Love is in the air, even though it's not spring. We are in Lyon, third largest of France's main cities, and will stay for a few days. Unlike the Romans, who in 43BC decided to stay here for a few hundred years, establishing Lugdunum on the hillside west of the Saone.

They must have loved it here because they built a substantial settlement, which became the most important Roman centre this side of Rome for a while, and was the focal point of Roman Gaul and Germany.

As we know from the remains of amphitheatres all over the former Roman Empire, the Romans also loved their entertainment, whether throwing Christians to lions or watching more cultural performances, and there's some fantastic evidence of that right here, on the Fourviere hill.

Liz and I walked round the Fourviere theatre ruins today, and it never ceases to amaze me how clever the Romans were, seemingly at everything. This place could seat around 11,000 in its heyday, and even what's left accommodates up to 4500 when it's used for open-air performances today.

The mosaic tile floor of the orchestra area still exists, a geometric feast of inlaid marble pieces that were brought from all over, including Greece and Turkey. That we are still allowed to walk on such art is remarkable, but to think that toga-wearing theatre goers and performers shared the same stage over 2000 years ago is, well, nothing short of dramatic.

I wanted to stand at centre stage, face the tiered rows and in a deep voice proclaim "Quam diligenter laboramus!" ("How diligently we work" - the motto from the front of my Latin book at school) but I didn't think the French school kids sitting in the cheap seats would have enjoyed it.

(I was also very tempted to shout "Release Roger!", in homage to both Rome and Monty Python, but thought better of that too)

Anyway, back to love. We'd arrived at Lyon yesterday after a relatively short day's sailing, and moored in an ultra-modern marina right beside the Confluence shopping mall on one side, and trendy shipping-container-like apartments on the other. It has a sort of Darling Harbour feel to it, especially with bridges at the far end carrying trains across, and beneath them trams.

In front of us is a bridge spanning the marina, and on its wire mesh sides lovers have done what has now become a tradition on some bridges in Paris... made a pact of some sort (probably undying love, Je t'aime, Je t'aime, etc) attached a padlock to the mesh to seal it, and then thrown the key into the water. Love, sealed with a plop.

So while here, Liz and I are thinking of using the bridge to seal our own love for each other, but we don't want to do it with some cheap padlock, so will aim instead to find something like a car steering wheel lock instead. Or maybe a wheel clamp.

Or maybe not. Anyway, it's nice to be moored almost beneath this bridge of sighs, and we look forward to exploring more of lovely Lyon.

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