On Monday, April 4th we kept busy. when we arrived on Sunday we had gone to the tourist information office and purchased Lyon City cards that included free admission to many sites and reduced fees for others, and free transportation. On Mondays many things are closed here, but the Musée des Beaux-Arts (Fine Art Museum) was open so we went there. We arrived when they opened and it wasn’t crowded. Eventually a few school groups arrived and it got much louder. They had everything from Egyptian artifacts, decorative arts, sculptures to fine paintings, including 4 from my favorite artist.

After spending a few hours there we walked back to our area and decided to go back to the apartment to rest our feet. We have been doing a lot of walking and my plantar fasciitis was really bothering me. As we were crossing the bridge a man asked us in a combination of French and English if we would mind taking a picture of him with the Palais de Justice in the backdrop. When we told him yes he was relieved to hear we were American. We asked where he lived and he said Italy. It turns out he is in the Navy and is stationed in Naples, but before that he was in Sacramento. After learning we live there he had questions about the housing market going crazy, etc. It’s a small world.

After a short rest we took the funicular up to Notre-Dame de Fourviére. We have been in many impressive cathedrals and although a bit smaller than the biggies we felt it was equally worth going to. I especially liked the stained glass windows and the massive mosaic murals on the walls. Another bonus of going there were the incredible views of Lyon.

Our last activity of the day was a river cruise tour that took us north, then south to the confluence between the Saône and Rhône rivers. The architecture near the confluence was very…interesting…