November 30, Wednesday:
Lolloping Around Lyon
A Bit of a Disappointment:
Today turned out to be a bit of a
bummer. After a really good Continental breakfast (croissants, baguettes,
butter and jams with café au lait—mais oui!) at Hotel Liege Strasbourg which was included in our tariff, we set out
for Gare Austerlitz with the idea of taking a train to the Loire Valley as that
was where we wished to spend the day. But when we arrived at the station, we
found that our train to Orleans (where we were headed) was indefinitely delayed
due to an electrical breakdown on the line. Since we had the flexibility of
going wherever we pleased with our tickets, we made the spur-of-the-moment
decision to change course and head for Lyon instead. I called Genevieve, my
French pen pal of 36 years (who had been expecting us a day later) and left her
a message to tell her that we were headed to Lyon instead. The man at the
Information Counter told me that if we made our way on foot across a bridge
over the Seine, we would reach Gare de Lyon in ten minutes and would be in time
to get the next train to Lyon. Accordingly, we dropped everything and rushed
off in pursuit of the train.
More disappointments followed. At
the station (where we arrived on time), we discovered that our train tickets
were not valid on the TGV (Tres Grand Vitesse—Super Fast) trains, that we would
need to make reservations on such trains and pay an additional surcharge, if
necessary. Thus, we could not take the train that we had intended, but had to
wait for the next train that had seats. This was only at 11.00 am, so that by
the time we reached Lyon it was close to 1.00 pm. Fortunately, this happened to
be Genevieve’s lunch hour and she was able to get off work for a little while,
pick us up from Lyon Part-Dieu Station and drop us off to a very busy touristic
square called Place Bellecour that I
know well. It was great that Llew and Genevieve finally met. I have spoken of
her to him for so many years and of him to her as well! Llew was struck by how
warm and friendly she is and how wonderfully well we have stayed in touch and
had many meetings through the years.
Touring Lyon on Foot:
Knowing Lyon as well as I do—I had
only placed this second-largest French city on our itinerary as Llew had never
been there and I was keen for him to meet Genevieve and her family—it was very
easy for me to play tour guide.
We started at the equestrian statue
of King Louis XIV in the center of the square where we took a few pictures. We
then obtained maps from the Tourist Information Center and set off on foot for
Old Lyon where we immediately came upon the Cathedral of St. Jean which is
filled with stained glass in the royaume
style (as seen in St. Chapelle in Paris) and a glorious ornate antique clock
that still tells the time.
Next,
after posing in the Cathedral square with the Church of Notre-Dame de Fourviere
behind us, we began to look for the funicular train that would take us up
Fourviere Mountain to the Cathedral. We found this soon enough (after asking a
young boy for directions—he happened to have one French and one American parent
and had done part of his high schooling in the USA!--and rode the train up on
what was a glorious day, if a trifle too cool.
Visiting the Church of Notre-Dame
de Fourviere:
This was my third visit to the
church and it is amazing how completely you forget just how gorgeous the
interior of this church is. It is a mixture of Gothic and Baroque styles—it has
a multitude of Byzantine mosaics that completely cover the ceilings and the
walls and leave your jaw dropping. There are gilded angels, sculpted saints,
medallions rondels on the ceiling that depict the pantheon of the heavens is
wondrous guise—we simply could not get enough pictures. The location of the
church also offers amazing views of Lyon from the mountain viewing platform and
loads of people were taking pictures of the panorama spread out below us: Place Bellecour with its gigantic ferris
wheel (does every city in the world now boast one or what?), the two rivers
(the Rhone and the Saone) that wind through the city and connect various parts
through romantic bridges, Old Lyon with its winding narrow streets. It really
was such a fun way to get a bird’s eye view of the city.
The Traboules of Old Lyon:
On the funicular down, we were on terra firma once again—this time we
explored the winding maze of lanes that make up romantic Old Lyon with its
multitude of charming restaurants, its souvenir shops selling typical
confections such as the ‘cousins’ (chocolate and mint flavored cushion-shaped
candy), its tiny hostelries. But Old Lyon is best-known for one thing: its traboules. Having explored them myself
on an earlier trip, I was keen for Llew to get a whiff of them as well. Traboules are secret passages that led
from the homes of the ‘canuts’ or
silk-weavers (for Lyon is famous for its silk ateliers) to the river banks from where silk was transported to
their homes and the finished products they wove taken back on to boats for
trade around the country. The traboules
are reached through nondescript wooden doors that face the cobbled streets of
the old city. You ring a bell and hope the current residents will let you in so
that you can poke around the inner space at leisure. Inside, you will find an
apartment building with certain unique features: paint is always in earth
tones—yellow, orchre, red, russet. There are rounded balconies and long
passages connecting homes. It is all very quaint and very interesting.
