Flying North to travel South.

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As is our wont we hopped on a tram on a whim and rode it to its terminus. Unfortunately, this one really just ended in a dormitory suburb with a few older buildings left over from when the area was just a small town.



However we did have a very nice lunch at a small restaurant. This place really surprised us as it was jampacked on an ordinary Tuesday lunchtime. We got the last available inside table.

I had the entrée and main and for €15 it was very good value. It was good 'wholesome' food well cooked.



Lovely rich tasting terrine



My wife had the ravioli - again very nice



I had what was almost a Sunday lunch at my mothers when I was young. Very similar to Pickled Pork and Mashed Potato. But again excellently cooked. This is apparently a traditional Alsatian dish



When we were settling up at the desk we told the manageress how nice the food was. She called a young woman barely in her 20's to come over and talk to us. She was apparently the cook and seemed to be in the early stages of her career. When we also told her how good the food was she was delighted.

The next day some German friends who live near Stuttgart came to stay in Strasbourg for a couple of nights to catch up with us. Three of them are distant cousins of my wife and one married into the family.

My wife with them on one of the many bridges in Strasbourg. Her cousins are the man and his daughter and the tall blonde woman.



One of the first things we did was have a meal together. As everyone was after a light meal we went to the restaurant where my wife and I had the flammkuchen previously. It was raining so we ate inside this time.






You can't have flammkuchen without the flame



Annette, the blonde, came to Perth for about four weeks last year - I did a TR about our travels with her. We hadn't seen the others since our Christmas Market Trip in 2023. There is another family reunion planned for Cambridge in 2026 and, god willing, we plan to meet up again then.



A colourful collection of drinks. My wife has taken a liking to the red drink on the right - a Grenadine Diabolo

Diabolo (drink) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

We had a couple of flammkuchen some local sausages and chips.

 

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We took the sightseeing boat trip around the Strasbourg waterways. Our friends booked with us but had to take a different vessel as a number of seats on our boat were blocked off. The commentary is by earphones plugged into a socket on the seat and some were broken. An interesting point raised in the commentary was regarding how much money the Germans had poured into Strasbourg between 1870 - 1914. This was in order to modernise the city and have it act as beacon of German science and culture.

Using a lock







We had to pass under a little swing bridge. Video of the bridge from the land and on the water

The barrage from the water





The soil on top of the barrage is more obvious from this viewpoint









The European Parliament building is on the left



It looks far larger from the riverside







Palais Rohan built between 1732 - 1734



The former Customs House. Construction started in 1358. Largely destroyed by German bombing in 1944 during WW2 and rebuilt in 1956

 

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Some final photos from around Strasbourg.

There were a number of these planter boxes on the various bridges and we often saw workers maintaining them. The barrage is in the background.













Place Kleber



We visited the Botanic Gardens which turned into a bit of a nuisance as the normal entrance was closed due to reconstruction work and we had to walk about 600 metres longer to get in. To be honest I found it a bit underwhelming.

There were some nice buildings nearby dating to the time of German sovereignty



The observatory by the gardens built in 1881





The frogs were going mad in this pond area - lots of noise







Another Australian visitor

 

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Some more around Strasbourg









A bilingual campaign . I thought that the second language was German but the actual German speakers told me it was really Alsation.



A figure who was famous in my childhood but who is barely mentioned these days.
Albert Schweitzer born in nearby Kaysersberg in 1875 - humanitarian and Nobel Prize winner.



Our last meal with our friends. Nothing exciting but good food







I had a Pistachio flavoured croissant for breakfast one morning. Once was enough but goodness me they used an awful lot of food colouring which had an 'interesting' effect.

 

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After saying our goodbyes we headed off to Lyon. The line passes through Colmar and Mulhouse. It was a pretty scenic trip.

The TGV Cabin. The fastest speed I saw on this leg was around 290Km/h - the further south we got the slower the tracks were. You could barely hear any train or track noise and the r[de was very smooth.



Not particularly good legroom for first class.



The onboard café and some prices.





We saw many of the same castles again.



Including Haut-Koenigsbourg



The were plenty of nice views





A quick glimpse of Dijon - Saint Benigne Cathedral



The Rhone River



For the gourmands - 2 Michelin Stars

 

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When we got to Lyon it was a beautiful bright day but with predictions of thunderstorms for the days ahead. So we dumped our cases and headed into town.

The Rhone











The Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière. From Place Bellecour. "The basilica has acquired the local nickname of "the upside-down elephant", because the building looks like the body of an elephant and the four towers look like its legs."





The Saone River



We decided to take the funicular up the hill. Unfortunately most of Lyon had decided the same thing. I hadn't realised that it was a public holiday as part of the long weekend for The Feast of The Annunciation

 

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We eventually got up to the top.

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The words "restraint" and "modesty" were not in the lexicon of the designers of the interior.



