I had time on my hands so set off to do some saxophone browsing but this was August and the chosen shop was still closed for the holidays. Getting there had involved climbing the 140 steps (some claim 200) of the decorated staircase from platform to pavement of the Abbesses metro station that brings you out into one of the most gorgeous corners of Montmartre. It has all the beauty and none of the tat of the area around Sacre Coeur.
Those steps had fair worn me out so I had a coffee and then moved on to the Jardin des Plantes where I relaxed with a newspaper in the sunshine till it was time to cross the road to Austerlitz to catch my train.
Someone else relaxing in the Jardin des Plantes |
Other weekend treats included visits to La Chatre market
and to an agricultural show where for the first and probably only time in my life I saw a combine harvester race and more prosaically and not for the first time a ploughing competition.
The combine F1 |
Ploughshares at the ready |
On to Lyon in the morning where I was met at the station by my Air B&B hostess who escorted me through the metro to a little studio flat in the heart of the old part of the city.
A corner of the Vieux Lyon |
A rather better one I took when on foot the following day shows how the city hugs its rivers.
What you can't get away from is the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière which stands on the highest point of the city. You see it in the far distance in this shot from the Opera House.
and in close up from the same spot with St Michael visible between the front two spires
and more obviously here.
There's a Roman theatre on the hill just a few hundred yards from the Basilica. It was just too hot to contemplate clambering around it so I went into the museum that nestles into the hillside beside the theatre. It's a super museum, certainly one of the largest collections of Roman material that I've come across. You can enter it from either the top or the bottom of the theatre and inside are two large windows from which you can view the theatre. This shot is taken through one of them.The other museum that I visited was the Lumière brothers museum. Credited with the invention of the cinematograph and consequently regarded as the fathers of cinema the useum is housed in what was their rather grand house. Not short of a bob or two because they were owners of a thriving photographic paper and plates manufacturing business started by their father.
Their portraits hang either side of the fireplace in this fine room
and this is a model of their mansion. It's no wee but and ben.
It's typical I suppose of the houses built by the monied bourgeois of the 19th century when the manufacture of silk amongst other industries made Lyon a wealthy spot where fine public buildings sprang up as well.
Town Hall |
One rather cute facet of the town is that a number of buidings are covered in murals. Here's part of one where the figures on the balconies are various kenspeckle worthies including the Lumiere brothers.
In the 21st century a number of previously industrial or slum areas have been razed to the ground and modern buidlings have sprung up in their place, some cultural, some commercial and some residential. A few snaps-
Eurosnews HQ |
Museum |
Blocks of flats |
Shopping centre |
In the few days I was there we went to one play, two jazz concerts and several exhibitions. The play was in one of the many little theatres that abound in Paris. I didn't know this one. It was a only a few minutes walk from Sylviane's. The play, Le Porteur d'histoire, by Alexis Michalik is a complicated story of a family mystery that I enjoyed more because of the production and performances than because of the play itself, but then I found it a bit hard to follow in detail. It won two Molières (think Oliviers) in 2014 and has been on the bill somewhere since.
The jazz was at La Villette, ancient area of abattoirs and other messy activities which has been a cultural centre for many years. Its latest addition is the Philharmonie concert hall and one of the gigs was there. I was thrilled to be in the building which is claimed to have the best acoustic in Paris.
Ultramoderrn interior |
Ultramodern exterior |
Of the exhibitions the pick were Berthe Morisot at the Museé d'Orsay and Paris Romantique at the Petit Palais. Morisot was an impressionist I'd never heard of but I liked her portraits (it was mostly portraits) very much. The Paris Romantique exhibition surveys the art and culture of Paris between the fall of Napoleon in 1815 and the revolution of 1848. It's stuffed full of all sorts. I snapped a couple of things related to Claire's recent production of The Lark.
Here's a pair of Fragonard vases showing Charles VII and his mistress Agnes Sorel
and here is a sculpture by Marie d'Orleans of Joan of Arc greetin at the sight of a wounded English sodger. A soft-hearted warrior she was.
After a visit to an exhibition of the photography of the American Sally Mann (worth seeing) we set off to have lunch and ended up near Les Halles. The roof has apparently been replaced recently for no good reason according to Sylviane and not to her taste but I rather liked it.
Then we lunched here.
I recommend the food thoroughly and the wine, but I'd check the wine price before ordering. I didn't alas, but I managed to smile as I paid the bill.
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