Road trip part 2: Lyon

June 28, 2014alicazaam 1 Comment

Lyon and I started out on bad terms.

Having settled (I thought) rather well into driving sur le continent, things became somewhat hairy on entering France’s second-largest city* at rush-hour and attempting to navigate the warren of narrow and occasionally vertiginous one-way streets in La Croix-Rousse.

After circling the area several times (sometimes on purpose, sometimes … not) in a vain attempt to find a free space on the street for anything larger than a pedal car, I eventually surrendered, sparing my increasingly frayed nerves any further strain by parking in an extortionately expensive underground car park.

And so I arrived, luggage-laden and heart still racing, at the appointed place and time to take charge of the keys for my inaugural airbnb booking – where I was faced with a totally non English-speaking friend (Cécile) of the owner with the keys to the 3rd floor apartment … and the bottom of a surprisingly steep spiral staircase.

I managed a reasonable, if stilted, conversation with Cécile (due in equal parts to a lack of language ability and actual breath on my part as we ascended), and when we reached the summit the apartment itself was lovely. I just cursed Monsieur Jacquard for having invented a weaving loom so tall it warranted such high ceilings – and hence the precipitous escaliers I was navigating – in these converted workshops. (In fact I cursed the lack of ascenseur at the time and him only later, following a visit to one of the last active workshops in Lyon – wherein I discovered his culpability.)

A series of niggling inconveniences as opposed to out-and-out catastrophe perhaps – but still, so far not the best introduction.

And then it rained.

On day 1 I felt like one of those poor souls you see traipsing around London in their £1 ponchos that let all the water in and make you sweat at the same time because you’re basically wrapping yourself in a plastic bag. Nothing stops that tourist mindset of having to get around all the ‘must-see’s – because you might never be here again, right? And so it was that I trudged resolutely around town: Nikon-pregnant in my trusty pac-a-mac; rain-sodden map in hand.

Thankfully, the ensuing days were much improved and I basked on sun-drenched (though gusty and windswept) streets, walking above the rooftops in Fourvière and passing through hidden ‘traboules’ (passageways) in the old town, discovering the Lyonnais penchant for monumental murals and ever-so-slightly-sinister puppets…

* Strictly speaking, Lyon is the largest conurbation outside of Paris, Marseille being the second largest city proper. (This, for my esteemed editorial colleagues who may feel I’m fudging the facts.)

Sculpture, Museé des Beaux Arts (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Egyptian mummy figurines, Musée des Beaux Arts (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Carved wooden head of Osiris, Museé des Beaux Arts (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Jongleur de Bourges, Museé des Beaux Arts (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Staircase, Museé des Beaux Arts (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Heron (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

View of vieux Lyon across the river Saône © Alison Jordan

Beautiful tree (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Mural (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Mur des Canuts (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Silk threads and samples, Soierie Vivante (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Silk threads, Soierie Vivante (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Jacquard mechanical loom, Soierie Vivante – they’re very tall, you know (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Weaving loom detail, Soierie Vivante (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Partially woven silk trim, Soierie Vivante. In this workshop, they made the trimming for uniforms and religious garments (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Window (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Montée de la Grande Côte (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Fresque des Lyonnais (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Fresque des Lyonnais – and bystanders (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Passerelle Saint-Vincent (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Buildings in vieux Lyon © Alison Jordan

Place du Change (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Stone carving, Museés Gadagne (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Bust of Marianne – symbol of the French Republic, Museés Gadagne (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Revolutionary poster, Museés Gadagne (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

My, what big eyes you have… Puppet, Museés Gadagne (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Puppet, Museés Gadagne (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Guignol. Kind of a French version of Punch, Museés Gadagne (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Sinister puppets, Museés Gadagne (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Spiral staircase inside one of the towers, Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Ceiling detail, Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Ornate ceiling, Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

View from la galerie des Anges, Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Statue of the Virgin Mary, Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Statue of Saint-Michel, Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

View of Lyon from the rooftop of the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Tower detail, Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Stairs to the crypt, Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Café (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Printing press detail, Musée de l’Imprimerie (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Engraved printing blocks and impression, Musée de l’Imprimerie (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Hôtel de Ville (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Fontaine Bartholdi detail (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

View of Pont Lafayette and Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière across the river Rhône (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Art installation (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Lyon © Alison Jordan

Traboule (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Skull (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Traboule de la Tour Rose (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Traboule (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Mural (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Vieux Lyon © Alison Jordan

View of Palais de Justice and Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière from Passerelle du Palais de Justice (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

‘The weight of One Self’, sculpture (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Palais de Justice (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Madelon. Guignol’s wife (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

More puppets… (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Pierrot puppet (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Yet another puppet (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Île Barbe (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

‘Le belvédère et les lanternes de l’île Barbe’, art installation (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Riverfront (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Graffiti (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

What a pair of cocks (Lyon) © Alison Jordan

Road trip part 1: Burgundy

June 23, 2014alicazaam Leave a comment

After a brief sojourn in Paris with the charmant Corinne and co at Bureau-Tarbet towers (I’m so gonna miss that awesome view of La Tour Eiffel), I set off on the next leg of my trip.

