Day 5 (James): Lyon — Avignon
Woke up in Lyon this morning and decided to explore the town before we headed off again. Parked in town and went on the hunt for breakfast and coffee. IT WASN’T RAINING!
As usual, we found a beautiful patisserie and ordered croissants and coffees (in French might I add… kind of). Grabbed our food to-go and found a wonderful spot to eat.
Ventured into the old town of Lyon (Vieux Lyon) which is the oldest district of the city. This area is packed full of incredible Roman remains and renaissance architecture. Take the Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste as example of this.
I had my sights on a building way up behind us which turned out to be the Lyon basilica (La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière). The only issue was the obstacles in the way… well, over 550 in fact (steps!). Mol wasn’t best pleased even though she’s by far the fittest out the two of us (shes actually seen the inside of a Gym before). Watching her struggle made it all the more enjoyable for me.
About half way up we (she) decided to rest to catch our (her) breath. At this point we had a sneak peak of the view to come and couldn’t wait to see it. We also saw snippets of what we were heading towards from here.
After a lengthy climb, we reached the top. Was it worth it? Absolutely it was worth it.
The view here was stunning and we were completely and utterly mesmerised by this breathtaking cityscape. We spent quite a while here (we’d earned it after all) and began to reflect upon our journey so far. It’s become some what of an on going joke between myself and Mol to randomly interject silences with “Sweetheart, what on Earth are we doing here…” to which the other usually replies “WHAT. ON. EARTH. ARE. WE. DOING. HERE!?!”. In reality, its hard to find an answer other than “why on Earth have we not done this before!”. It seems we have caught the travelling bug.
The Basilica (Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière) itself was also stunning and we were interested to learn that it had been built in the 17th century on the land of old roman remains. After spending a short while in awe of its stature, we ventured inside.
It’s hard to put into words the feeling when entering this place. Even for a non religious man as myself, it is hard not to succumb to the overwhelming beauty and artistry of a building such as this. The grandeur is a powerful thing and what added to the ambience is that on entry, a Vicar is stationed who continues to ‘shush’ the in-flux of visitors if noise levels rise above a whisper. Truly serene.
You may have already seen what Molly claims to be “the BEST” photograph she’s ever taken and immediately posted it to Instagram with excitement. This was the moment I noticed her lining up a shot with her phone... I taught you well young padawan…
It was now around 13:30 and time to say goodbye to Lyon. The plan now is to get as far down south as we possibly can this afternoon… I can hear the sea calling me. We agreed on a route and set off, my turn to drive today.
The journey was the longest we’d done yet at just over 4hrs straight. This was because we had purposely chosen to avoid tolls and motorways for as long as possible so as to experience more of this wonderful country. What this actually meant is that we passed through some amazingly peculiar little towns and villages which, for the most part, did not make geographical sense and each had their own 11th century castle (Château) stationed upon a hill.
Molly booked our accommodation for the night and we checked in just after dark. We both agree that driving in Europe is 10x harder at night and we’d rather avoid it where possible. Tonight's location — Avignon, an old Catholic city built upon the Rhône River. We dumped our bags and went searching for food. Luckily, our room this time was on the ground floor and facing the car-park… we used our brains and unpacked the smart way…
As usual we settled for some old fashioned French cuisine — the golden arches. We were actually really blown away by this McDonald’s. It was clinically clean, had their own completely separate cafe area and all of the staff wore shirts and ties with trendy jeans and shoes. Come to think of it, I’m yet to see a badly dressed Frenchman.
Returned back to the room and stuffed our faces ready to explore the city in the morning. -James out.