The view









Still plenty of snow on the alps

 

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On the way down we visited the remains of the Roman Theatre of Lugdunum. This first part of this theatre complex was built around 15 BC with further construction taking place in late 1st Century early 2nd Century AD. It could seat 10,000. This was the first of many Roman structures we were to see on our trip.

Théâtre antique de Lyon — Wikipédia

fr.wikipedia.org

It is now used for various performances as can be seen by the temporary stage structure









As you can see parts of the theatre have been completely 'reconstructed'. I guess that it is better for this sort of activity to occur so the local municipality can get some income from concerts and the like to afford to keep the rest of the structure stable.



The funicular to here departs from the station as that to the Basilica but is on a separate line

 

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Some more of Lyon



The Musée des Confluences an unusual building at the confluence of the Rhone and Soane Rivers

Musée des Confluences - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Rhone on the right and the Saone on the left. Looking upriver.





Parts of the banks of the Rhone have been very nicely redeveloped. Most of it appears to have been done fairly recently



Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon. A historic former hospital built in the 18th Century. Part of the building now contains the InterContinental Lyon - Hotel Dieu

Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It was interesting to see that pissoirs are still in use in France. This was not the only one we ran across.



The vessel is appropriately named "La Perouse".



There was a market under the trees on the riverbank



We picked up some very sweet fruit and berries for a few euros.

 

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Continued.

Passerelle du Collège - opened in 1845 . Dynamited in 1944 by the Germans and rebuilt in 1945

Passerelle du Collège — Wikipédia

fr.wikipedia.org

We couldn't seem to escape Bartholdi (designer of The Statue of Liberty)

The Bartholdi Fountain - built in 1892 and restored in 2018

The Bartholdi Fountain - Lyon Tourist Office

In 2018, the full restoration of the fountain on Place des Terreaux, an iconic part of Lyon’s heritage, was completed. This extraordinary undertaking has given a second life to a masterpiece of lead sculpture created by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, more than 120 years after its inauguration. You...

en.visiterlyon.com

Parts of Lyon are extremely steep and certainly left me breathing hard and worrying about my knees



I refused to walk up these steps



Some nice flowers



Including a surprise in some Kangaroo Paws



There is another, small, Roman Theatre here as well.



The metro in this area runs firstly as a normal one and then on the steeper parts as rack and pinion railway. The carriages are not inclined to handle the slopes so you have to hold on to avoid falling over.

 

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We made a couple of day trips out of Lyon and one of these was to Vienne a small town with a population of around 32,000 about 35 km south of Lyon on the banks of the Rhone. I had never heard of it but read a Lyon locals blog listing places that were worth a day trip. This suggestion turned out to be an excellent one.

Vienne, Isère - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This arresting, and sad, mural is the first thing you see as you alight at the local train station. The population in 1914 is estimated to be around 27,000 so the loss of so many young men must have been devastating for generations.





The town sit in the river valley surrounded by high hills



The riverfront. Unfortunately this is one of those places where the river has been separated from the town proper by roads that can get very busy



There have obviously been severe flooding problems. The hilltop fortress is not open for visitors so that saved us from the problem of deciding if it was worth a long uphill trek.



One of the main reasons for our visit required us to cross over the Rhone via this bridge



Saint Maurice Cathedral



Looking downriver with Vienne on the left. There was a fair current running.



While we were crossing the bridge the local church bells got a good workout. It was Sunday - a fact that will come to cause us problems on our return train trip.

Some riverside dwellings



The square tower is the Tower of Valois circa 1336. It this the only remnant of the fortifications around what was once the separate town of Sainte-Columbe



I bet the owner of this mighty vessel has boyhood memories of reading Verne's books..

 

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One of the major reasons for visiting Vienne was because of the many reminders of its Roman past. It became a Roman colony in 47 BC - the Romans actually called it Vienna. The reason we crossed the bridge was to visit the 7 hectare area comprising the archaeological site of Saint-Romain-en-Gal. A museum was constructed on the site in 1996. We lucked out in that admission to the museum, associated site and special exhibitions is free on the first Sunday of the month.

Vienna (Vienne) - Livius

www.livius.org

Musée et sites archéologiques à Saint-Romain-en-Gal

Museum Entrance - and more damn steps!





Some of the architectural remains. There were quite a few people inside the museum but we had the outside pretty much to ourselves when we visited.

The local gossip centre. To be honest the seats look almost too well preserved to me. But on most of the site it is noted when something has been recreated or extensively restored. So I am not sure about its authenticity.







An example of clearly marking 'new' work



Hypocaust from underneath a villa. Again there was a note that it had been restored.



Drainage and humidifying system consisting of amphora buried upside down







Fabric laundry

 

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A Roman Road. I assume it was more even when it was built as it is uncomfortable to walk on now.

 

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And now to inside the museum. It is very well laid out and most information is in French and English. To me it was a surprisingly good museum for a place I had never heard of before this visit. There were lots of mosaics, touch and smell exhibits and items for kids to play with.

