Day 29 Lyon

So today didn't exactly go according to plan.

We all had good sleeps & I was the first to wake at 8am. Very good shower with plenty of pressure.

We had breakfast included but weren't expecting much...so were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. A very big choice of croissants, breads, cheeses , meats, cereals, yogurts, etc etc. you could even make your own juice from oranges & the coffee machine did good espresso & lattes.

We all enjoyed & particularly ate a lot of pain au chocolate. 

We then caught the metro to the old town area & went up the funicular

to the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere (which I mistook for a castle yesterday).  

The site it occupies was once a roman forum & it dominates the city from the top of the hill. It was very impressive from the outside, but hard to photograph up close. There was a service on inside, with good strong singing echoing through-out.

There are great views of Lyon from the hill here.

Next we decided to follow a path to the right of the basilica. There were a few runners using the path but it was otherwise deserted. We felt we needed the exercise too after our big breakfast. Eventually we came upon a very large graveyard with snow capped mountains in the background 

...had a short wander....then checked a map & decided to follow the road & it looked like we would end up back at the Basilica after doing a circuit.  Around the corner was a sign pointing down the hill to roman ruins...The Ancient Theatre of Fourviere.

The theatre was built around 15 BC & more added at the start of the 2nd century.

It was large & impressive & the boys enjoyed climbing up & down the steps, playing tag & sitting enjoying the view.  We walked to the bottom of the ruins & found a steep path back up the hill to the Basilica.

Around the other side of the Basilica was another set of doors that took us into some smaller chapels,

& down stairs to the crypt. It was so beautiful inside & we had a slow peaceful walk without too many people around. 

There were impressive mosaics too.

We then admired the city view again. 

Then caught the funicular back down the hill

& took the metro to Guillotiere - the area where the university is that Nick was originally considering. We left the station & wandered around their Chinatown, which was small but had street stalls due to Chinese New Year.

 Nick tried a lamb skewer & a sesame ball, but Cam & I were still too full.  A bit further on we found the university buildings & took Nicks photo on the steps.

We then walked to the other side of Chinatown & down some streets which were apparently the cheaper part of town.

Not much was open & the shops looked to be targeted more at Arabs...

so I wasn't upset that most were shut. It was time for food again but the few places open didn't tempt us so we headed towards the town centre where we had been last night. There was more choice here but no shops open. I hadn't realised that France almost totally shuts down on a Sunday...not ideal for us tourists.  We didn't feel like a big restaurant meal so found a place where we could get panini type food.

There was a combo deal including drink & dessert so we all went for that.

We all chose different & all were very good. We sat upstairs with birds for company & plenty of bird poop... But food was good & we had free wifi. The pannacotta for dessert was especially nice.

It was now time to make our way to the stadium for the football... Lyon v Nantes. The stadium was pretty close & we followed the crowds.

Got to the ticket office & they were all sold out. We didn't expect that as it is apparently unusual for these games to sell out... We should have pre-booked. Was a bit of a bummer, but not like we knew the team at all. We had a good look at the merchandise in their shop & bought Nick a nice white tee shirt with the team logo on it.
We decided to walk towards the stadium to see what it was like ...not overly big & looking a bit dated (at least from the outside).

There were no pubs nearby to watch the game, so we decided to go back to our hotel & watch on tv. I would go to the supermarket to buy snacks to go with our drinks, while the boys went straight to our room. Turned out all the supermarkets are shut on Sunday too!  I walked to 3 different supermarkets in the area found via my phone & all were shut.

So the boys watched football for a while & then got hungry again....really?

Nick googled to see if anywhere nearby was open tonight & came up with an American diner about 8 minutes walk away. This is the last thing I expected him & Cam to want. Anyway I remembered passing the diner in my search for a supermarket, do we found it quickly. It was a very modern cutesy diner in pastel colours....and had a very extensive burger menu along with a ridiculous number of milkshake flavours to choose from.

I wasn't hungry & was craving some veges so I ordered a chicken & bacon salad

and the boys ordered burgers & shakes.  

The meals were enormous...especially my salad which had plenty of everything in it but I doubt it was very healthy.  The meals were pretty good, but felt a bit stupid having such food while in France. I guess that's what happens when you are hungry & the City is closed.

Now back in our room all attached to our phones & iPad....and drinking cheap but nice red wine in paper cups...

Thank goodness Nick's birthday doesn't fall on a Sunday, or it would be a bit of a fizzer!