Sunday 29 June: Lyon

Lyon spreads across the Rhone and Saone rivers and we were moored just upstream of the confluence on the bank of the Rhone. Lyon is a very beautiful city and is France’s second largest.

In the morning we had signed up for an ebike tour along the river. That turned into a non-e-bike tour but was easily doable and the bikes are in good condition. It was perfect for biking. There are loads of trees providing shade and bike lanes everywhere. There are so many cyclists that you have to keep your wits about you when joining new lanes, even within the cycleway system.

The ride was about 16km in total. We followed the Rhone upstream to this lovely park, that is also a public zoo. Anyone can just access it and there were loads of people out and about. The park has a large lake in the middle and some impressive iron gates.

The light wasn’t in the best place for photos.

The flamingos clearly aren’t being fed the pink shellfish food. There were numerous monkeys in the trees behind which would burst into loud squabbling at regular intervals.

There were 2 pelicans in a pond that looked too shallow for them, although they could have got around to the flamingos.

There are some rather nice homes overlooking the park.

On the way back we detoured into the historic centre to see the Opera house and Hotel de Ville which is in this huge square. It is just a block away from the apartment we stay in for 2 nights at the end of the cruise.

Our apartment in Lyon is just up the street on the right.

Statue of a representation of France astride 4 horses that represent the 4 great rivers of France on Place des Terreaux

In the afternoon we went off for a beaujolais wine tasting, out in the countryside. It was very pretty although the wine was nothing exceptional. Nice enough and definitely drinkable.

There was a white white, a rose and a red and they provided a selection of sausage, cheeses and bread. The winery is owned and operated by a family with the next generation in training already and is called Domaine de Fond-Vielle.

There are views all across the valley and to the cutesy town of Oingt

Following the wine tasting we went to the nearby village of Val d’Oingt which scores highly on the very cute village chart. It has a church and historic buildings and a former keep thing which I think might have been a grain silo originally. Great views out across the valley and back towards the vineyard.

Looking back at the vineyard in the centre just below the ridge.

Lyon has some striking new architecture along the river and the locals have affectionately named them variously.