphitheater, and just walked across the stage and down the road into town. From the ancient everyday world to the modern everyday world.

Amazing.

Love,

Grandma Judy

The Hill That Prays Part 2

May 12

Dear Liza

After we finished lunch at the cafe by Notre Dame de Fourviere, Bridgett and I walked about 10 minutes down the road and went even further back in history.

Because, you see, people have been building on this hill for many, many centuries. The Roman city of Lugdunum was built on this hill in 53 BC or so, a few years after Julius Caesar was assassinated. This city included a forum, temples, houses, baths, and amphitheaters, just like every other Roman city.

Most of the houses, which were built of stone, have been ‘recycled’ into churches and newer houses over the centuries between then and now.

But much of the main amphitheater, which could seat 10,000 people, is still here. It had been buried by silt and overgrowth; protected, ironically, by ignorance and neglect. Unearthed and repaired in the 1940s, we can now climb, sit, visit, and wonder about the people who made this place.

With 10,000 people here for a performance of any sort, there would have been toilets (yes, with flowing water under the seats) and snacks (small shops behind the back rows). A grand villa stood just behind the theater, with proper Roman baths and mosaics on the floors. (They have been moved for protection… more on that later.)

There were even some ancient hidey holes for me to shinny through! I think this conduit probably brought water up the hill. Romans were very clever with pumps and engineering.

When we had walked and climbed and stared at the grandeur that was here, it was time to, as Bridgett said, “Go see what all this means”. So we went into the Musée.

Up to The Hill That Prays Part 1

May 11

Dear Liza,

We headed up, finally, to visit a place we have seen every day we have been in Lyon.

The Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere stands on the top of the hill west of Lyon, and is visible from most of the city. But to get there, we took the A line Metro, then walked across a bridge, then took a funicular train almost straight up to the top of the hill.

Since the funicular is part of the transit system, we just used our regular bus cards!

It was easy to find the church… it’s huge! Also, there was a pretty steady stream of tourist buses and school groups heading in that direction.

Before we went inside, we walked around to the bell tower, which is on top of the chapel that was built here originally, in the late 1700s.

After a few years the sanctuary here became so popular, (having up to 12 masses a day to keep up) the diocese realized they needed a bigger church. The Basilica was finished in 1875, though it was designed to look much older.

The inside of the church is the most decorated, detailed, carved, painted and mosaic-ed place I have ever seen. As we sat on the wooden pews, hundreds more people filed in. Unfortunately, the buzz of the crowd, punctuated by the inevitable shrieks and giggles of school groups, made for a less-than-reverential experience.

We stepped out and walked around the courtyard, enjoying the views of the city from the overlook, and had lunch at the lovely cafe.

About this time Grandpa Nelson got worn out, and headed home. Auntie Bridgett and I decided to stick around for the second part of our adventure.

More about that tomorrow.

Love,

Grandma Judy

France Loves Stairs

May 10

Dear Liza,

We’ve visited France a few times, and I’ve come to realize that France just loves stairs. These at the Opera Garnier in Paris are as fancy as the shows!

Maybe it’s that stairs make the buildings tall and graceful. These help get folks into the Louvre.

Certainly, Cathedrals without stairs wouldn’t be nearly as majestic.

Or maybe it’s that stairs allow so many folks to live in a small space, so transportation is easier. Here are the stairs up to our apartment in Lyon. Forty-six in all, and we are only on the second floor. They are cut from stone. And yes, they really have that little dip in them, because they are hundreds of years old.

Some old buildings have retrofitted elevators, but they are not common, and often don’t work. Newer buildings might have elevators, but aren’t usually located in the central part of the city.

So, as well as counting steps and miles, we can start counting “flights of stairs” on the Apple Fit application. The other day, Bridgett got 18… but she’s a powerhouse.

France is keeping us fit, for sure.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Le Musée des Confluences

May 9

Dear Liza,

When two rivers flow together to become one, this is called a confluence. And when a museum is perfectly suited, both architecturally and metaphorically, to its location, this is called Le Musée des Confluences.

This unexpected building has no great facade and almost no right angles, and looks grandly alien against the bright blue sky. The building looks different from every angle, and there is no ‘front’ or ‘back’. It follows no architectural tradition.

The exhibits inside are equally unexpected. The first one we saw was on Dreams, and how societies through time have used and interpreted them. Writings and stories from all over the world were represented in film, art, models, and recordings. Dreams about death, under fascist regimes, and religious visions were included, all considered equally.

There were also a gallery titled “Death… and Then What?” about different societies’ views on whatever life there may be after death. It was fascinating, if a bit dark, but again, handled without the usual Western bias.

There was no “but science NOW knows…” stuck on the end to discredit the other world views.

The galleries, like the building, and like the location, were a confluence, a blending, an acceptance and equal exploration of all views.

This is included in the introduction to the museum, “guests are invited to view the world with curiosity and a sense of wonder.“ This museum sees itself not as a fountain of knowledge or a gatekeeper of information, but a lens through which to look at the world.

I like that.

Love,

Grandma Judy