Turkey Day and Lyon

Lyon – Turkey day without turkey.


I did have most of the day off on Thanksgiving Day – that is, after spending the morning e-mailing out responses to Medica, then driving to Lyon. Nancy and I stayed in a wonderful hotel that was built into the shell of four 16th century houses in old town Lyon. We managed a walking tour on our own for much of the afternoon, visiting a church started in the 12th century, on the site of a church from the 6th century, and where early Christian missionaries had been arrested. (The amphitheater where they were pitted against wild beasts was only recently discovered under the houses in the silk district of the town.) The church has an astronomical clock that was started in the 13th century and finished in 1598. The striking of the clock begins with the crowing of a rooster, marching of a Swiss guard, an angel greeting Mary and a dove descending upon her, while an angel beats a drum to the sounding of a hymn with bells. Very impressive! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon_Cathedral ) We saw two Roman theaters built in 15 BC that were excavated after WWII.

Walking back to our hotel, we came upon a steep long staircase – which Nancy joking asked if I could climb up in 2 minutes. I looked again, accepted the challenge, and started a jaunt up the steps – only to find there was a turn, and we could only see half of the staircase. Undaunted, I continued – although I did pause for breath a couple of times. After climbing back down, I noticed my legs signaling a bit of overload, so we stopped for coffee before going back to the hotel. (I knew I would pay for the 250 step jaunt later, but was still glad to have done it – I needed the exercise.)

I dressed and joined the Tronics execs and board for dinner at 8:00, and we took off for the restaurant, which appeared to be around the block behind the hotel. It was – up another set of stairs going up the same hill!!!!. I did not jog up this time. A week later, my calves have recovered from the abuse of running up 250 steps and then climbing a similar climb a couple of hours later. 

We had a guided walk the next day that gave us much more insight into this truly ancient city – continually inhabited since well before Christ.