Paige, Meghan, Loretta, and I met up at the bus station Friday night for our overnight ride to Lyon! We left Paris at 11:15pm and would arrive in Lyon at 5:45am. It would have worked out perfectly if we managed to get some sleep. We really tried. We spread out because the bus wasn't full, and each of us took up 2 seats. There are only so many positions I can fall asleep in while in a moving vehicle, but none of them really worked. We were all disturbed half way through the voyage when the bus driver stopped for his hour break. We all agreed that it was impossible to sleep. Once we continued driving the rest of the way, I think we all were able to doze off maybe a little bit, but we arrived in Lyon early in the morning ready to start our huge day sightseeing. Once we got to the hotel, we waited and rested for an hour. The sun started rising, and we were able to see a little glimpse of what Lyon looks like from our window.
Then, we left around 9 to get our day started! Just from the bus ride into the center of the city, we could tell that Lyon is absolutely beautiful! We got off the bus along the river across from the giant church on the hill and ran into markets and perfect photo opportunities. We loved the color of the city! We went through the markets and bought snacks that smelled awesome. What I loved about Lyon is that when walking around, we could tell where to go to see the cool monuments. We could sorta tell which areas were newer (filling with shopping) and which were the older parts (cool buildings and people wearing renaissance costumes walking around).
Walking toward the older area across the bridge, we ran into so many awesome things. From all the people in Renaissance costumes, we found out that saturday only was a huge festival. Out of all the days to come to Lyon, we happend to pick the day when everyone is so festive!! Everywhere we went, there was dancing and music, cannons being blasted off, horses, drums, and happiness! We ran into a square in the old part of Lyon with an awesome church and small streets to walk through.
We decided to go visit that giant church on the hill...mountain actually. We went up soo many stairs, but every time we turned around, the view was amazing.
We got to the top, and by that time is was getting warm. I have not felt the warmth of the sun yet this year. It has only been a bitter cold until now. We were south of Paris, but once you leave Paris, I think the world is a little brighter and warmer. That goes along with everything Parisian. We all agreed on this trip that Lyon is a big city, but it is a big, beautiful, and nice city. Paris gets so much glory, but once you live there so long, you no longer see the beauty that had you amazed when you first came. It's especially hard to enjoy it in the winter for me. You only see the crazy, dirty, harsh, "inner-city pressure" part of Paris after a while. This was a good reminder that France is still beautiful once you're out of the tourist filled and sometimes heartless big city. It was good to get some fresh air! It was especially refreshing to be able to see the Alps in the distance!
We spent time looking at the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière that was honestly too big to fit in one picture. It was Beautiful and breathtaking just like everything else in this city. By this point, it was around noon, so we still had an entire afternoon to explore! Not far from the Basilique was a Roman Theatre! I got so excited when we saw this! I have never seen Roman ruins before, and I was over joyed that it was a theatre! It was so crazy to imagine people there in that time putting on a show and wearing masks! It was one of my favorite parts of the day!
We finally got around to eating lunch. We waited around for a happy hour to come along at 3pm so we could get a 3 course meal for 10 euros at a super cute restaurant in a great area. We came at 2:30, but they let us beautiful girls get the discount anyway. :) The food was amazing. I got a Salade Lyonnaise which had a tangy, creamy dressing and bacon. Lyon loves their meat! For the meal, I had Cod with potatoes, and us girls shared a bottle of Rose wine that was perfect for the sunny, warm afternoon in France! For dessert, we all had the chocolate tart!
Here is a video with a few examples of the Renaissance festivities going on throughout the city.
The rest of the day was filled with exploring, experiencing the city, and having fun. We found a giant park to sit in the grass at and talk. It was beautiful, and the weather was perfect! At the hotel that night, we enjoyed our free glass of wine and soon went to bed. We were all beyond tired! The next morning, we had our amazing French buffet breakfast! Of course it wasn't as good as the Texas shaped waffels you can get in Texas hotels, but it was a pretty satisfying breakfast! Loretta had to leave after breakfast because she took a train in order to get to Paris sooner, so it was just Meghan, Paige, and I exploring till our bus ride at 4pm. We walked through a market that was filled with amazing deals! I was surprised by all the cheap prices on fresh and organic fruits and vegetables! Meat, wine, and cheese was still expensive though of course.
We didn't do much on Sunday other than explore a little more. We saw mostly everything the day before, so we enjoyed the weather some more before getting to the bus station. Our energy level was really low by the time we got on the bus. We rested a little bit during the day, but later on that evening, we got to enjoy the scenery a little bit when the sun was setting. We could see mountains in the distance at the beginning of the ride, but at the middle to the end of the ride, it was just the hillside country. We stopped once in what felt like the middle of nowhere, France. There was a little restaurant and gas station where I only bought ice cream. It didn't feel like I was in France at the point because it just looked like a normal gas station on the side of a highway. We continued on the bus to Paris still enjoying the different scenery in the distance like the small villages where the one church in the middle is the tallest building around and the random castles on hills (where we plan on living when were older and making our own wine. Plans. Big plans).
Once again, it hit me that I'm in the middle of France, and I got here on my own, by myself, according to God's will. It still amazes me. I'm very thankful for my weekend in beautiful Lyon!
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