Vienne to Lyon to Cluny, from Pheh to Phenomenal, Blog 8
A few observations:
For the most part, our fellow
passengers are well-educated and well-travelled, but…..there are two ladies
from Louisiana. Upon seeing a statue of a naked man, one turned to the other
and said, “My, God, they show the man’s testicles!” Even my grandsons responded with more
maturity in Italy last year—not giggling once at David.
There are so many infirm
people on this ship that I feel that we’re on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
As you probably know, the
rivers in Germany and other parts of Europe are all flooded. Vantage is sending people home or if they
haven’t left, cancelling their trips.
France is the only country that is still navigable. The weather changes in a nano-second. Today was warm (85), sunny, clear. Now it’s pouring out. It’s kind of fun being on board ship looking
out at the rain.
That said, I had a wonderful
day today. But first, let me back up.
We were in a smallish town of
Vienne a few days ago. Dan really liked
it—not sure why. I could have skipped
it. With a few exceptions—a wonderful
Roman temple—it was like any other modern town—modern shops, modern streets,
modern traffic. We were supposed to take a tourist train to the top of the city
for a view but it broke down.
However… that evening we
arrived in Lyon, France’s third largest city situated at the confluence of the
Rhône and Sôane Rivers. What a beautiful city!
I hope to return someday. Lyon is
known for being a culinary capital, the birthplace of motion pictures (the
Luminiere brothers), universities, which make it lively, and a silk. We had a demonstration of silk making on
board ship. The scarves were beautiful
but at 70 euros there wasn’t one I thought worth the money. I had bought a beautiful scarf depicting a
scene from one of Breugel’s paintings in the Vienna Museum last fall (about the
same price, but I loved it!). The
jacquard loom so tall it required 12 foot ceilings reads puncture marks like binary code on an early computer By1850 there were 30,000 looms in Lyon.
We visited the famous market,
Les Halles. In contrast to the one we
visited the other day, this was very modern with displays so precise that I
doubt if anyone touched the items. It
was also very expensive. Smoked salmon
was 99 euros a kilogram. Even with a
kilogram being 2 ½ pounds (I think) that is one expensive bite of lox! Our guide told us that in Lyon they eat
every part of the pig from the head to the tail—to me not very appetizing. I saw a bottle of chicken schmaltz for some
outrageous figure. The entire place was
more like a display of art that a food store.
We drove to the most visited
and popular site in Lyon—the Notre-Dame Basilica sitting atop Fourvière Hill
(name taken from the Forum of Rome) It
is not terribly old, started in 1870 and
finished around WWI. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary,the walls and
floors are covered with glittering mosaics.
To me it seemed over-the-top and gaudy.
I prefer my churches old and musty.
We went on a walking tour of
Vieux Lyon, which offers the best concentration of well-preserved Renaissance
buildings in France.
Lyon was a very rich city due
to the silk trade. Inside Vieux Lyon are traboules, narrow serpentine
passageways that were shortcuts linking the three main streets. Silk merchants were able to move their goods
safely. Today you can still press a
button next to an old door to enter into a magic world of loggias, spiral
staircases, and delicate arches.
In the afternoon we took a
side trip to Perouges, a very tiny, quiet restored medieval town. It was originally not part of France but of
Saxony. People were taxed for
everything. Soldiers would search homes to look for salt not bought from the
salt monopoly. They knew all the hiding
places, but……people were clever. The
soldiers would not disturb grandmere sitting in her chair so towns people would hide salt under the bottoms of the grandmeres. I knew we were good for something! We enjoyed
its famous dessert, La Gallette, a sugar covered thin-crusted pizza like dish,
with a glass of champagne. When we
returned, we learned to play patenque a game like bocce ball outside of the
ship.
Cluny today was a highlight
of the trip for me. We docked in Macon
and took a short busride through Southern Burgundy—rolling green hills, red
poppies, vineyards, tall trees. From
afar we viewed the Berzel Chatel, a medieval chateau currently occupied by a
family. It was the French equivalent of
Downton Abbey. I don’t know how they
manage the upkeep.
Cluny—ah, Cluny, considered
one of the finest Romanesque towns in France. (Have you noticed that everything
is the finest, largest, smallest, oldest?!) You must wonder how I can still
enjoy one more medieval building particularly a religious one, but I loved Cluny. Cluny was the center of Christendom with its
largest church—2 football fields long and containing five naves. In 910 , 12 monks founded an abbey. By 1100 it was the headquarters of 10,000
monks who followed Benedictine rule.
Very little of the original gigantic building remais, but there is
enough to evoke a past page and it is very well presented including a 3-D movie
and a a screen that when aimed at a ruin shows what it was like originally. Our guide had a particularly thick French
accent, and she kept talking about applesauce, which I later realized was
“apostles.”
Immediately outside the abbey
is the National Stud Farm. We were able
to watch trainers putting magnificent horses through their paces. All of this was in an exquisite setting.
I was not looking forward to
the goat cheese tasting wondering what I’d do while everyone ate (gag) goat
cheese, but I had a wonderful time because of the adorable goats. The nanny goats and kids were in an open
barn. In tans, browns, and whites they
were more charming than our California goats and so playful. One kid got a hold of my short, white skirt
and I had to pry it out of his mouth.
The nanny goats meet the billy goats in October, and the baby goats are
born within a two week period in February.
The cheese tasting was short and informal and I sat outside and watched
a peregrine falcon soar overhead.
Tonight is our farewell
dinner with abut 49 courses. I have no
patience for long, extended meals!
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