In Search of Antonio Canova, Silk
Designer Extraordinaire:
Having seen some of Lyon’s main
attractions (other than its fine arts museums for which we had little time),
Llew offered to buy me a silk scarf from one of my favorite scarf designers of
all time, Antonio Canova. Canova is an Italian artist and designer who made his
home in France many years ago. He set up shop in Lyon, home of the competitive
world silk scarf industry and began designing for the likes of Hermes,
Salvatore Ferragamo, Chanel, Cartier, etc. I have, over the years, made many
trips to his atelier in a hotel particulier (private mansion) in
Lyon where I have feasted visually on his work and acquired some of his
fabulous pieces.
So, walking for about 20 minutes
over several bridges and their quais,
we arrived at Canova’s atelier (or
workshop), which is actually marked on the official map of Lyon. I have met his
daughter Clothilde (who runs the business with him) before, so I was not
surprised to see her. But imagine my delight when I discovered the door opened
by Canova himself! Indeed, I was beside myself with delight. In his showroom,
he escorted us personally and gave us a tour of some of his more recent designs.
Alas, I have to say that I was not a fan of the more Modernist aesthetic in
which he has recently chosen to work. I prefer the more classical styles in
French scarves and when he drew my attention to the silk scarves of Paul Boccaro,
another famed French designer who passed away a few years ago and whose work he
now carries in his showroom and represents, I was sold. The scarves were also
being offered at hugely slashed prices—which led Llew to buy me two of them!
Needless to say, I was absolutely delighted with my gifts.
Afternoon Tea at Café des Negociants:
With about an hour to spare before
we met up again with Genevieve who would be picking us up after work at 6.00 pm
from Place Bellecour, we found our
way into Café des Negociants which is
renowned as being one of the most chi-chi
salons de the (or tearooms) in Lyons. Inside, in a deluxe atmosphere, with
plush velvet banquettes, multiple images created by sparkling mirrors on the
wall and twinkling chandeliers that hung low from the ceiling, we ordered tea
and hot chocolate and shared a decadent chocolate pastry while chatting with
two super-chic French women seated beside us who actually had two miniature
lap-dogs with them! Indeed, the restaurant was filled with the most elegantly-dressed
women, dripping pearls and clad cozily in cashmere who sipped their tea
delicately and savored their cakes. It was a bit of old France to linger over.
Seeing Lyon By Night:
We did meet Genevieve on schedule at
6.00 pm when she swung up to pick us up in her car. But before she took us
homewards, she suggested a driving tour of the city so that we could see its
many monuments by night—which was really sweet of her. Accordingly, we saw the
Opera House—a centuries-old structure that has been ‘improved’ by the famous
French architect, Jean Nouvel, who has created a glass arch on top of the
building. We also saw the Place de
Terreaux with its marvelous sculpture of Neptune and his sea-horses by the
French sculptor Bartoldi (who designed the Statue of Liberty). Alas, much of it
was concealed by scaffolding for renovation. Next, Genevieve drove us across a
river to see the strangely Modernist building that houses the city’s newest
museum—the Museum of ….that is designed by ….. in such a way that almost every
side of it has a different aesthetic. The drive offered a real capsule of the
glorious public buildings and squares that make up Lyon and I do believe that
Llew got a really good feel for the place.
Evening and Dinner with the
Tougne-Ducotes:
Genevieve
then drove us the twenty-minute distance to her home in St. Didier du Mont
D’Or—one of Lyon’s most affluent suburbs, set high up on a mountain. It was
fabulous to meet Genevieve’s family members again (after four years): husband
Frederic and son Amaury (who amazed me at how big he’d grown—he even had a
girl-friend named Elisa!). His older brother Louis was out but was expected to
join us shortly.
After drinks (red wine) and nibbles,
Genevieve ushered us into the dining room. Having spent two stints before in
the Ducote home, I am quite familiar with the antiquated grandeur of it all as
Frederic is a retired antiques’ dealer in Lyon. The home is filled with
furniture and decorative objects from centuries past that lend a sophisticated
antiquity to their home and its grand proportions—indeed it is built to
resemble an old chateau.
The
dining room was beautifully laid with antique fianc (ceramic plates) and in the
center was an old iron contraption that turned out to be an electric machine
for making raclette—a traditional cheese dinner that hails from the Haute
Savoie region of France that borders Switzerland (where raclette is also a
favorite). A heated hotplate in two tiers is used to melt slices of raclette
cheese that are placed in smaller pans so that they melt and are removed to be
poured over boiled potatoes which are passed around. Also accompanying the dish
is a variety of cold meats such as smoked ham, boiled ham and salami and
pickles such as cornichons. It made a grand old dinner and we had the best time
as we melted our slices of cheese individually and dived in.
Lots
of red wine flowed, a lot of pictures were clicked for posterity, Frederic kept
the conversation going (in French) with his strong political views, and then,
when Louis arrived to join us, he posed with us for pictures too. Overall, we
had a really splendid evening with our friends and a really lovely introduction
(for Llew) to one of France’s most beautiful cities.
Not long afterwards, as Genevieve
had to return to work, the next day, we retired for the night in a beautiful
bedroom decorated with a decidedly feminine touch.
A
demain!
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