As in a lot of Christian cities, many shops and stores are closed on Sunday so we knew in advance that there wouldn’t be too much to see but actually, I think most museums were open and there were plenty of restaurants and cafes open as well.
Turns out that the area we are staying in was a bit further from the old town than I expected. We took a 40 minute walk across the city to arrive at a Sunday morning market on the bank of the Rhone River. There was a lot of meat and cheese and bread and fish and flowers and baked goods etc.
My plan was to collect food so we could have a picnic later. I had assumed that we wouldn’t be able to find a place to eat because of it being Sunday. So we bought strawberries (so fresh and red and juicy—no white inside!), aged Gouda (our favorite cheese, though they are known for soft smelly cheeses here), a baguette, a bottle opener, and a knife. We bought a sausage as well from a stand with a ton of samples. We tried so many that we felt obligated to buy from them.
We then hiked up a small mountain to reach this beautiful church with a great view of Lyon. My health app says I climbed 51 flights yesterday so it was probably the most exercise that I’ve gotten in a year. I think I held up pretty well though! We made it just in time as it started raining as soon as we arrived. Despite my exhaustion, I managed to run inside away from the rain.
The church was huge and as beautiful as I imagined. We admired all of the artwork, saw part of a service, and I lit two candles in the chapel and said a prayer for Babci, Grandpa, Amanda, Adam’s dad, and all those who we miss. I always find comfort in these churches with the smell of incense and the quiet sense of calm around me.
We were very lucky that the rain let up just in time to eat lunch outside of the church. Unfortunately, the bottle we bought ahead of time was corked! Luckily there was a little luncheonette that sold wine by the church. The cheese and baguette with honey were delicious. The sausage was so hard that my jaw was in pain after a few slices.
We began our descent back to the hotel and stopped in for some coffee when the rain started again. We looked around on the map and noticed that there were a few museums open but they were a bit far away. That’s when we decided to hop on a scooter and zoom through the city at 25 mph. It was great! Everything was much faster now!
We went to the Museum of The Resistance and Deportation. I am endlessly fascinated by WW2 and had read The Nightingale just a few months back. If you haven’t read it, you should. What a phenomenal book. This museum had an excellent audio guide but it was long! We probably spent an hour and a half there and we were barely halfway through. There is so much information, so many personal accounts, and so much sadness. We had to head home on the sad note to get ready for our big dinner at Tetedoie. We decided then that even with our fancy dress clothes on, we would scooter over to dinner.
