22/6/26 Lyon old town & cruise

 

   Up & at em early again to get some time in before the heat levels rose again . This shopfront was on our walk to the metro - appropriate for and art teaching and supplies shop in France !!

    The Metro took us across to the funicular again , but today we left that station and wandered into the old city . If this wall could talk , it would be a very interesting tale I'm sure !

   The Notre Dame Cathedral towers above us .

But there's also Saint Jean Baptiste Cathedral as well. There were groups of school children wandering around with teachers monitoring them closely .

Back to wandering around narrow cobblestone streets and alleys , with occasional squares opening up unexpectedly . Any areas in shade were very well received . The Museum of Cinema & Miniature had some seats in the shade , so we sat and cooled a bit . 

   Continuing on , we passed many cafes & restaurants , with all the other people that had the same idea today .

Seemed we couldn't get away from the school kids .

We stopped and tried some truffle at a little shop , chatting to the owner . Turns out he is a chef and used to work at a restaurant in Melbourne , and knew Australia reasonably well . It was a pleasant chat in the cool - he also told us about an alleyway that the cold air comes out down the bottom like it's fan forced . We didn't find it unfortunately . This is a water tap we found .

    Thought slushies were for kids , think again , they are a great way to cool your insides down quickly - ice cream headaches and all . A little treat for us both .

   Someone got creative with shading their plants on their windowsills - parasols - who would have thought .

     It was starting to get hot now , so we found some plane trees beside the river , grabbed a seat and had lunch . We had plenty of time to spare and took our time meandering slowly around , before our river cruise departed in a couple of hours .

      This statue is beside the river opposite the Palais de Justice 

Which is an impressive building in itself . It has 24 columns to represent the 24 hours in a day .

    There are multiple bridges crossing the river , this is one of them , and a ferry boat .

 Fort Saint Jean

This is a fresco painted on the end of this building , it depicts 30 of Lyon's most important people in various rooms .

The houses were built on solid rock , here's the proof .

This is the National High Conservatory of Music & Dance . The old & the new really .

   This was the turning point on our cruise , an island in the river . There was an abbey founded here in the 5th century . The monastery was pillaged several times in the 6th, 7th and 9th centuries , before again being devastated and burned in 1562 . There's some history for you . It has been used by French Presidents as well . Now it's a few lucky people who can call it home .

    The cruise boat wasn't air conditioned , as we had hoped , but had about 4 electric fans positioned around the cabin . Definitely not the coolest , but we sat & enjoyed being out of the sun - it was up to about 38 now !! 

   Back to the dock and off up into the shaded alleys to maintain the coolest route for our stroll back to the Metro , then the apartment .

   Travelling again tomorrow , here's map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1jLI81sXX1qgCVr4mEidqgrpay57IkpY&usp=sharing

21/6/26 Lyon

 

   We hit the track again today travelling from Annecy to Lyon - about 2hrs by train - and arriving around 2pm . It was hot again , temps up round 34 degrees and not much breeze , so we headed over to Westfield to get a bit of cool before going to the apartment . We had an ice cream to cool us down a bit before the search mission to find the apartment - it worked well !! It took us about 20mins to walk to it , and then make our way in - one door code for the outside door , then another to get in ours . It was on the ground floor , so no stairs were involved . across the road from us , was a school - behind steel gates and a stone wall  .

   Another walk out to do some shopping at the local supermarket - about 400m away , and then we stayed for evening .

  Next day we got up early and headed down to the Metro , to get across town to the funicular train up to Notre Dame Cathedral . It's perched up on a hill overlooking Lyon . The 2 spires near the front are under renovation at the moment . We were greeted by boy scouts selling banana bread & various cakes & biscuits - think they need to be educated in food handling , as they were picking them up and showing us what they had for sale - using their bare hands !! We declined .

     The views from here over Lyon are quite good , the cathedral is a great spot to get a view of the city & surrounds . It overlooks the old city , which is positioned beside the river below .

