Well, last time we talked, we were recovering from a whirlwind visit with Wendy. We continued to rest on Monday and Tuesday, not to mention clean house. We were preparing for our next set of visitors, my parents. They arrived on Wednesday at noon. We took them out for pizza, then we just rested around the house. The trip over is quite a shock and we usually take the first day easy. Grandpa did take the kids out for a walk and had them convinced that they were lost. He isn't commenting. They made it home in time for dinner though, so all was well.
On Thursday, the boys went to the tutor's in the morning. While Andrew was there, Grandpa blew up his shaver with the 220v we have here. So we made a quick trip to the store. We also picked up some new things to try, after all we were shopping with MY father, the ultimate shopper!! We tried some French salami, ham, and three different kinds of cheeses. All were very good.
That evening, I took my parents out to the same Chinese place I took Wendy while Dave stayed home with the boys and worked. We had a fun time and my Dad learned that the cokes are very small (33cl), there are no refills, and the wine is cheaper. We all agreed that the nems are wonderful.
Friday morning, we went to downtown Toulouse so my dad could change some American money that he brought along. Silly man. After we concluded our business at the bank, we decided to do some sight-seeing downtown. We saw the Capitole square, the Marie, St Sernin cathedral, and the church that St Sernin started. We also made a stop at the museum of antiquities of Toulouse. This museum is amazing. They have rooms of Roman statuary that were all found around Toulouse. We saw busts of all of the Roman emperors from the one before Augustus (BC) to almost 400 AD, and some of their wives. Then in the basement, we saw lots of sarcophaguses that they discovered when they were remodeling the basement of the museum. It turns out that the museum was built on top of an old Roman burial ground! They had no idea that there were over 100 sarcophaguses in the basement. Some of them were left where they were, so you could see how they looked when they were found. We also found some glass containers! None of us knew that they made glass that long ago.
Saturday morning we left Toulouse around 10:00. We drove all the way to Lyon. It was about a six hour trip. It rained a lot of the way, but while we were in the mountains it snowed!! The only time it snows here is when people from home are here.
After checking into the hotel and baths for the boys, we headed downtown to a restaurant recommended by the front desk. It is called the Trois Maries (three mayors) and is apparently a very well known restaurant in Lyon. It was really good. We broke our long standing avoidance of beef and had steak. (It is said that now the beef here is safer than there. I hope so.) It was wonderful. There was a very funny Frenchman sitting at the table next to us and at one point he even took our picture for us. It was a really fun night, but very late. We got back to the hotel at 11:00!
Sunday morning we woke up to a steady rain. Yuck. We dragged our feet getting ready, but it didn't show any signs of letting up, so we headed out anyway. By the time we got to Lyon center, it was pouring. We had a hard time finding a place to park due to a marathon being run through downtown, but we eventually managed it. Then we explored old Lyon for a bit. It is a very pretty town, with tons of little alleyway streets all over. Just what you would see in the movies. We tried to go to a museum (to get out of the rain) that said that it was open everyday, but it was closed. So we headed over to the Cathedral Saint Jean and arrived just as it closed for lunch. We instead headed to the cable car to see the basilica at the top of cliff overhanging the city. But when we got to the top, it was nowhere to be found. We searched for a while, decided that we were hungry, and headed back down to find some lunch. We stopped at a friendly brasserie and all had crepes for lunch (they are not just dessert!)
We then stopped by St Jean's cathedral. It is very pretty and has the honor of having the organ that was the first one to be recorded. They also have a very unusual clock. It has been around since at least 1383, and from it you can determine the time, the date, the year (yes, it said 2005), any liturgical holidays, and your astrological sign. In addition, three times a day, it acted out when Peter denied Christ three times. The cock even crowed. It was really something to see!
Then we took the cable car back up to the top of the cliff (on a different line this time) and found the basilica. It was built to show how powerful the catholic church was after the very anti-church revolution. There are mosaics from floor to ceiling (including the floor) and all use gold. The rest is gilded in gold. We will post some pictures, but decided that it would be really hard to describe. It was beautiful, but over the top, too. Too much beauty, if there is such a thing.
We looked out over the cliff to see the city. It was a very beautiful view, but the edges of the city disappeared into the rain clouds (yes, it was still raining).
Our last stop of the day was the Roman theater and museum. The theater was impressive, but nothing like the museum. It was amazing. There were tons of displays. There were funeral monuments, statues, mosaics, signs, catapults, money, and even glass (we weren't surprised by this anymore though). One of the most memorable was a huge bronze plaque (20 ft x 15 ft) that reprinted a speech by a Roman emperor from in 61 AD. It was amazing. We also saw coins and coin molds from before Christ! The only problem was that we had about an hour to spend there and we only saw about a third of the museum! They kicked us out at closing time. We will try to work a trip back into our busy schedule.
We had PB&Js in the hotel and are heading off to an early bed. My parents are out to dinner somewhere. We hope they can find their way back to the hotel. We are going to spend one more day here in Lyon, then move on to Geneva. From there we aren't sure. We will just have to see. We will be sure to let you know what we are up to, though!!
Until next week!
Amy
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