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| Lyon roofline from pont La Feuillee. drawing Peter Kreet |
Lyon.
To return to your past may often prove to be a daunting
experience and revisiting Lyon after fifty-five years was no exception. The
city first visited in my youth however did not disappoint, although our arrival
to take up an apartment tenancy proved to be disappointing. Our landlord simply
failed to show up and honour his agreement. But I do not wish to dwell on
negatives for Lyon over the years has developed from strength to strength. It
is easy to understand why the city in recent has enticing visitors in great
numbers. Its delightful building painted in a variety of pastel and earthy
tones throw out a welcome greeting. Lyon standing as it does between two wide
rivers, the Saone and the Rhone has a spacious feel and does not force itself
upon the visitor unlike some European cities. It is possible to walk around its
wide squares, parks or down wide streets to feel the space the city offers.
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| View from Fourviere. |
For our eight day stay I intended to draw many of the
wonderful roof lines of the beautiful 18th cent buildings and explore
the museums, restaurants and attractions at will. August unfortunately is not
the best time to visit private art galleries and interesting boutiques as many
owners take their annual holidays in August as well. But the Museum of Beaux
Art was open home to a fine collection of historic and modern painting, along
with an extensive Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquates. The city after all was
capital of Roman Gaul.
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| rue de la Platiere drawing Peter Kreet |
Standing proudly on Place des Terreaux breathing jets of
vaporised water through their nostrils are a wonderful group of rearing horses
the creation of Frederic Bartholdi designer of the Statue of Liberty in New
York. One of the highlights of Lyon however would have to me Basilique of
Notre-Dame standing guard on Fourviere a large hill overlooking the town. This
unique building built in the last years of the 19th century was
constructed as a thank you to the Virgin Mary for saving the city from the
plague devouring Europe at the time. The Cathedral is a wonderful example of
old and modern design. Built with carved stone this neo-gothic building
contains an extraordinary ornate interior. Indeed the Basilique is more like a
palace than a church decorated with tens of thousands of mosaic titles
depicting various biblical scenes. How the late 19th century found
the hundreds of artists craftsmen to carry out the work I have no idea, but the
final result is quite breathtaking. Considering the building is barely hundred
years old, the stone features and general structure suggest a much older place
of worship. It is possible to return to the old city via a zig zag track down
the hillside a great walk in itself.
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| La Fontain Bartholdi |
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| Mosaics |
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Basilique de Notre-Dame
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After a few days drawing we decided to take a tour of the
nearby Beaujolais wine district. In my youth I spent the odd summer holiday
with my uncle who lived in Chamlet pruning a few vines on the edge of
Beaujolais district. Our tour guide turned out to be a very lively commentator
as we stopped at the little medieval village of Oingt considered by many as one
of the prettiest in France. Built of a yellow-ochre coloured stone the
buildings have a wonderful warmth and glow, I could not resist the opportunity
to carry out a few drawings. We then visited a local winery. The Beaujolais is
divided into twelve appellations according to soil type, so the wines vary
accordingly. A more mineral flavoured wine from the blue stone soils and a
softer fruity flavour from pink granite. Nearly all the vines I saw were
gooseberry bush pruned, that is close to the ground to obtain maximum reflected
heat to enable early ripening.
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| Village of Oingt. |
Another don’t miss experience while in Lyon is a visit to the
Sunday market along both sides of the River Saone
. Unlike most markets in
Tasmania, all the stalls are grouped according to the produce they sell. The
book section was all together, while on the other side of the river was devoted
to arts and crafts. Many artists worked away on site, painting, drawing and
even potting. Further down over the river again ran the fruit, vegetables and
some great cooked on the spot take away foods. It is possible to select a
chicken, select your desired spices and have it cooked while you wait. I
believe these markets are to be found all over Lyon.
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| River walk Soade. |
While on the subject of food which is central to any visit it
is a must to partake of a genuine Lyonnais meal in a bouchon. One near our
hotel Chez Paul offered a unique dinning experience. The menu consist of some
six to eight entrees, a selection of three mains and three deserts. However
unlike a normal restaurant each entrée dish is placed on the table and the
dinner may take a serve of each. The same applies to the deserts all this for a
fixed price. The food is traditional Lyonnais home cooking and dinners are
seated on entry on the first vacant seat, table by table not unlike a farm
kitchen meal. This procedure is carried
until the restaurant is full. Don’t think the dishes are plain one night I
enjoyed pork cheek. The major problem for many visitors is the dishes are new
and the temptation to taste them all is great.
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| Entrance to Cath. Of Notre-Dame |
Towards the end of our stay, we took the metro to Lumiere
Museum housed in their villa an architectural creation of Antoine Lumiere. The
brothers registered nearly 200 hundred patents during their life time over a
very diverse field. Apart from their development of all sorts of new techniques
in the fields of photography and cinema, Louis invented the articulated
handgrip in response to the causalities from the First World War. Later he
invented the diaphragm out of folded paper, a predecessor of the acoustic
membrane of to-days loudspeakers. August invented the Tulle Gras dressing,
anon-adhesive dressing impregnated with active ingredient for the treatment of
burns. The list goes on and Lyon must be very proud of its Lumiere brothers.
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| Villa Lumiere |
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| Moaics |
Finally no visit to Lyon would be complete without a visit to
Paul Bocuse Restaurant; unfortunately there is a year’s waiting list! Still I
decided to visit Paul Bocuse Food Hall, housing a vast array of all sorts of
possible ways to prepare food. Stalls producing all manner of dishes from
snails to mouth-watering pastries, Lyon is always worth a return visit.
Roman Theature.
Roman Theature.
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