Home, James

As they say, all good things must come to an end. Even holidays in the Mediterranean (and above). The time had come to go home, and so, I departed from Lyon in the early morning.

While I wasn't so keen on getting up at 6am while on holiday (plus trying to get my stuff ready quietly in a dorm room of 6), it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I was out of the hostel in time to see this:

Then, after two pleasant train rides, I was back in little old Saint-Gaudens. It felt a bit small, but it was nice to be 'chez moi,' have my own room... and rest my feet, which had been forced to build up their defences after much walking in the same pair of shoes!!

Only Lyon (2)

As this was to be my only full day in Lyon, I thought I should make the most of it. However, I was starting to get tired from this hectic holiday pace, so decided to do relaxing activities.

First stop was the information centre, as I still didn't have a map of the city. I'm always keen to get my hands on a map, as then I don't have to worry about limiting my aimless wandering to avoid getting hopelessly lost. Fortunately for me, the info centre was not too far from my hostel, in the Place Bellecour, where there was a pretty cool statue of Louis XIV. Also, Wikipedia says it's the third largest square in France: 62 000 m²!



Armed with my trusty map, and a few recommendations from the man in the info centre, I went off to hire a bike, and amuse myself by biking alongside the river. Probably could have just done that all day, really.



Anyway, Sabrina had recommended the Parc de la Tete d'or, so off I went.
The land for this park (17 hectares) was purchased in 1856, work started in 1857, and 5 years later it was finished! The name of the park is 'Park of the Golden Head,' (that is really clumsily translated, but I can't think of a better way, and neither could the people who wrote the English version of the sign that I got this info from); legend has it that a golden replica of Christ's head is buried somewhere within the park grounds.

Going to this park was definitely a good option for a quiet morning, and I could ride the bike I'd hired through it. Given that it's a pretty sizeable park, this is a definite advantage.



While I was on the bike, and on the other side of the river, I thought I might as well explore as much as I could.




A lady who biked past me during this long 'promenade en velo' warned me that bikeriding makes you hungry... and it was indeed lunch time. I decided it was time to treat myself to another proper French meal in a restaurant. And it's always slightly cheaper to do this at lunchtime. So, back to Old Lyon, where I found a nice little resto with a ten euro menu (and the meal is documented in another blog entry, so we won't go into details).

As per usual, a nice big lunch made me feel a bit sleepy. So I had to wake myself up by trekking up the hill to find the Gallo-Roman ampitheatres (2-3 century AD). You wouldn't think you could miss two massive ampitheatres, but I somehow managed to go past the site the first time. I did have a nice bike ride around the top of the hill before I found them, though.

I was fascinated by these ampitheatres... firstly, they certainly knew how to choose the spot for them.


And, they are huge, and old, and complex. I felt like a kid again, as I was sort of compelled to go climbing around all of the different parts, exploring!



It's really amazing to think about how people who lived so long ago managed to construct such amazing (and durable) things. Plus to get the acoustics right. And even to decorate... the marble floor of the 'orchestra' of one of the ampitheatres had several types of marble from several different countries, including Greece and Egypt!



Before the ampitheatre was built, there had been houses and shops in this area, and there were remains dating from the 1st-3rd century AD! Decided to get in the spirit and have a quick look in an ancient shop. Managed not to buy anything.



Was equally impressed with the remains of columns and the slabs of stone with carved lettering.



In fact, as I was still feeling a little bit dopey after my big meal, I decided to settle down on the grass below the ampitheatres and soak up the grandeur/rest my eyes for a bit.

After a bit of a rest, I decided I'd better move before I got so comfy that I went to sleep. However, I didn't have the energy for any more exploring at that particular point, so I just wandered back to the hostel for an internet session.

Old Lyon was the next destination (again), as my tourist map had several points of interest marked, and I decided I should try to visit as many as possible, as well as soaking up the atmosphere of this area.

Got a few of the sights on the map in, but couldn't get to them all. Here are a couple:

The Dugas House (Maison Dugas)

Built for an important family in the early 17th century, on foundations from even earlier.

'The Red Tower' (La Tour Rouge)

This is in the courtyard of the Maison Crible, at 16 rue du Boeuf. It's quite amazing how, behind the facades of these buildings, there can be quite impressive courtyards. A hidden world!

As darkness fell, I decided it was time to get a few more Lyon-by-night photos. Hopped on another hire bike and set off along the riverside, zig-zagging across bridges and making numerous stops in order to take photos.