     The Saone River is below , the Rhone River a few more kilometres away . This bridge connects pedestrians to the old city areas . 

   Wow look at all those chimneys , can't imagine what that would be like in the depths of winter - things may have changed these days .

The statue on top of the cathedral glowed gold in the sun.

    After a look around and some lunch , we headed back down the funicular , then across the bridge and down to the river side . There were some pools there for kids to cool down in , we picked one under a bridge where there was some shade and dipped the toes for a while . The cathedral does stand out a bit , alongside it is a mini Eiffel Tower , that is primarily for communications .

Here's the pools of water beside the river .

From there we headed back to the apartment to an air conditioner - the noisiest one I've ever heard before , the fan makes loud noise even on silent mode Hmmmm ! I shall include a map with tomorrow's post .

19/6/26 Lake Annecy & town by night

 

    Back to the bus terminal , tickets in hand and away we go again , this time the correct number bus and we were down to the eastern side of the lake , taking the bus all the way to the end again - well not quite the end of the lake , but opposite Duingt , where we went the other day . It was hot again , so we tried to minimise being out in blazing sunlight for too long . Not too bad a view across the lake . 

     The road follows the lakes edge where it can , cycle lanes provided all round the lake , and is extremely popular - people will catch the train here just to ride around the lake , it's about 38klms round trip .

    We didn't do a lot today as it was 34 again , so found a restaurant that was beside a campground and had some lunch there in the shade , before heading back into Annecy again . We hopped off the bus as there was a decked area beside the lake , so had a look . There were plenty of people there , mainly on the deck , but others in the water . Curiously , there were'nt any steps to get in & out , so you had to haul yourself in & out . We looked for a bit , then hopped back on the next bus .

There were some nice flowers beside the bus stop .

Back into town and came out again later to enjoy the night scenery.

   And that's the last of Annecy , we head off tomorrow . Stay tuned .

18/6/26 Annecy old town by day & night

 

   Plans for today were to go down the eastern side of the lake . Down to the bus stop and get on our bus , only to discover we had got on the number 10 instead of the no 20 ( or vice versa ) . Hmm , ah well , let's see where this one takes us to . We went upwards and in the opposite direction to where we had planned , but it's just another adventure , what could go wrong , we'll ride till it ends - which was still in the urban areas . We went past car dealerships , light industrial areas , shopping centres and everything in between , before stopping at the last stop . The driver told us to leave the bus as it wasn't going any further , so we explained , via google translate , and he said to wait for 10 mins and he'd pick us up again when it was time - and he did . Back to Annecy we went . These poppies and another ball type flower were beside the bus shelter - we wouldn't have seen them if we didn't come out here !!

    Back to town , and off to the canal again where we had some lunch while cooling our feet off in the small rapids . It was a popular spot today due to the temperature - 34 degrees today . 

    After cooling off and lunch consumed , we headed back a different street / alleyway and found one of the oldest buildings in Annecy . It was a production facility at one stage of its life and employed up to 120 people . The door was an interesting attraction .

More people were on the move around town , revitalised by lunch maybe .

    Today seemed to be about doors & alleyways , we are loving having these places to walk around , discovering new things to look at around every corner .

 This is the old building I was talking about , the canal is on the other side of the building .

     Cobblestones & hidden alleys through buildings adds to the intrigue .

Then you came out the other side to more alleyways and shops etc.

We headed back to the apartment and cooled down , before we headed out again into the cooler part of the evening , about 9pm .

    Sunset was interesting on the clouds above the mountains , obviously some winds up above causing the cloud formations that the sun was illuminating .

    The alleyways come alive at night and are lit up well , restaurants & bars either side .

    The main canal lights up with colourful reflections from the bars & restaurants - hard to believe it's just after 10pm and sun has only just set .

    Palais de I'lle lights up beautifully as well . The place is buzzing with people , but at a relaxed pace , those not sitting & eating are walking round calmly , enjoying the evening .