Day 68 & 69: 19th and 20th August. We like Lyon!

After a relaxed start at from Thoissey the 60km to Lyon seemed to pass quite quickly, so much so that we even stopped for lunch on the way. Motoring in to Lyon we were struck by how Mediterranean it felt and also how beautiful it was.

We arrived to be put right next to our Danish friends who quickly brought us up to speed on what was where. AJ disappeared onto Polux and I took Esmé for a look in the modern shopping centre next door. After a while we found an amazing toy shop so we phoned Patrick to bring AJ over and also the granny trolley so we could pick up drinks from Carrfour.

After tea the Danish kids came over for a film when they had gone and the kids were quiet an English guy came over to pick our brains about the route north as he was heading back from the Med to sell his bilge keeled boat. We managed to get some information about going south, including a useful Turkish passage planning weather website http://212.175.180.126/DTS/sea.php.

Today we got up early enough to get bread for a picnic then head out on the 9:30 waterbus from the marina to the old town. We stopped at the Tourist office and then headed for the Funicular to take us up the hill to Notre-Dame de Fourviere. The kids were really interested in how the Funicular works so we spent a little time at the top looking at the mechanism and we are hoping to build a model of our own as part of boatschool this week.

Into Notre-Dame de Fourviere just as the Sunday service was starting so we sat down at the back and listened to the first 10 minutes before lighting a candle and leaving to explore the area further. We walked round the back and were rewarded by a stunning view, as well as a model of Lyon which was commissioned to help blind people get an overview of the whole city.

Next we went to see the remains of a Roman Theatre which although not completely authentic, really gave a feel for how the Romans used this area. Concerts etc. are still held there today!

We picked a nice shady spot to have an early lunch before visiting the museum here as it was just 8 Euros for the whole family. There was a helpful English Audio guide, but the museum was very big despite being hidden into the landscape, and eventually the kids tired moving ahead before Patrick and I were really ready. Guess which part of this statue Esmé was pointing out as I caught up with her!








Down a beautiful footpath into the Old Town where we had fun finding the "secret passageways" where you went through doors into alleyways and courtyards within buildings that were still public rights of way.

Finally we spotted the museum of miniature theatre which we were interested in as AJ had been researching film special effects this week.

This was our biggest spend at 31 Euros for the four of us but it was really quite good. There were all sorts of exhibits and examples of film sets and props as well as videos showing us how special effects were made. The kids were delighted to find Harry Potter's wand as well as the letter inviting him to Hogwarts.

There were also a large number of models which were used for films when a full size set wasn't needed. All in all a great place to visit.

A brief saunter through the old town with pauses to watch street entertainment brought us back to the river where we didn't quite fit on the river bus so in the end had to get the train and tram back to Laurin. A very long and tiring day but great fun.