Postcards From Susan: Lyon Day 5

By the time we were up and enjoying our giant madeleines in the hotel breakfast room, Bruce and Laura were at the airport ready to board their flight to Venice. Having vanquished the hop-on hop-off bus tour, we were ready to spend some quality time at the Musee de Beaux Arts, the second most important museum in France after the Louvre.

But first, I wanted to visit the Atelier de Soie, the Silk Studio. It was near the museum, just a hop past the hotel de ville (city hall) that we had passed on the bus. I had hoped for something of an education, but what we got was a polite description of the process, and a well-stocked scarf shop.

The scarves were lovely, but pricier than I could justify (nice ones between 100 and 600 euros). So it was off to the Musee.

The museum entrance is across the main, busy square from city hall. Once inside, it is calm, tranquil, and every bit the Benedictine monastery it once was, a real oasis.

Inside it has everything -- ancient and modern art, and everything in between. A particular goal for us was the modern art collection of Picassos, Matisses and more. Sadly, when we got to that wing, a sing indicated that the usual collection was in Mexico. What they provided was pretty strange, so that was a disappointment. But the rest of the museum was extensive and interesting.

We started with a temporary exhibit about selfies -- from ancient self-portraits to smartphones.

In the one above you can just barely make out the artists reflection in the glass vase as he paints the canvas.

Then we got lost.

We found ourselves in a long series of galleries that demonstrated that Lyon had had its own artistic traditions and styles, and its own artistic communities as active and perhaps as important as Paris.

This one is for Diana.

So lunch! At the museum cafe. Possibly one of the best lunches we have had in France for years. Tom had a chicken terrine, with pickled beets, an off-beat applesauce, and a perfect apple-parsley vinaigrette.

I had steak tartar, with a raspberry and beet sauce. For dessert we shared a cafe gourmand, Tom having the coffee, me the gourmand.

Then it was back to work on the museum. This time we managed to find the archaeological section.

The bas relief above is an important and unique piece, showing a juggler. Artistically it is important because the figure is sinuous instead of rigid, and his left foot extends outside the frame. Culturally it is important because it showed the complexity of the society, and the importance of leisure arts and entertainment.

The art nouveau artist Guimard came from Lyon to Paris, but not before perfecting his style. These pieces are from his home.

One more look around the courtyard, and we were back out on the busy sidewalk, ready to walk back to our hotel.

When we got back to the square we noticed that the demonstrators had changed the look of the theater.

The demonstrators of the day before had taken over the theater, and remained there until we left.

After a rest, we walked across the river to old Lyon. We were looking for dinner, a traboule, and ice cream. After a fashion, we found all three.

The statue above is of a man saving himself from the river. The opening below is a traboule, a small passageway carved into buildings to allow for quick travel between streets and from the streets on the hills of the old town to the river. They were made for silk workers to get from one part of a factory to another, and to give them a direct route to ships on the river, rather than forcing them to take the circuitous streets.

There was a profusion of restaurants, and we were not really hungry. So we decided to have our ice cream at the famous Terre D'Alice shop and call it a meal.

Tom wanted a dame blanche, the f=French version of a hot fudge sundae, which is quite common in France. Our waitress had never heard of it. So he ordered vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Voila!