Lovely Lyon

Alliteration for the win!

A couple weekends ago (read, I'm just now posting about it because I'm lazy) some friends and I hopped on a train and went to Lyon, France. Lyon is a nearby town, maybe 30 miles away, and it's older (prettier) and bigger than my town of St. Etienne.

Yeah.

This gorgeous mountain of a cathedral greeted us as we started to explore the old part of Lyon. It rises like a giant overlooking a cobblestone square.

I wish that I had either the words or the photos in my arsenal to fully depict the breathtaking scale of the ancient cathedrals. Instead, I have grainy iPhone photos and wistful thinking.

Michelle laughed as I gushed how beautiful the cathedral was.

'Just wait till you see the basilica' she told me.

I've forgotten the name of this cathedral. Regardless even a brief visit leaves you amazed at the architectural skill of the men who built this hundreds of years ago. The soaring ceilings are impossibly high over your head, easily achieving their purpose of making you feel small amongst the presence of God.

After walking through the cathedral we searched for an authentic French restaurant to eat lunch; not a difficult task. Most restaurants posted a menu on the sidewalk and we quickly chose one and settled down at a table outside. Eating outside is something I really liked about French restaurants-- the weather was perfect and there was an awning which protected us from a brief spout of rain.

The lunch lasted around two hours-- a typical French restaurant offers these fixed meals; often three courses where you get to pick from a list what appetizer/main course/desert you want, ect. It's a lot of food, and they give you a lot of time to fully enjoy it.

After the delicious meal we headed up the vernicular-- this little tram like car that rides up a rail and travels at almost a 45 degree angle up the hillside-- to see the basilica.

It was every bit of impressive as the cathedral and then some. It was made of the same white-ish stone as the cathedral, causing them both to almost glow in the light.

The basilica was on top of the hill, and offered an amazing panoramic view of the city.

Thanks to Michelle for taking the photo!

After gawking at the beautiful view we headed inside to be greeted by an even more amazing view. I suddenly understood why Michelle had laughed when I found the cathedral beautiful.

The basilica was covered in shinning intricate mosaics; it's hard to explain how stunning the view is when you first step in, expecting just to see more stone.

Yeah. Talk about a beautiful ceiling.

After a quick stop to gaze at some ruins, we hopped back on the train for St. Etienne. 


Bon, c'est tout! We didn't have much time to spend in Lyon but it's really easy to get to, so we might go back soon to explore it more.

Stay tuned for my boating adventures on the Loire! ((which weren't as epic as that may lead you to believe...))

Thanks for reading :)