Pres le pont Avignon

In the early morning we took a budget TGV from Lyon to Avignon that took only about an hour for the 230 km trip

After a breakfast at the Avignon train station we checked in at the really nice hotel just outside the city walls and explored the city.
One of the first stops was of course the famous bridge but since they charged a fee to walk on it - half of it was destroyed in a flood many centuries ago -  we just watched it from the river bank.

Close by the the medieval palace who was the seat of popes from 1309 until 1376

The line was not too long so we bought tickets for the tour 

 The courtyards and the building was really impressive

Especially some of the paintings were impressive. An interactive tour guide via an iPad explained the different places and had some nice virtual reality featureds

View from the top

The papal garden - a good place for a break

 Back to the old town

 
It was a hot day so relaxed a bit by the pool of the hotel across the street from the old city walls

Old an new Lyon

 We started the day the one like before - with a pain au chocolate, sitting outside a bakery

Th

Then we walked to a farmers market across the Saone river from the Old Town 

 

 

Then we took the metro to a more modern part  of Lyon with the famous market

The architecture style from the 70'ies is called brutalism: Plenty of concrete

The food market is named after the most famous chef from Lyon Paul Bocuse

It started to rain and we stayed for a very long lunch

When the rain had stooped we wen t to a modern museum at the confluence of the Rhone and Saone - apparently quite the romantic place and well suited for a wedding proposal

She said "Yes"

Exploring Lyon

On our first full day in Lyon with started with exploring the Old Town - Vieux Lyon - on the western bank of the river Saône. On the way there we passed the Place Bellecour - one of the biggest squres in France

There we also went up to the church Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière on top of a small hillFrom there one has a nice view of teh city from a hill overlooking the city

The Roman theater on the hill was only a few steps away

Stairs down to the Old Town - Vieux Lyon

Lunch was on a square in the old town:

Back to the part of the city between the rivers

The town hall

In the evening we went to artsy neighborgood on top of a hill and walked back trhough narrow alleys and stairs to the center of town. Everywhere the restuarnats and cafes were crowded and it was quite lively

Trip to Lyon

 We had noticed by chance that the there is a direct high speed TGV train that leaves Mannheim in the afteroon and takes you to southern France.

 On could dream a bit on the train going up to 300 km/h and in the evening we arrived in Lyon

After checking in at hour hotel we went a few steps for Place Carnot to have dinner at one of the many outdoor cafes on a beautiful summer evening:

Ji's dish: Salade Lyonaise - a traditional French salad from Lyon, made with frisée or curly endive, hot bacon, and a freshly poached egg

Mia had a few french fries

The planche mixte - a plate with bread sausages  and bread was too much too handles and everything was exelent

A walk back along the river Rhone to the hotel