Day 6, Monday June 27, 2016 - Lyon

At 5am, our ship left Vienne for Lyon arriving at 8:30am. It was quite interesting docking as there is not enough dock space for all the tour ships that are here so they tie onto each other side by side. We were the third ship over so we had to pass through two other ships to get to the shore.

Our morning tour didn't have an auspicious start. After getting off the ship I didn't realize that we were crossing a bike path and was nearly creamed by two bikes going at very high speed.

We took a bus ride to the top of the mountain overlooking Lyon where the Romans had first settled in the 1st century BC, passing an amphitheater which had been excavated. Many of the Roman amphitheaters are still used for music performances and they hold 10 to 20 thousand people. At the top is a plaza with a large cathedral that was built in the late 1800s. It is one of the most elaborately decorated cathedrals that we have seen. The entire floor and the walls are all decorated with mosaics, depicting biblical and historical scenes. The ceilings are brightly painted. Underneath, there is another church nearly as large as the one above.

 Cathedral of St. Mary at the top of the mountain overlooking Lyon

The bus then took us down to the old French city dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. We were able to go through some of the narrow passageways between the houses and through the inner courtyards.

 Our cabin

Our ship