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| Ancient Roman amphitheater |
Saturday
8 July 2017
The luck we had Friday of navigating the
city and finding things so easily continued into Saturday. Just up the street
from our hostel we explored the ancient Roman ruins of stone amphitheaters.
There were several built into the hillside with stone masonry. It was just
incredible to me that something so old was still serving the same purpose
today.
From the ruins we made our way to the
Basilica de Notre Dame which is a cathedral also built into the side of the
hill. Its main theme is that it is decorated with huge mosaics on the walls and
mosaic tile on the floors as well. There is still stained glass above, but the mosaics
outshine the stained glass in my opinion. I just can’t imagine how long it must
have taken the artist to piece together all these amazing pieces of art. The
chapel was like a basement underneath the Cathedral and it was nice and cool
down there. Although not as grand as the top level, it was still pretty
impressive. Outside in a gift shop I bought thank you cards because I was sure
I’d use them to thank all the people who have helped Mike while I’m gone.
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| Incredible mosaic work inside the cathedral. |
I forgot to mention although our hostel
was in a prime location, the facilities were not as nice. Typical of many
buildings in France many of the toilets were missing seats, and there wasn’t
anything to dry your hands on after you washed them. We also discovered that to
use the shower you must press a button, and out sprays a swath of ice cold
water for 20 seconds. You must press the button constantly to have continual
water, but since it was so cold you’d press it, get wet, lather, wipe off,
press it get rinsed and be done. It was so cold every time I pressed the button
the water would take the breath right out of me. It wasn’t so bad though,
considering it was 100 degrees again with high humidity, a cold shower was
refreshing. The breakfast was also a little bit disappointing. When I stayed in
the hostel in Paris they had bread, cheese, ham, fruits, yogurt, and cereal.
Here they only provided bread and cereal. I was mostly disappointed with the
lack of fruits because I feel like I haven’t been eating enough of them and my
body is starting to crave fresh fruits.
We wanted to eat at Les Adrets afterwards.
Helene recommended the place and told us it was a restaurant for locals, and
would have very good, local food. We found it really easily, it was only 5
minutes from the hostel, but they were closed. They are only open on weekdays
we found, which is probably why they cater to locals, and are not interested in
serving tourists.
We walked around looking for a place to
eat, but the other girls wanted to find a cheap lunch, and I wasn’t super hungry
anyways, so we tried to find a bistro, but most of the places were nice sit
down restaurants. We finally found a place because we were attracted by all the
pizza in the window. I got a pizza with eggplant, tomato and basil with a crust
that was more like a crescent roll than pizza dough. I also got a cookie topped
with half of a fresh apricot that was really good too. There were no seats left
in the pizza place, so we ate on the steps of a building around the corner
right in front of the river.
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| Gooseberries "groseille" |
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| Fresh lettuce always looks better in France |
When we finished eating we walked across
the bridge to the other side of the river and discovered a huge open air market
lining the banks of the Rhone. We were so drawn-in, there was no question, and
we had to walk through this market. I couldn’t believe how wonderful everything
looked, tables with ten different kinds of olives, honey, jam, fresh lettuce
leaves, lots of peaches, apricots, gooseberries, pears, bananas, yellow and
green zucchini’s, butternut squash, onions, pastry’s, fish, crabs, flowers,
cheese galore, and meats, and breads, it was a foodie fantasy. Everything
looked so good, and yet we had just ate and we couldn’t buy anything because it
wouldn’t keep in the hot weather. I bought a small jar of apricot jam to take
home instead, and some macaroons.
Next stop was the 2nd largest
mall in Europe. It was actually not as large as I expected, but it did have 5
levels with 4 wings each, so I guess that is really big compared to any other
mall I’ve been to, but I think I expected it to be one level and spread out
really far, I didn’t expect the multiple levels. The mall was really crowded so
it was difficult to shop.
Instead we decided to see a movie. The
mall had a movie theatre and we watched Wonder Woman, which is kind of cheating
because it’s an American film, but it was dubbed instead of having sub-titles.