This is an item from CNN in 2017 about this area.

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/ancient-roman-town-uncovered/index.html

Firstly - an ancestor of mine



















Large amphora

 

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There was temporary exhibition on when we visited. It was a large mosaic that has now been restored in panels. "Dating from the 3rd century, the mosaic depicts agricultural activities or rituals grouped around personifications of the four seasons.

Saisons romaines : à découvrir jusqu’en 2027 - Musée et sites archéologiques à Saint-Romain-en-Gal

musee-site.rhone.fr

 

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We then crossed over the river and entered the 'old town' area of Vienne













A couple of curious and slightly creepy cats





This marker contains part of the Coat of Arms of Vienne. But we haven't been able to figure out its purpose.

 

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And then we came to the second site we had been searching for. The Roman Theatre - built between 40 - 50 AD. It was the second largest in Roman Gaul and could seat around 13,000 people.

Roman Theatre - Vienne Condrieu Tourisme

Roman Theatre : It was built between 40 and 50 AD around the Pipet hill. The theatre is considered as one of the most important in the Roman period.

en.vienne-condrieu.com

The upper rows would certainly give you a nosebleed



As you can see the theatre is right among the houses









And is again used for concerts and similar events

 

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We then headed, thankfully downhill, past the Hotel de Ville. We had been running across a couple doing the same sort of walking tour as us in these streets. The man was walking in front of his wife taking photos when I noticed her trip over a drain in one of the extremely steep streets. Just like I would have been, he was oblivious to his wifes misadventure and I had to yell several times before he noticed what had happened. We all helped her up and luckily she was only scratched and probably bruised but not badly hurt. My wife had some antiseptic wipes which she used to clean up her knees.

The Hotel de Ville



What did the Romans ever do for us? Well they left plenty of monuments for future generations. I am amazed that Vienne is not more well known.

The Temple of Augustus and Livia. Parts of it built in the 1st Century BC and then further work done in the 1st Century AD. I believe that it is one of the two extant Roman Temples in France. The other being the much better known one in Nimes - which we saw later in our trip.

Temple of Augustus and Livia

The Temple of Augustus and Livia (Temple d’Auguste et de Livie) is a well preserved Roman temple in Vienne, France. Whilst first built sometime...

www.historyhit.com

Temple of Augustus and Livia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Nearby there is a memorial plaque to Thomas Jefferson. To copy AI, which as already copied someone else "Thomas Jefferson, while serving as the U.S. Minister to France, visited Vienne in 1787 and was deeply impressed by its Roman ruins, particularly the Temple of Augustus and Livia. He sketched the temple and later used it as inspiration for the Virginia State Capitol, which influenced the design of capitols and other buildings across America. A plaque in Vienne commemorates his visit and his appreciation for the city's Roman heritage"

 

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We had a light meal at this place - part of a chain - just opposite the temple. Our granddaughter is named Emily so we had to send her a photo. I am sure that I am safe in thinking it is a play on the "Emil and the Detectives" books.

It was a package with a filled bagel, drink and muffin











And if you thought, perhaps hoped, we had run out of Roman stuff you are sadly mistaken!

Jardin archéologique de Cybèle - Vienne Condrieu Tourisme

Jardin archéologique de Cybèle : Le jardin de Cybèle présente les vestiges complexes d'un quartier de la ville gallo-romaine : le forum, qui constituait à la fois le cœur institutionnel de la cité et son poumon économique.

www.vienne-condrieu.com

The Garden of Cybele - the remains of the Roman Forum

 

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Finishing off Vienne.

We went to have a drink and rest in the local park while waiting for our train. It started to rain and a person, the parkkeeper we think, rushed in and threw everyone out. We then found a sign at this park and others in France that if bad weather occurs the park will be closed and everyone must leave. In Toulouse the parks were padlocked when there was a bad weather warning for a couple of hours time.





The "Village Hall"




We then went to the Gare to await our train to Lyon. This turned into a bit of a shambles or if you like an adventure. As I said it was a Sunday but it was the Sunday of a long weekend for the Feast of The Ascension and the trains were packed like the Tokyo underground in peak hour with people trying to get back to Lyon. They were running about 45 minutes late and falling behind at every station. At our station about 100 people were trying to force their way onto trains that were already overflowing. The problem was that they had started at Avignon and were probably overcrowded on departure from there. We had a half hearted go at the first train and didn't even bother with second one a half hour later. Eventually I worked out that there was a small local stopping train hiding on another platform and we took it. It only ran a couple of times a day and was virtually empty as it only did the Vienne - Lyon route. We arrived at Lyon about 90 minutes later than expected.

Vienne station before we knew our fate



Views of the Rhone River





I would definitely recommend a visit to Vienne of you have any interest in Roman History or like small towns on big rivers. But I would not come on a Sunday. Even without the Religious Holiday problems most restaurants etc were shut,