April 13 Lyon

While we feel the pain of those in Canada who are wondering if spring will ever arrive, we can confidently say that it has here.  Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day in the mid 20s in Lyon.  But even here folks are saying, "Finalement!", after a long period of grey wet coolness.

We covered a lot of the city yesterday with our day transit pass and revisited a few sites we'd gone to in our jet-lagged stupor last weekend, now that the weather was pleasant.  Checked out les Halles Paul Bocuse, a large indoor market (where farmed salmon cost between 45 and 99 euros per kilo, ouch!).  Figured out our way around the main train station here so that we are prepared for our return to the airport next weekend to pick up our car.  That way we won't be trying to figure it out with heavy packs on our backs.  Then we strolled around the Croix-Rouse district again and had a beer in the sun outside a brasserie.  We returned to Notre Dame de Fourviere and took in part of the Saturday mass to hear the sound of the organ and singing inside the basilica.  Oh, and we also got our phones connected to the system here so we now have phone numbers here.

Here is home sweet home for these first two weeks.  We're on the 6th floor (which would be 7th in Canada.  The trees at the end of the street are at the gates to Parc Tête d'Or.  (45°46'19.4"N, 4°51'23.4"E)

Cindy enjoying a beer in the warm sun in Croix-Rouse.  The platter of tasters in front  of her is mine.  Yum! (45°46'28.5"N, 4°49'51.6"E)

Here are a couple of shots taken as we decended from Croix-Rousse to Presqui'ile.  (45°46'16.9"N, 4°49'53.8"E and 45°46'12.8"N, 4°49'49.1"E)

Although I posted a panoramic like this earlier, this view from Notre Dame today was so much clearer that you can actually see the snow capped Alps on the horizon if you click the shot and look at a bigger version. (45°45'45.9"N, 4°49'22.8"E)