Day 39 - Lyon, France

After our very busy Saturday, we took it easier today.

I visited a laundromat, as I feel the city is not completely visited if I haven’t washed clothes there. I was in, out, and back to the hotel by noon. If you wonder why I was in the laundromat again, it’s hot, nothing can be worn twice, it was a five minute walk from the hotel.

While I was waiting on laundry, I checked out atlasobscura.com since we have seen most of the standard Lyon touristy sights. This is a website (or app) we use to find unusual sites in a city. It’s kind of an ‘off the beaten path’ site.

What I found was the Astronomical Clock of Lyon. The clock is located within the Lyon Cathedral. Wiki: Lyon Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church located on Place Saint-Jean in central Lyon, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon. Begun in 1180 on the ruins of a 6th-century church, it was completed in 1476.

It’s another beautiful church with tap and pay for candles. I love it!

The clock is inside the church. It is so so cool. There are so many parts and everything has meaning. I’m including the Wikipedia link, because there’s too much to say. Also, a couple of the pictures are google translation of information near the clock. They tell neat facts about the clock.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon_astronomical_clock

Another Atlas Obscura must see in Lyon was Traboules (secret passeges) throughout the old town. The workers used the passageways to move around more efficiently than on the roads. It was also safer for the workers carrying their wares to market. Most of the passageways are locked as they lead to private apartments. But we did find one open and it was the longest traboule in Lyon. It runs between 54 Rue Saint-Jean and 27 Rue du Bœuf.

Many shops and restaurants are closed on Sunday, and many others require you to buy food if you sit at their tables, but we managed to find one that let us sit for one drink.

We went back to the room so I could veg out on Sunday afternoon Olympics. Way to go Scottie. And wow, Kristen Faulkner, road cycling. Way to smoke the competition in the last 3k. Peacock has done such a great job of showing all the sports. And since we’re on the continent, we’re (really me) seeing everything live! Bring on LA28!!!! Martha, however, is up to S4E5 of the Sopranos and the corresponding Talking Sopranos podcast. Whatever!!

We wandered out to dinner, towards the Rhône River as Martha said we hadn’t ventured that way yet. We found a restaurant/sports bar showing the Olympics so everyone was happy. We made friends with our table mates, an English couple, equally involved in the Games.

Then! We ran into a family we met at the soccer match yesterday-small world! They are huge Trinity Rodman fans. Both adults were sporting Trinity jerseys. We were all bummed that the US was in Paris yesterday. But also happy they won. Anyway, today they ran into Trinity at their hotel. How cool is that? We are definitely not staying at the team hotel 🥲🤣😂😂

This journey has been amazing and is nearing the end. We talk about it at dinner, favorite city (Budapest for me (Lyon is a close second), Barcelona for Martha) and how it’s flown by. How we will change things up on the next adventure (although, we’re struggling with the how on that), and just how much we enjoy traveling, and traveling together. We will make it home in one piece and still married, lol, so all in all a grand adventure.