Lyon: Day Two, Sept. 3.
Now, back to my (working, of course) trip in Lyon. I began my morning in Starbucks. Sounds like I am clinging to the known and the safe, yes? Well, it turns out that I’m not in Kansas anymore – there is NO half and half in the Starbucks here in Lyon!! So I am still drinking my coffee black, as I have been since the day I woke up on foreign soil. But…ya know what…I like it! And the coffee at Starbucks was excellent. I also indulged in an apricot scone. I hooked into their free internet and checked my email – just like all the French people around me were doing. So Starbucks is an international experience, with its own tweaks for local customs. I enjoyed it and will go back tomorrow morning. In any event, who would deprive me of just a little bit of familiar comfort when I am facing so much that is new and, to me, daring? Just a tiny scrap of security blanket, please.
After Starbucks, I headed across the Saone River via the Bonaparte bridge to take the funicular to place de Fourviere – way up on the top of the hill – to see the Basilique de Notre Dame, the Musee Gallo-Romain, and the Roman amphitheater: Theatre Gallo-romain. I knew that I would need more for breakfast than that scone at Starbucks, but I wasn’t sure what to do. The answer appeared one block past the end of the pont Bonaparte in the form of a gorgeous boulangerie. I bought a salmon and broccoli quiche and a small roll with chocolate chips baked into it, and I took them to go. Then (see the photos) I walked up avenue Adolphe Max to the funicular station, bought my ticket, and rode the funicular (a very brief trip) to the Basilica. Again, the photos will probably not do justice to this experience – what a stupendous church! Full of glowing mosaics! Awesome in the true sense of that word. Also, check out the views of Lyon from behind the Basilica.
I then went to see the Roman amphitheater. I haven’t done any research about any of this, so my facts are shaky (or nonexistent). I’m just showing up to these places and taking in the visual wonder of them. Let the photos do the talking at this point in time. After seeing these places I feel curious to know more about them, but I’m sure I won’t have time to do any research in the few days I am here. I am going to content myself with a surface overview of Lyon and promise myself that I will return again with deeper knowledge of what I’m looking at. So, check out the photos. Again, truly awesome.
After that I visited the Musee Gallo-Romain. I didn’t read any of the texts that accompanied the exhibits. Instead, I just wandered through and took photos of things that are inspiring to me – things that might affect my own art. That is what you will see in the photos – not history, not archeology, not sociology, not architecture – just my own personal reaction to these artifacts. If I paused and felt an affinity, I snapped a shot without asking myself why. And now I’m curious to see how any of this might enter my work.
I left the Musee Gallo-Romain and decided to walk down to Old Lyon following the signs I saw instead of taking the funicular back down. Once I got into the old city area, I began walking along the Saone River in a direction that I thought would take me to pont Bonaparte and back to my hotel. My iPad battery had nearly run out of juice, and my own personal batttery was even lower, so I wanted to get back to my hotel and plug us both in to recharge. I walked and walked and walked and walked – finally I stopped near a bicycle shop and pulled out my map. Couldn’t make heads nor tails of where I was. A man came out of the bike shop and, in English (thank goodness), asked where I was trying to go. Turns out I had walked in the opposite direction of my intended destination just about as far as it was possible to go without leaving the city proper. So, I turned back around and walked and walked and walked and walked, till I was back in my neighborhood – very tired. But I had seen a lot along the way that I would never have seen otherwise – and ain’t that life (C’est la vie.).
Rather than go immediately back to my hotel, I decided a coffee was in order and headed for my little scrap of security blanket. I ordered an espresso macchiato, which I had never had before (see how daring I am?), and sat at an outside table on rue de la Republique (a pedestrian street, I think I mentioned in an earlier post) and watched the world go by. Take a look at my little paper cup and see how they heard my name – they asked me to repeat it twice. So, from now on, I’m Gabby!
After drinking my coffee, I realized I was hungry. Just a couple of doors down from Starbucks is a sandwich shop and it had been mobbed with people the entire time I was enjoying my coffee, so I decided to try it. I ordered a chicken wrap with curried cream cheese, shredded carrot, lettuce, corn, and tomatoes, and sat on a bench and ate it while watching the world go by – it wasn’t gourmet, but I liked it enough to be tempted to get one again sometime. I took a few photos while I was doing all this so you could be there with me.
After drinking, eating, and resting, I returned to my hotel around 2 p.m. and began this blog post. Yup, two and a half hours ago – it’s now 4:30. And I am no where near done. Loading the photos is slow and tedious and I still have to do that. But, even though its a lot of work, I am enjoying doing these posts. In the past, when I have gone on trips, I’ve always had trouble later trying to remember what I did and saw. I am leaving some things out, necessarily – otherwise I would only be blogging and not sight seeing – but I am recording most of it. So it is worth all the work.
I worked on this blog post till about 6:30, then went out walking. I stopped in a pharmacy and picked up a couple of things, then just wandered some streets I hadn’t wandered before. I returned to my hotel and sat outside at a cafe that I can see from my hotel room window and enjoyed a lovely glass of Sancerre. Then I walked around the block and picked up some crackers and nuts just to have around in case I need a snack and returned to my hotel room. It’s 8:30 and I’m just finishing up this post. I will stay in tonight and relax and make some plans for what to see and do the rest of the week.
The feet are back again in this post. And I believe the art is, too, even though I haven’t made any collages. Take a look and decide for yourself.
