We saw Jack and Janie in Montreal when Blakey and Julia were graduating from McGill some 8 years ago. Before that, I hadn’t seen Jack since we traveled after I worked at L’Hotel de la Plage in the summer of 1979. We didn’t really know what to expect, but looked forward to seeing each other. It felt like we’d been friends forever, and that we see each other all of the time.
We flew to Lyon from Porto on EasyJet, one of the low cost airlines found all over the place in Europe. We weren’t able to get train reservations, and it would have been a 19 hour train trip anyhow. The cost was about equivalent, even with our Eurail passes. We arrived, took the RhôneExpress into town, and took a tram to within two blocks of Jack and Janie’s place. It overlooks the Rhône in a beautiful spot, although, in fairness, it overlooked a parking lot when they first rented it.
The weather was an unheard of, for this time of year, cold and rainy. Fortunately, Jack and Janie are equally at ease with napping as are we. We took it easy, talked, laughed, drank wine, and I was able to spend a little time on Jack’s sweet guitar.
Sunday, we determined to do more. We went to the market across the street (Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings), got some cheese, went to the bakery for fresh baguettes, and stopped at the wine shop.
Food stalls on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday across the street from apartment
Cheese vendor
Local boulangerie
Local wine merchant
A little later, we went back to pick up the oysters, for their standard Sunday lunch (only during months that contain the letter “R”).
Jack’s oyster dealer
Sunday lunch cheese
Sunday lunch oysters
We metroed under the Rhône and Saône rivers to the medieval and Renaissance architecture in Vieux Lyon where we checked out the Musée Gadagne that talked about the history of Lyon. After the invention of movable type by Gutenberg, Lyon became the center of printing in Europe. They were also given a charter to manufacture silk, and a one time fully 40% of the inhabitants were engaged in the silk trade.
15th Century Charter allowing four fairs a year in Lyon
Detail fro stained glass
Keys to city presented to Bonaparte
The next day we were even more ambitious, and walked to the old city to check out a silk workshop. We were not disappointed:
That night we went to L’Ateliers de Yvonne, a “bouchon” or restaurant specializing in la gastronomie Lyonnaise. The food was phenomenal, and the wine served in “pots,” which were just bottles from what I could tell. We walked home with the sky beginning to clear.
Turns out we fell hard for Lyon. Maybe it was our hosts, maybe the apartment, but this seemed like a very livable place. Here are a few shots from the trip:
Loved Lyon also. There are Roman ruins in apartment parking lots and remnants of Roman aqueducts in a public park, as I recall. Enjoy.
les fromages made me tres hungry. Aussi les oysters which just might make my big toes gouty! But, he magnificent fabrics being hand painted are a treasure indeed! Thanks heaps for the visual feast!
What fun for me to see Jack and Janie’s apartment! The days when he would come over to our house when he was one of George’s students are a long time past but I still remember him playing the piano for us and when we had to shove him out the door when it approached our bedtime. So glad he has always been a part of our lives.