There was another IFALPES-led excursion to a major city that I have yet to visit in my limited experience out in the world, so naturally for the cost of 36€, there was no way I could turn up the opportunity to go to Lyon and a medieval village for the day. There was going to be a big group of 25+ people going, but ultimately IFALPES didn't get enough people to sign up in order to rent the larger bus for the day, leaving the group at a humble 8. Our first stop was in a charming, but cold, medieval city called Pérouges, so named for the Italians from Perugia who settled there for quality of life reasons several centuries ago but who also wanted to retain their identity of place. It was interesting, it was small, I tried a flat cake (gallette) from the town, and it was a little boring. It's nice to see, but the differences between that medieval village and, say, Yvoire are superficial at best. Perhaps we could say that about cities in general, given the sense that occurs to people who spend their lives traveling around that everywhere is roughly similar and people want and do the same things.
Things changed, however, upon our arrival in Lyon. Or at least, upon waking up and seeing that we were actually in a large city. For real. Civilization! We arrived not far from the river in a square that is apparently rather large and historic, but the details of which I don't really remember. Oops. So we arrived and were promptly advised to go eat lunch and discover the city, which is when the world's longest lunch happened. First it took a while to find a place that would work for 6 people, and then we spent two hours sitting there and eating. Two. Hours. What the fuck? So it wasn't ideal, and left us with just enough time to rush through discovering the city ourselves. I was a little bit disappointed, but not overly so, because the vibe I get from Lyon is one that I don't completely click with. The city is rather nice, and perhaps it was the group dynamic, but there was something about it that didn't feel quite like it suited me.
Don't let the bitching fool you, I had fun.
What we did see of the city I enjoyed, however, and we took a tour through a pedestrian zone so familiar to so many: the pedestrian street mall. We have plenty of examples in the Denver agglomeration, notably 16th St. downtown and Pearl St. in Boulder, but they exist pretty much everywhere and are not special unless there is good shopping or dining to accompany them. The shopping on offer in Lyon, however, is incredible, and definitely something worth seeing (and doing) if you have the resources for it. We went through the streets of the city quickly, but what we did see was nice.
One thing to note: Lyon appears to be a less-heavily touristed city than others that I have seen on this séjour, all of the tourists appeared to be either of French or random Asian origin, neither of which being a good indicator of the popularity of the city with tourists. I'm sure they exist, but they certainly don't make themselves visible, and that's perhaps a good thing. The city is beautiful, historic, and ...a place that the locals "profitent" of for themselves. Bien.
So we rushed back to the square where we had arrived so that we could take the promised walking tour à la Genève and ended up being approximately 11 minutes late. This I blame on the member of the group who was late arriving, prolonged the restaurant selection process, and ended up with disgusting food and thus prolonged our lunch. Not that I'm saying he's existentially late, but I'm saying he's existentially late. The walking tour was great, consisting of visits on the other side of the other river in town, thus through the center of town (dating to circa 19th century) and into the old town (dating older), including the traboules, or secret passages, a quick peek in a museum of miniature things, and so on. What followed was a surprise hike, announced by our guide who so helpfully put it "Now I hope you're in good shape, because we're going to walk up 500 stairs!" In the fresh heat of the afternoon.
Great.
We complained to each other until we looked behind us and realized what a magnificent view we could enjoy on the stairs of death of hazard.
No shit, seriously. It makes the thigh burn hurt so good.
So we somehow made it to the summit and were rewarded by the basilica of the city and the most magnificent vista in all of France. The view would only be better if there were the Alps in the background for it.
Voilà.
There wasn't a lot more substance to the rest of the trip, other than retrieving a bottle of water for 2€, feeling somewhat comical taking pictures inside of a church, and then getting back into the oven minibus to go back to Annecy. Another day, another city. After a nice nap, we arrived back into town, thanked Philippe for guiding us, and got ready to go out later that night.
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