We have had one set of American feet, Carl’s, in our Infamous Hall of Feet and now we have a second representative from the good ole USA, Diane Ward!! But this isn’t just any old photo of Diane’s feet, it is her feet standing on collage papers that she has painted for our workshop in Nice in October. Hooray, Diane!! Getting a jump on things! Putting your best foot forward!! Standing on principle!!! Getting a good grounding in your subject matter!!! Enough, already, Deb. Diane sent this to me in my email and it gave me a big smile. Thank you, Diane!!!! (p.s. I don’t remember which way is up. Is this orientation correct? Does it work this way? Is it done? Is it art?)
At the end of my street, rue de Savoie, is the Saone River and a little way down the street is the pont (bridge) Bonaparte. This morning I headed across this bridge to take the funicular up to place de Fourviere to see the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvier, the Musee Gallo-Romain, and the Roman amphitheater (Theatre Gallo-romains). This is the first of three connected views looking from left to right across the Saone River. This bridge is pont Bonaparte.
This is the second photo, scanning from left to right. You can see the Basilica of Notre Dame in the distance on the right.
And this is the third photo scanning left to right.
View of the Saone River crossing the pont Bonaparte.
The boulangerie where I bought my breakfast – salmon & broccoli quiche and a roll with chocolate chips baked in – yummy!
The boulangerie is on the right corner here.
Avenue Adolphe Max, on my way from the boulangerie to the funicular.
The funicular station.
On the funicular. It takes you up the steep hill through a tunnel – a very short and uneventful ride- but surely better than walking!
Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere, outside. My camera couldn’t get the entire basilica in.
The front steps of the Basilique Notre Dame with the Tour Metallique in the background – not sure what it is, will have to look it up.
Debi’s Feet Walking On The Sidewalk Around The Basilique Notre Dame. There’s no one with me to take a photo of me, so my own photos of my feet will have to do. I will try to make them “art.”
Inside the Basilique Notre Dame. My photo does not do justice to the richness of the colors.
More of the magnificent ceiling.
One of the many mosaic murals.
Another of the mosaic murals – I’ll only show you two. Again, the colors of my photos do not show the brilliance of the actual colors of these mosaics.
Debi’s feet on the mosaics of the Basilique Notre Dame. How’s the composition?
Debi’s feet on the floor of the Basilique Notre Dame. All day I saw circles, circles, and more circles. I could have done an entire day on the circle motif.
Debi’s feet outside the Basilique Notre Dame – slipping through the cracks (groan, I’m really reaching with that one!). Perhaps a little red nail polish is needed? Are you missing Margaret’s fancy feet?
The Roman ruins, still used for concerts.
Another view of the ruins.
Should I? Oh, yeah, I’d have to come back up again, wouldn’t I? Hmmm, maybe not today.
Debi on stage at the Theatre Gallo-romains. Where are the footlights?
View from the stage. Hey, where are all my fans? Looks like even these four are heading out the “door.” Actually, the two guys in the middle were training by running up and down these stairs!!!
All day I was thinking that, since no one is with me, there was no way to have photos of anything but my feet in all these places I’m visiting. Then I realized that I can turn the camera around on this iPad. But…what a horrible photo!…my arms aren’t long enough, plus my face is showing great doubt about the wisdom of this. But, I tell myself, this is a good exercise in detaching from my ego. So, here I am, egoless and having a wonderful time.
The outside entryway to the Musee Gallo-Romain.
The lobby of the Musee Gallo-Romain. Note the circles again. Stunning, isn’t it? This building itself is an exhibit. This is the stairway leading down into the museum, and it spirals down a few floors, but not round, more oval shaped.
How about this composition? It’s not a collage, but does this photo count as me making art?
And this photo? How’s the composition? Of course, my photography is getting a lot of help from this architecture. How could anyone NOT take a good photo of this?
I am looking at this totally out of context – only abstractly – the composition, colors, shapes, lines, textures, the use of what is missing. And how can this inform my own art work?
The same for this. Also, how about this wrapping onto another wall? hmmmm.
I love this one. How can I use it???
I photographed just a fragment of this relic, trying to compose it in an interesting manner that I might be able to repeat in my own work.
This funny face made me smile.
On the way back from place de Fourniere and to Starbucks, I passed my hotel – remember the photos from yesterday? Behind that graffiti is a a restaurant kitchen! The restaurant was closed yesterday.
Maybe this is a better shot.
Here is “my” Starbucks.
Here is my espresso macchiato cup with “my” name on it.
And here is the cafe where I enjoyed a glass of Sancerre this evening.
You go Gabby… Brave-O!!! I’m getting some ideas from your photo’s for future artwork. Thanks for sharing, they are very inspiring. It seems as if the weather has been really cooperative for all your travel plans so far – how lucky. Don’t forget to schedule in some “lazy time without guilt”. Hugs
Well done Debi! I am thrilled to make the Hall of Feet, but hope that no one notices my un-manicured toes. I have never met anyone who stays so focused and ‘on task’ as you. Your entire trip is one big work of art, if you ask me. And, in my opinion, you are far braver than you give yourself credit for….I would be cowering in my hotel room, calling for room service!
Continuez votre petit bonhomme de chemin!!
Diane
I am digging those sandals Debi. Sorry Diane, I was missing some color on your toes but love the papers. I notice you are finding the boulangerie quite promptly in these places you travel. Yum.