I was, in fact, extremely disappointed with these photos. Despite my best efforts to set the camera on something so it couldn't move and blur the photo... somehow, I still ended up with blurry photos.

Nevertheless, these give the impression (because it definitely is impressive!).

Only Lyon (1)

When I was planning my trip, I did briefly wonder if I was silly to go to Lyon just for a day and a half. After having done it, I must say that it was definitely worth it. Nice place, even though I only really saw the old area.

Arrived in the afternoon and, after staring at Metro maps for a while, worked out where I should be going, and then managed to find my way to my hostel.

What a sweet hostel location! Fully recommend the HI youth hostel in old Lyon (montee du Chemin Neuf). It must be absolutely wicked in summer, as it's on the hillside, with an amazing view over Lyon, and there's a terrace outside where you can sit and have a drink/meal/whatever.



Dropped of my stuff, had an net fix, and set off again. First stop was the Basilisque Notre-Dame de la Fourviere, for two reasons. a) It was close to my hostel. b) A nice Korean girl who had been in the hostel room with me in Nice had recommended it. Donc, ca tombait bien.



Since I have the stats, I'll give them: 66m long, 19m wide, and 27m tall at the highest point of the ceiling. And very detailed inside... as I didn't see any 'no photos' signs, and other people were taking photos, I joined in.



By the time I'd looked around up there and walked back down to Old Lyon, it was getting towards dinner time. So, I wandered the streets a bit, searching for something cheap.

And then I ended up by the river and noticed how pretty the place looked all lit up. So, of course, I was obliged to 'flaner' for a bit, strolling along the riverbanks, crossing and re-crossing the river as I came to different bridges.


Eventually, I got hungry and went back to Old Lyon for takeaway-chain pasta. With vodka sauce... I was too intrigued to go past that. Although I couldn't really taste any vodka. Hm.

Hard as it was to tear myself away from the pretty sights of Lyon at night (think it's almost prettier at night than in the day!), I thought I'd better go back and get an early night. But I failed, because I got sidetracked on the internet.

Meal in Lyon

Entrée: Oeuf meurette/poached egg, wine sauce, bacon bits and croutons



Main: Saucisson chaud/Sausage with Beaujolais sauce and steamed potatoes



Dessert: Glâce à la pistache et coco/Pistachio and coconut ice-cream!

Meal in Sète

Had a voucher for a free welcome drink at selected restaurants and found below menu at one of them, so... French gastronomic experience!

The menu which I chose from!

Entrée: Moules à la marinière/mussels served in their shells and cooked in a wine and onion sauce. – origin Fr., lit. ‘mussels in the marine style’. (Thanks, Wordreference.com)


Plat principal: cuisse de canard farcie au cèpes/ duck leg stuffed with mushrooms

Dessert: Moëlleux au chocolat et coco/can't find a translation... gonna go for chocolate/coconut brownie

Nice is Nice (4)

My train was at 11am, and I still had a couple of things I wanted to do in Nice, so I didn't waste time in the morning.

Off to Castle Hill, as recommended by yesterday's cool tourguide. He had warned me that, in the evenings, the guards shut the gates very promptly, and without checking whether anyone is still inside, adding that the gates were very tall and difficult to climb over. So, understandably, I had not been game to try it the previous evening!

Being me, I decided to set off in a slightly different direction, to see a different area of Nice. Which meant that I ended up going past where I wanted to go, and finding myself at the port. Which was ok, because it was a pleasant area.



However, time was marching on, so I started the ascent and eventually made it to the site where a castle stood until 1706. According to the sign, it was built in the time of the Earls of Provence (from what I can find here, I'm going to guess that was 10th-11th century, but could easily be wrong). Also according to the sign, I was now at a height of about 90m above sea-level!



Much as I could have spent longer contemplating this view, I still wanted to have a look at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral which, fortunately, was near the train station. So, down the other side of the hill, past an old cemetery, through Old Nice, back to the hostel to get my bags, and on to the church.

I'm glad I went, as it was pretty impressive... from the outside.



Given that I had to pay 3E to get in, and would have only had about 20 minutes to look around (for me, when it comes to looking around churches; that's not enough. Plus, I'd have spent the whole time fretting about being on time for the train), I decided to forgo this.

Got the station area with time to spare, so headed to a nearby shop which I had seen advertising Socca, a speciality of the area. Sadly, it wasn't going to be served until 11am which, of course, was when my train left.



