Making the transition from the Seine River Cruise  (northern France) on the Viking Radgrid to the Rhone River (southern France) on the Viking Heimdal.

But first I wanted to anchor our trip with current events....Oct 7 Hamas created havoc and chaos in Israel causing much human suffering.  Paris reacted in sympathy with Israel by discontinuing their Eiffel tower light twinkling at night with solid blue lighting and a lit up Star of David.  A solemn reminder that while we enjoyed France others were engaged in horrors.  

"- Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn! -" Robert Burns

To make the transition from the Seine to the Rhone was done by the high speed train as the two rivers are not close at all.

The roughened grey lines down the middle of the corridor were for blind people and their canes to direct them through the crowds and to their next option.

Happy travelers

Keeping himself busy and working on his Spelling bee...on his way to being a Genius!

We actually got up to 200 mph on occasion.  The ride was very smooth.  

Two hours between Paris to Lyon

One of two stops for the train in Lyon.

Another safety drill on board (think I got this down pat - looking nice and calm)  and then ready for Lyon explorations

I have to say that it took me a bit to see what Lyon had to offer.  We did a walking tour this afternoon and then a Bus Overview of Lyon in the morning.  Lyon definitely grew on me.  And, after a week in France, I have to say that I am quite good at the "Bon Jour, Madame" and "Bon Jour, Monsieur ",  when greeting shopkeepers and anyone for that matter.  But that seems to be the extent of my ear for French.  I am sure anything I say would be painful to the French.  Reminds me of Phoebe and Joey from the TV show Friends:

Phoebe Teaching Joey French

Sorry Phoebe, I totally get Joey.  On the flip side, it seems quite hard to understand a person speaking in English with a strong French accent.  We had such a tour guide speaking to us in English and we got maybe every fifth word.  By the end of the tour Bob learned that "the Roman Umpires eat Okra and then poop it."  (translation:  The Roman Empire was extremely influential in southern France and its history revolves around the Roman occupation during Rome's heyday.  Much of the architecture in  old Lyon was painted in yellows, tans and ochre.  The guide loved to use the word ochre to describe the colors.  You'll see in the pictures below.  This guide, Sley was his name, took us to a mechanical clock in the center of Old Lyon that would ring and "dance" around the half hours.  There were mechanical puppets (poopets) that would clang the bells.)

Although this tour was quite rushed, we did see a lot of Old Lyon and for that we are grateful.

The first part of our tour took us to the hilltop, Fourvière, of Lyon where their cathedral and Roman amphitheater sit looking down over the converging rivers of the Rhone and the Saone.

This Roman amphitheater is still being used today.

 View from atop Fourviere looking over Lyon

Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière with beautiful mosaic works

The Golden Virgin Mary sits atop one of the bell towers facing the city 

guarding over the people of Lyon since the black plague times

Confessional booth

From Fourviere we headed back down into old town Lyon to explore the Traboules ("hidden" passageways between buildings) that helped the French Resistance from discovery.

Gilded Virgin Mary overlooking Lyon

The inauguration of the golden statue of the Virgin Mary on the north-west tower is the origin of the famous 8 December Festival of Lights, when the citizens of Lyon display candles (lumignons) at their windows. This festival now attracts hundreds of thousands of people into the streets of Lyon every year.

We then went to Old Lyon where we Strolled through the cobbles of Vieux (Old) Lyon and the Croix Rousse where we found Lyon's historical hidden passageways or traboules.

In the center of the traboules passageways were stairways leading up to apartments

Notice - many buildings in pale earth tones including ochre/okra....(hehe)

Lyon was a center for manufacturing and printing silk fabric.  We entered a shop which showed silk worms doing their thing.

Silkworm cocoon

And finally to the Louis Charvet clock, created by a professional watchmaker, 169 years ago.  The clock features the characters ("poopets") Polichinelle and Arlequin, who begin the performance by ringing the four bronze bells. They are followed by Gnafron and Guignol, armed with his truncheon, who rings the highest bell. On the stroke of each hour, Trompette, the soldier, springs into action for the “grand ringing”.