We spent most of Tuesday driving from Vitré to Lyon (8 hours!) but were able to stop in to tour the Château de Chenonceau in the Loire valley. It is famous for having been gifted by King Henry II to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers in the 1550’s. Following the king’s death, his wife, Catherine de Medici, forced Diane to give it up, after which she expanded the home and gardens extensively.
In Lyon, we stayed in a magnificent hotel within the old city, Vieux Lyon. The neighborhood is a warren of twisty streets and is peppered with cafes, restaurants, and narrow corridors called traboules, which run through residential buildings to connect the streets. These traboules are often located behind normal-looking doors and are in varying states of upkeep and cleanliness.
Lyon has extensive Roman ruins dating to 43 BCE, and a fantastic Roman archeology museum that we loved.
We were happy to be back in a big city and found it very easy to navigate using public transportation. We took a nice walking tour of Vieux Lyon and a boat tour up and down the Saône River, and we visited the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the Musée Lumière, the site of the development of the motion picture camera and projection technology and the filming of the first motion picture that was exhibited to the public in 1895.
We also had dinner with a friend from Seattle who recently bought a second home in Lyon. It was wonderful to learn about the life of an expatriate and what it’s like to live in a vibrant French city.
From Lyon, we will head first to Semur-en-Axois in Burgundy before concluding our trip in Paris.