I was actually impressed with the dubbing, it still looked as if they were
saying French words. I mean their mouths kind of matched the words that we were
hearing.
Afterwards we took the metro to another
quartier of the city and happened upon a comedy improv competition in the park.
I’ve never seen its equivalent in English, so I really don’t know what to
compare it to. I thought the actors were really good though, just like, you
could tell they were putting their whole soul into their performance, like full
commitment. It felt more realistic to me than anything I’ve seen in a movie.
When it ended we looked around for a place
to eat dinner, but most places were closed. After wandering the nearby streets
for a while we ended up back where the improv show had been and spotted a
Chinese restaurant. I don’t know what we were thinking, but with so few options
we ate there even though all the food was behind a glass display and reheated
in a microwave before being handed to us. I got noodles which seemed like a
safe choice, but it was the nastiest food I’ve ever eaten. Plastic might have
tasted better.
We went to get drinks at Burger King
afterwards and I found they have the nicest bathrooms I’ve ever seen in France,
no missing toilet seats, towels to dry your hands, the works.
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| Looks like the side of a buildling right? No, the side of this building is blank, the windows are all painted on. We found these trompe-l'oeil all over Lyon |
We continued to walk around the city and later
that night we got ice cream. It was the first time I tried Nutella ice cream,
well worth the splurge. As we walked the road seemed to get steeper and steeper
until I realized the road was actually turning into one enormous staircase that
went on blocks and blocks. Another picturesque road that would never exist in
the US.
On our way back to the hostel I saw a sign
that said live Jazz. We peeked inside and discovered it was a restaurant with a
stage, and there really was a jazz trio with bass, piano, and drums. We had to
pay to get inside, but got a discount for being under 24 years old. That’s
right, I passed for under 24 at 33 years old. It was a great night for my ego. It
was well worth it too. I have always loved Jazz music, especially Ella
Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and when it comes to purely instrumental Jazz,
this trio was exactly the kind of Jazz I love.
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| Trompe-l'oeil |
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| Crossing the bridge on our way home |
I ordered my first Orangina in France and sat
with the silliest grin on my face I was so happy to be there. I’ve never seen
live Jazz and as I sat listening I realized I had finally done everything I’d
ever wanted to do in my 20’s. It didn’t matter that I was a few years late,
this truly was living my dreams. I didn't have the greatest view, but I couldn't help take some video of their performance.
I forgot to mention although our hostel
was in a prime location, the facilities were not as nice. Typical of many
buildings in France many of the toilets were missing seats, and there wasn’t
anything to dry your hands on after you washed them. We also discovered that to
use the shower you must press a button, and out sprays a swath of ice cold
water for 20 seconds. You must press the button constantly to have continual
water, but since it was so cold you’d press it, get wet, lather, wipe off,
press it get rinsed and be done. It was so cold every time I pressed the button
the water would take the breath right out of me. It wasn’t so bad though,
considering it was 100 degrees again with high humidity, a cold shower was
refreshing. The breakfast was also a little bit disappointing. When I stayed in
the hostel in Paris they had bread, cheese, ham, fruits, yogurt, and cereal.
Here they only provided bread and cereal. I was mostly disappointed with the
lack of fruits because I feel like I haven’t been eating enough of them and my
body is starting to crave fresh fruits.
We wanted to eat at Les Adrets afterwards.
Helene recommended the place and told us it was a restaurant for locals, and
would have very good, local food. We found it really easily, it was only 5
minutes from the hostel, but they were closed. They are only open on weekdays
we found, which is probably why they cater to locals, and are not interested in
serving tourists.
We walked around looking for a place to
eat, but the other girls wanted to find a cheap lunch, and I wasn’t super hungry
anyways, so we tried to find a bistro, but most of the places were nice sit
down restaurants. We finally found a place because we were attracted by all the
pizza in the window. I got a pizza with eggplant, tomato and basil with a crust
that was more like a crescent roll than pizza dough. I also got a cookie topped
with half of a fresh apricot that was really good too. There were no seats left
in the pizza place, so we ate on the steps of a building around the corner
right in front of the river. 
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