So, I didn't get to taste this chickpea flour and olive oil mixture which saved the Nicois from starvation when they were under siege! Instead, I got what turned out to be a very tasty filled roll, with tuna, egg, and artichoke tapenade.

By this stage, it was time to head for the train, for a journey which I really enjoyed, spending much of my time trying to snap a decent photo through the train window.

Nice Is Nice, and Next to Medievality and Monaco... (3)

I set off to make the most of my morning (before the afternoon tour to the Medieval village of Eze, and Monaco), and discovered Old Nice. I kind of cursed my choice to get the transport pass the previous day, actually, as I felt I could have happily spent a day wandering around this area. Lots of narrow streets, bordered by tall, uniform buildings, churches tucked away throughout (two of which I checked out), little shops with wares spilling out into the street...



This photo probably isn't the best choice to show it, actually. Another amazing aspect of Old Nice was the market that ran through one open area, with restaurants on either side, and just a hop, skip and a jump away from the sea.



I bought some strawberries as I couldn't resist, but it wasn't really the season, and they didn't compare to the ones I'm used to at home!
Also, some random man on a street corner greeted me with "Bonjour Mademoiselle... I love you... Ich liebe dich." Nothing like a bit of random flattery.

Found an Indian kebab for lunch, and was going to take it back to the hostel, but I actually just couldn't bear to go and sit inside when the weather was so amazing. So, I found a nice square and ate my lunch with a view of a fountain and a ferris wheel!

Not long after I got back to the hostel, my chariot (well, tourguide) arrived. Nothing beats door-to-door service. I'll say now that I fully recommend Med Tours (med-tour.com) because I had a great afternoon, and our tourguide was awesome, as were the other people on the tour.
We had me, two ladies from Argentina (tried out my Spanish just a little bit), an American lady and her two sons (one of whom claimed to be Albanian, which made me think of Albi the Racist Dragon), and a couple from Syria, who I made friends with (I hope they are ok now...).



First stop was Eze, a little Medieval village high on a hill between Nice and Monaco. Given we were only doing an afternoon tour, we had an insanely short amount of time to check it out (about 20 minutes) but we gave it a good go. Pretty amazing to see this compact little place, which still looked the part (except for sometimes when people opened the doors and you could see inside to where modern fixtures had been added). Apparently, there is a handful of people who actually live there, but there is also a hotel, and a couple of restaurants, I think. Spent our 20 minutes winding our way around various pathways and taking photos at the rate of knots in the hope of aiding our memories later on!




Just below, there was a perfume factory called Fragonard, which we got to tour. It was pretty interesting, actually, as this place is really exclusive and everything's manual. For example, we got to see the guy operating the machine that pressed the soaps into flower shapes. And they make a duck-shaped soap, and someone paints the beaks red by hand. I also learned that perfume keeps longer in an aluminium bottle than in glass, and that perfume, eau de parfum and eau de toilette/cologne all have different concentrations of perfume.
One of the young American lads said he was going to buy one product for all of his girlfriends, but later picked something else up and said that, if he had a girlfriend, he'd buy that for her. His mother pointed out that he was slipping, there.

Then, onwards to Monaco.



Interesting facts about Monaco: there is about 1 Police officer for every 40 people, plus there are security cameras everywhere. The entire country is 3.18 km (1.98 mi) long and 1.1 km wide (thanks Encyclopadia of the Nations!). Ie you can stand on one side of the country and see the border on the other side. Many of the rich, rich people who live there just come for several months each year, so they have concierges to look after their houses for the rest of the time. My Syrian friend and one of the American boys quickly decided that was the life for them, and claimed they were going to stay in Monaco and make it big that way, or opening car doors for people at the casino (literally cash in hand).

Ours was a whirlwind visit, but we managed to fit quite a few sights in: the Oceanographic Museum, the Princess' houses, the palace,



the great view over Monte Carlo (from Monaco), pole position on the Monte Carlo race track



the old bombs outside the Monte Carlo casino (the young man next to me was pretty much drooling over these). We did see one smart car arrive, though. Our cool guide joked that it probably meant they could give less of a tip to the door-openers!



We drove around the Monaco Grand Prix Track before leaving... of course, I had to document this for little bro.

And that was that: Eze and Monaco in four hours!

I decided to do an evening wander, as this would be my last night in Nice. And it looks pretty good in the evening.



Strolled the streets of Old Nice again, then headed down the Promenade des Anglais, before retiring to my hotel (but not before randomly running into my Syrian friends again!).