Hope you all had a Merry Christmas – we certainly did, as we spent it on a campsite on the outskirts of Lyon. Before that though we had a stopover at Susa. We left the snow-capped alps at Turin, and headed 50kms west to be surrounded by more snow.
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| Leaving Turin |
Our one night stop over at Susa was on a free Sosta, you just paid for electric. (N45.1388 E7.05383). The small town is near to the Italy/France border and surrounded by snowy mountains.
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| Sonny, surrounded by more snow at Susa |
Not long after we arrived, the local motorbike group gathered in the car park near to the Sosta. They were aged from about 5 to 70 and all were dressed up as Santa Claus and rode around the town - not quite sure if it was in aid of charity or they just fancied dressing up!
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| Susa Santa Bikers |
It's a lovely old town, with some lovely medieval buildings and Roman ruins.
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| Roman ruins - Arch of Augustas and Roman Aqueduct |
A strange thing happened during the night. We were surrounded by snow, strong
winds got up blowing in hot air and temperatures rose from 4°C to 19°C - very weird!
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| Temperature on Sonny's gauge as we set off - 19°C |
We had an early Christmas Eve start, as we headed to a campsite at Lyon
to spend Christmas. The weather got
colder the closer we got to the Frejus tunnel, soon dropping to 3°C. The tunnel is 13kms long and cuts through the Cottian Alps and runs
under the Col de Frejus - 2.542m high (8,340ft).
It was opened in 1980, took 6 years to construct and very expensive. It cost 2 billion Francs (equivalent to £700 million).
It was a very expensive day for us too with the tolls. It cost €8 to get around Turin and to the
Frejus Tunnel, the tunnel cost a further €59.80 and then 2 French Tolls at €37 - €104.80 in all!
The campsite is at a little town called St-Genis-Laval, just outside Lyon (N45.68703 E4.78622). It costs €26 a night and isn't an ACSI site, so no discount for us. There were 9 other motorhomes here over Christmas, a mix of French, German, Spanish and us Brits.
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| Enjoying the sun on the campsite - and no snow in sight! |
We took the local bus in to Lyon, about a 15 minute ride. Lyon is over 2,000 years old, built on the confluence of Rivers Rhone
and Saone, it is known as the culinary capital of the world and a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
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| La Place Bellecour – one of the largest open squares in Europe |
We crossed the Napoleon Bonaparte bridge to the old town and took the Fenicular railway to
the top of Fourviere Hill. Unfortunately, it is enclosed in a tunnel so you don’t get any views
of the city until you get out at the top.
Within the tunnel are Roman artefacts in the niches but blink and you miss them. No idea why they put them in the tunnel.
On the Fourviere Hill stands the magnificent Basilica, the oldest part of the city.
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| Notre-Dame de Fourviere |
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| View from the top of the hill |
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| Lyon’s Gothic Cathedral - the majority of the original stained-glass windows remain as they were dismantled and packed away during WW2 to save them from bomb damage |
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| Astronomical Clock, installed in the 1300s. Underneath is an astrolabe, that can show the position of the earth, sun and moon |
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| 'The Weight of Oneself’ sculpture. Depicting a man carrying himself and tells the story of someone trying to save himself. |
We have come far enough north west now to pick up English TV. So, that meant only one thing lots of Christmas
films! All the usual repeats and ones we have seen umpteen times but we didn't care as it has been many months since we have watched UK TV! It was our first Christmas away from home since being married and did feel a little strange but after phone calls to our son and daughter all was good.
We move on tomorrow heading further north through France.
Sally x
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