France Day 6 - bye bye Lyon

It is Sunday.

The sky is blue and the sun is shining. We were told that we have a busy day ahead. Btw, those UFO looking things are our landmarks to walk towards because then our ship is easy to find.

OAT always has a controversial topping. At 8:30 am we went to the lounge for a "WW2 Resistance Lecture". It was very interesting. We learned so many facts ... we had already learned in Paris why none of the gorgeous manorhouses were distroyed ... why Germany didn't bomb France ... 

This young man gave us more insight about more interesting events and some very brave people.

I was disappointed that we had to rush out without even thanking him.

We were scheduled to depart at 10 am to the Fourviere Hill Basilica with Metro and Funicular. 

Since there was a longer line to the Basilica Sophie decided to go to the Roman ruins first which didn’t make any difference in our itinarary.

This sight of course was amazing. Concidering that these buildings were constructed about 2000 years ago you can't help but be impressed.

Just a few steps around the corner was the Basilica. It was Sunday and there were three mass held this morning. That of course was good but not so good for tourism. 

We could get an impression of it though. And taking a few photos very discreet. 

Sophie had made us aware of the mosaics beforehand. 

You can imagine that we didn’t feel good about going around during a service so we went to St. Joseph’s Crypt underneath. It was not really what I had expected. 

There were also several mosaics. This really large one depicted “the Way of the Spanish pilgrimage to St. James’ Crypt”. 

This was were we were supposed to meet the group again   From here we had a lovely view.

We can see the market where we were the day before.  

Time to go back  not everybody fit into the first funicular. Bye bye, Sophie.

But then we waited when we got off.

Lunch on the ship and after a short “rest” I joined another activity. 

Sophie had offered to take those who wanted to where they are weaving the silk we had talked about earlier when we had gone through the “secret passages”. 

This company is in this business already for several generations. And this Jacquard loom is only one of their three. The others are being used to create material for renovations in places like Versailles etc. 

The young man showed us a photo of one of their orders they did. I think it was actually a type of velvet material and very expensive. 

When it was time to go back to the ship, some took the Metro back and some walked. I was happy to walk to get some exercise in. By chance I saw this memorial which we had just seen this morning mentioned by the lecturer.

Back on the ship we were about to sail. It is 4 pm.

Safety is everything. The stairs to the sundeck are blocked at this time. Whether bridges don't have much clearance or whether the water level is higher than usual I don't know. 

There was one more bridge when we finally could be on the sundeck. It was very strange because I felt like ducking when we drove underneath. 

But it was very nice to sit there and watch the world float by.

Up another bridge.

This is the confluence of the Rhone and the Soane.

And our first lock. We didn't notice it much though. The captain didn't need James' help (old joke in the family).

At 5:30 pm there was a "lecture" in the Lounge. Yes, presentation, explanation and tasting of Cognac. Since I like Cognac very much, this was quite interesting.

The shape of the glasses is important. Also, how you hold it. You should warm the Cognac a bit in your hand to free the taste. Some (french of course) chocolate between the different tasting.

The sun finally made it a little warmer and it was nice on the sundeck.

Dinner was very nice and special as always. Afterwards the entertainment was "the Liar's Club" in the lounge. These three told stories about some French products. Where they got it, what they used it for etc. Of course only one told the truth (which also sounded like a funny story) and they others of course lied and those were funny stories too.

These were the products.

And then it was past our bedtime again. Another lovely day. Night, night.