Having recovered myself after a perilous brush with the mildly terrifying rush-hour périphérique in Paris, driving was slightly stressful (general first-time-driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road anxiety) but fairly straightforward on the motorways and quiet roads of Burgundy.

I made it easy for myself to start with, staying just off the motorway outside Avallon, from where I pootled around exploring some of the beautiful medieval villages of the Yonne department.

Dijon had to be on the ‘to-see’ list – capital of the region and long-time purveyor of spicy condiments, it was also apparently quite the place to be back in the day when Burgundy was an actual kingdom and everyone had a name straight out of Game of Thrones – and even more so later on when it was demoted to a Duchy and the names weren’t nearly as good.

Beaune was my last stop, right in the heart of the Route des Grands Crus. You literally drive through the middle of the vineyards – they come right up to the side of the road, making for some incredible views (though of course, my eyes were firmly on the road at all times, mum).

On arrival, just to be polite, I engaged in une petite dégustation to try out some of the local grape juice. I’m not sure my wine palate was much improved by the end of the self-guided tour (yep, they let me pour my own!), but I’m pretty sure my French was spot-on by glass no 10…

Iris (Avallon) © Alison Jordan

Avallon © Alison Jordan

Avallon window © Alison Jordan

Courtyard (Vézelay) © Alison Jordan

View of Abbaye Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (Vézelay) © Alison Jordan

Abbaye Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (Vézelay) © Alison Jordan

View from Vézelay © Alison Jordan

Poppy (Vézelay) © Alison Jordan

Flora (Vézelay) © Alison Jordan

Vézelay cottage © Alison Jordan

Slightly creepy statue of the Madonna watching from a window (Vézelay) © Alison Jordan

Rue Saint-Étienne (Vézelay) © Alison Jordan

View from Vézelay © Alison Jordan

Les chiens français are far more discerning when it comes to grooming (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

Medieval buildings (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

Windowsill (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

Medieval building (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

Signs (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

Young artists sketching by the river (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

Handprints (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

Sculpture being carved as part of restoration work at the site of the old castle (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

Noyers-sur-Serein © Alison Jordan

Medieval building (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

View of the river (Noyers-sur-Serein) © Alison Jordan

Jardin Darcy (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Porte Guillaume (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Fountain (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Art Nouveau building (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Graffiti (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

External detail, market hall (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Mural (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Poster (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

La tête de Diable, église Notre-Dame (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Église Notre-Dame (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

La chouette, église Notre Dame. The owl has become the symbol of the city due to this little sculpture on the church, thought to be lucky for anyone who strokes the bird with their left hand while making a wish. (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Gargoyle and view of Dijon from la Tour Philippe le Bon © Alison Jordan

View of Place de la Libération from la Tour Philippe le Bon (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

View of Dijon from la Tour Philippe le Bon © Alison Jordan

Art installation (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Who are these two clowns? (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

La mort, Musée des Beaux Arts (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Musée des Beaux Arts (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Mercury, Musée des Beaux Arts (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Hebe, Musée des Beaux Arts (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Tree/head sculpture (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Maille mustard shop (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Quite a lot of mustard (Dijon) © Alison Jordan

Church and vineyard (Aloxe-Corton) © Alison Jordan

Château de Corton-André (Aloxe-Corton) © Alison Jordan

Vineyard and tractor (Aloxe-Corton) © Alison Jordan

Flora and church (Aloxe-Corton) © Alison Jordan

Wine cellar, Marché aux Vins (Beaune) © Alison Jordan

Vin rouge, Marché aux Vins (Beaune) © Alison Jordan

Collégiale Basilique Notre-Dame (Beaune) © Alison Jordan

Just the one bottle please... (Beaune) © Alison Jordan

Sculpture with lobster, Dalineum (Beaune) © Alison Jordan

Cup and saucer, Dalineum. The cup is mirrored and only reflects the distorted image on the saucer to give the illusion of a skull painted on the surface. Très cool. (Beaune) © Alison Jordan

Mae West lips sofa, Dalineum (Beaune) © Alison Jordan

Apothecary, l’Hôtel-Dieu (Beaune) © Alison Jordan

On y va!

June 23, 2014alicazaam Leave a comment

Hello world! (/mum and a handful of bored-at-work friends)

So. This blogging malarky is an entirely new and alien experience for me, made all the more daunting by the fact that I know several actual real-life bloggers and for years have worked alongside professional journalists and editors who, I’m convinced, will be judging every verbose sentence (voilà), overuse of parentheses (I just LOVE an aside) and omitted Oxford comma (of which you can see I’m not a fan).

SO, to ease myself in gently, I’m kind of cheating!

For your ocular amusement, here follow (follows? – where’s a sub-editor when you need one?) the edited highlights of my road trip to Nice – in the form of a trilogy, as with all great epics…

<<Now scroll to the bottom to start in Burgundy and work your way up (the page / down the country) to Provence>>

À tout à l’heure x

Ali Claire en France

A sabbatical year of cultural enrichment (/mid-life crisis)

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Month: June 2014

Road trip part 2: Lyon

Road trip part 1: Burgundy

On y va!