DAY 19 21 June Lyon

Lyon is the gastronomic heart of France, or at least that is what they tell us.  The city has a long Roman history and they have uncovered two Roman theatres as well as a water fountain. We toured the Notre Dame Basilica on the heights above Lyon with our very amusing guide Pierre, who sounded like he learnt English from South Park. We discovered Lyon’s hidden traboules (secret passageways dating back to the 4th Century) and visited the Notre Dame Basilica for views across Lyon. The church is a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles and was only built after the inhabitants prayed that the Prussians would not capture the city during the Franco-Prussian War 1870-71. They prayed that they would build this church if Mary spared their city. Viola!

We had a walking tour through the old town.

Here are the traboules.

Here is an interesting shop specializing in distinctly unhealthy .

Tonight we went to a French Circus Imagine extravaganza that included acrobatics, dancing, lasers, singing, magic and the can-can. They were very good indeed and it was a slick production. The good thing was that the lasers fixed any cataracts that I might have been developing. They should put this on the PBS schedule. I suspect they should have warned the audience before we left the ship - thank goodness I am not an epileptic.

Returning to the ship after the performance, the church on the hill was lit up.