No blog post yesterday because it was really a quiet
day. The run up to Lyon was straightforward, with just a couple of locks. The
views were pleasant – the countryside looks different when you are coming
rather than going.
This desirable riverside residence was looking good in the
sunshine.
And we were overtaken by this Swiss Miss as we laboured
against a strong current up to the first lock of the day, which meant we slipped in behind
and had no delay. Like the tortoise and the hare, we subsequently overtook them
tied up at Vienne. Today we saw them tied up here in Lyon too.
It was good to see the confluence of the Rhône
and Saône
heaving into view, and know that the Rhône itself is behind us. People
sometimes ask why we don’t keep Saskia down in the south, closer to home, and
the answer is, quite simply, the Rhône. Either you confine your cruising
to the south, which would become limiting, or face the Rhône
every time you want a change.
Anyway, we found a comfortable spot to tuck ourselves into
the harbour, and a quarter of an hour later there was a colossal thunderstorm,
with lashing rain. So we made it just in time.
This morning it was sunny, and after various housekeeping
chores, we set off to the tram stop close by, bought day tickets, and took a
ride down to the Confluence museum. As luck would have it, they have a major
show on about the Lumière brothers, natives of Lyon and pioneers of early cinema in the 1890s.
It was a fascinating show, with many restored film clips
from the early days, though difficult to photograph, being mostly in the dark.
We also looked at the permanent exhibition, and were taken
by this skeleton of a woolly mammoth, discovered here in Lyon. There was a dinosaur too.
We reached the end of the building and took the confluence
from the other way. Then it was back onto the tram for a longish ride, and a
change onto the (self-driving) metro, to the Lumière Institute.
But before engaging in any more culture, lunch beckoned, and
we found a convenient bistro nearby, with a cinema theme, not surprisingly.
The actual museum is housed in a grand villa, though not as
grand as the one the Lumière brothers lived in. Only a model of that remains, in the glass case here. The villa was torn
down years ago to make way for a development that never happened.
We tried to get some shots from the fascinating early film
clips, but it was not easy.
And we couldn’t resist this photo of the villa at La Ciotat,
quite near to where we live in Provence, built by one of the brothers. La
Ciotat also boasts the Eden theatre, which claims to be one of the world’s oldest
surviving cinemas. We have actually been to a festival of short films there.
Tomorrow we will head up the Saône. On our way, we plan to make
a side trip up the River Seille to Louhans, the capital of Bresse and famous
for its chickens.
No comments:
Post a Comment