Today we continued our cruise down the Saone towards Lyon, it was a beautiful morning for cruising, and we arrived in Lyon just before lunch, so plenty of time to take pictures on the way through the city. We are berthed just north of the confluence of the Soane and Rhone rivers, so come Tuesday evening when we depart we will be on the Rhone for the rest of the journey.

Officially Lyon is France's 3rd largest city but there is obviously a great deal of rivalry between Lyon and Marseilles as the guide kept referring to the greater Lyon are being 2nd only to Paris. Lyon under the Roman empire was known as Lugdunum and was the capital of Gaul, and during the renaissance period grew significantly to become a major European trading centre and was renowned for its expertise in Silk weaving, but more about that tomorrow when we do a tour on Silk in Lyon.

Our afternoon was taken up by a short tour to the top of the hill of Fourviere, it is here the Basiclia of Notre-dame de Fourviere is situated. Basilica is a title given by the pope to a church with historical importance. The first church on the site was built on the hill in 1192 but was ruined in the wars of religion, rebuilt in 1586 and then in 1870 with the Prussians about to invade Lyon, the town promised to build a new church dedicated to Mary if the town was spared, and it is this version you see here. The inside of the church is one huge mosaic, walls, floor and ceiling.

Following the church we were taken down into the old town and it is here we saw the Traboules, a traboule is basically a covered alley way to allow the silk merchants to walk between the buildings with assurance they would not get wet from the rain or rubbish thrown from the windows. Now most of them have been locked so the residents of the apartments have more privacy.