We headed to Lyon very early Tuesday morning, while everyone was still sleeping. Before and after breakfast, we enjoyed views of smaller cities, vineyards, a few castles, and the countryside. Also in the morning, our tour director gave a talk and slide presentation on her home country of India (her home is now France, and she is married to a Frenchman), covering her life and family, politics, the caste system, marriage, and other customs…very interesting.
We arrived in Lyon around 11:30 a.m., had lunch onboard the ship, and then headed on a tour of Lyon via bus and foot. The tour included the Notre-Dame de Fourvière church (at the top of a mountain overlooking the old city), Cathédral St. Jean in the old city, the hidden passageways of the old city, a building with trompe l’oeil paintings of famous residents of Lyon (the father of veterinarian medicine lived here), and various other sites.
One interesting event – while waiting for everyone to get on the bus for our city tour, I took a picture of a young lady (likely a university student, since we were moored close to one) sleeping on a bench. An irate individual, apparently of middle-east ancestry, came up to met yelling in French. Someone (our bus driver or guide – I’m not sure which – translated that I had just taken a picture of his sister, and he wanted me to erase it. He threatened to call the police, yelled at me that I should speak to him in French, etc. I did erase the photo, but we figured later that he likely wasn’t the girl’s brother, but likely expected to be paid to keep the photo. Oh well. It wasn’t an award-winning shot anyway!
The Diamonds and Steinbergs decided to eat off the ship in Lyon, since it is the culinary capital of France. We dined at a restaurant high on a hill over the old city, which was recommended by our host last night at our in-home hospitality. It was very good, with spectacular views of the city as the sun went down and the moon rose.
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