Sunday, April 7, 2019

The boat left Vienne at 5 AM (I'm taking their word for it) and arrived in Lyon at 8:30 AM . We skipped the included 4-hour panoramic tour of Lyon because we had been here once before and apparently we now consider ourselves Lyon experts. As it turned out, it was a wise choice because the Lyon Urban Trail was taking place this morning with thousands of runners participating. We heard later that the bus could not get near the Basilica of Notre Dame at the top of Fourviere Hill, and the road blockages due to the event made it difficult to navigate any part of the city. We will get back to Lyon some day, I'm hopeful. After all, I have to see if Les Halles in Lyon rivals the indoor market in Avignon. I'm sure it does, since Lyon is considered the Bologna of France, the food capital. We had a leisurely morning, I did some laundry, worked on my Cuba blog (getting the photos sorted, that is).

After lunch, we met our guide Stefania for our Timeless Town of Pérouges tour. The bus was up some stairs from the dock. The photo below doesn't show it well, but in front of the stairs was an area similar to Venice Beach, California, where people, mostly men, were working out, doing Crossfit or something similar. A pedestrian walkway and a bike path went along the water as well.

Pérouges is a medieval walled, stone village perched on a hill overlooking the Ain River plain and is officially one of the most beautiful villages in France. It is certainly one of the best preserved medieval villages, and was the setting for the 1961 French movie "The Three Musketeers," as well as a number of other French and British films. It is believed that it was founded by a Gallic colony returning from Perugia, Italy; hence, the name. The inhabitants were farmers and craftsmen, mostly linen weavers, and the village prospered until the end of the 18th century, when roads and railroads were rerouted and the booming textile industry in Pérouges came to an end.The population dropped from 1,500 to 90. At the beginning of the 20th century it was slated for demolition, but the mayor with help from the French Government started restoration work in 1911 to return it to its former glory.

The parade

We happened to be there for their big Venetian Carnival held annually on the first weekend of April. On the positive side, we got to see people dressed in very elaborate clothing and wearing equally elaborate hats and kind of creepy masks. There was a parade, which we caught the tail end of, and then the participants wandered through the cobblestone streets, posing for photos. The negative side was that the village was very crowded, although we heard that the attendance was much lower than usual due to the poor weather forecast and the constant threat of rain. Fortunately, the rain held off until we got on the bus, as it would have been a disaster for the costumes.

Pérouges is also known for its delicious pastry, la Galette Pérougienne, a thin crust, pizza-like dough made with flour, butter and sugar, baked in a hot oven to carmelize the sugar, and then sprinkled with more sugar and butter after baking. So tasty that I wasn't able to get a photo before we ate all of it!

Making the Galette

We were back on board the Viking Delling in time for the port talk and dinner, followed by a disembarkation briefing for our Tuesday transfer from this boat to the second boat. We have made some friends and been hanging out with two couples, one of whom (Leighann and Dave) won't be joining us on the second part of the France's Finest cruise. Hopefully we will stay in touch.