Missed the bus to Cassis so I hung round Aix in various squares sittiing in the shade drinking perrier and ice tea. Ventured a few biscuits , some beautiful boat shaped "navettes" I bought from the street market. They are like shortbread with ground almond. Read Balzac's "Old Goriot" in one day as I felt that I should read some French literature and having passed thru the town where he went to bludge off a noble and write. It was very Dicken's, ridiculous hyperbole, but dealing with Parisian society mid 19th century. I bought it from the English Bookshop in Aix which also stocks Heinz baked beans and vegemite amongst other English products !
Today I finally said goodby to the useless, torn sleeping bag and flat sleeping mat. They went into the rubbish. Rode to the TGV along the back roads without difficulty and arrived in Lyon.
I found the Tourist Info this time and got a great booklet on walk and rides in and around Lyon. As the rain had ceased I set off at 5 pm to ride the walk described in the booklet that goes right round Lyon. Didn't get back til 8.30 so I imagine it would take a good 6 hours to walk. It took me round all the great places I'd missed last time when I tried to randomly ride around. I rode thru fantastic streets of restaurants, little parks with amazing views over Lyon (though in one park a guy was screaming at another guy and I rode off very quickly). I got to see the interior of the basilica which was opulent, gilded, ornate over the top renaissance . The church really vied with royalty for power and this was a great show of it. From the Basilica I could see across the Rhone valley to the alps. The other amazing thing was the huge church on the banks of the Saone had 2 ruined churches beside it and one was commenced in 150AD. Apparently there were a small group of Christians who were persecuted. St Blandine was a martyr who was thrown to the wild beasts and tamed them??? Then how did she die, you ask? There is a huge Roman amphitheatre still in use for concerts. Some of the areas I rode through look look like they've seen better days in other centuries . Lyon is promoting itself as the contender for the "European Cultural Capital"in 2013....sounds like a cultural Olympic bid. I wonder if that is because commercially it has lost its ground. It also touts itself as the gormand capital so I need to check that out further.
After starving for 3 days I decide to eat and found a brilliant restaurant near the hotel. I had duck breast with a glaze and crushed sugar coated almonds sprinkled on top accompanied by polenta , mushrooms and ratatouille. Sounds tacky but it was extremely nice. No photos as it would have been a bit difficult to do discreetly.
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