Barb had a wander up to the Parc d’Or and the Fine Arts Museum as she had done the walking tour while in Lyon. We found a cafe for a croissant and coffee then began a tour of churches. Not an organised tour, just a progression from the local church (Eglise St Nizier) in the centre of the old town, then across the Saone to the cathedral (Cathedral de St Jean) and then up the hill to the Basilica (Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvieres). Actually, when we got to the Cathedral there was a sign indicating a similar progression so apparently I am not the first to have thought of it 😂.

We noticed people standing around this clock thing and they were waiting to photograph and looked expectant. It was just before midday so we watched also. All of a sudden, little figures on the clock started to move and it played little bells then chimed.

After the cathedral it was a walk up the hill to the Basilica. Have I mentioned that it was hot!

The walk up the hill was not too bad and we found some steps through a very posh suburb. The closer you get to god, the more expensive the real estate! I was glad to have a water bottle.

Outside there is a cafe with a terrace where we downed a couple of cokes and got our water refilled. Great viewpoint out across the city.

On the way down we passed the Conservatory of Music and the School of Engineering. I looked out for some stairs as students need to get to lectures and they clearly don’t live up on the hill! Sure enough there’s a very direct stairway that would certainly be challenging for many at the beginning of an academic year!

Barb had messaged us to say that the Museum of Fine Arts was free (because of the heatwave) and has an excellent air conditioned cafe on the first floor. The Museum occupies a block on the Place des Terreaux and is laid out a bit like the Louvre only smaller and with no pyramid.

After a long afternoon in the cool of the museum we headed back to the apartment, which was sweltering. I’d made an online reservation for a restaurant that Niels had recommended for its excellent Salade Lyonnaise. The booking was confirmed for 8pm on email and was a 10 minute walk up the hill from our apartment. When we got there, the restaurant was very closed. We enquired at a bar down the road and the owner rang the owner of our booked place (who was a friend) but he was not open on a Wednesday night and hadn’t changed the arrangements online.

I was extremely disappointed as had not had a Salad Lyonnaise at that point and none of the places nearby catered for traditional food. All were either ethnic or fusion or tapas and clearly catered for students.

We headed back down the hill looking for a traditional restaurant. We found loads of bars and cafes catering for everything but! Eventually we got across the river and into traditional Lyonnaise food street. We found a table in a busy and very hot restaurant, nearly expiring while we waited for drinks. Eventually we got some cold beers, ordered a Salad Lyonnaise as entree to share and mains that all came with fries. The salad was excellent.

My traditional sausage was odd. Sort of soft inside. Goodness knows what it was made from.

A very loud thunderstorm and brief rain brought all the diners inside but more importantly it cooled everything down slightly. Everything except our apartment that is!