Sunday 4th September - Lyon

We had paid for a three night stay in Lyon and the plan for today was to visit the old town by Le Vaporetto, a very smart water bus which operates from the port every hour, at a cost of only €2 each way!  We caught the 11.30 vaporetto and arrived in Saint-Paul just before midday, having stopped in Bellevue to let some people off.  We wandered around the narrow cobbled streets, strewn with small restaurants under a slightly overcast sky, although it was still pretty warm.  Although it was Sunday some of the little boutiques were also open but mostly we were inspecting menus, looking forward to our Lyonnaise lunch!  We stopped for a cooling beer then walked to  St. Jean Cathedral with its' beautiful stained glass windows - it's overlooked by the impressive Basilica of Notre Dame set on top of the hill opposite.  There was an error is yesterday's blog, thanks to my skipper, Lyon is, as I thought, the second largest city in France - not the third!  The city was famous for its' silk weaving and also enjoyed a thriving artistic and cultural tradition.  There are countless museums, theatres, etc. to visit - far too many to do in a day!  Since tummies were rumbling, we concentrated on finding lunch.  We all agreed on a particular menu and were welcomed by a friendly waitress and waiter, so sat at a very small table set out on the cobbles.  We had a lovely lunch (Henk was thrilled with the escargots that he'd ordered!) in a very leisurely manner.  We ambled slowly to the Bellevue stop to take the vaporetto back to the port - it was very warm and muggy by now......our siesta called!!  The rest of the day was spent very lazily, culminating in a DVD, then bed.