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Mark & Robyn's Travels
Today is the day Melanie begins her journey home, she has spent two weeks in Europe mostly in Spain until she came to meet us in Lyon two days ago. It seems longer than two days. She has a train at 4 taking her to the train station at Charles de Gaulle airport outside of Paris for her flight back to Dallas tomorrow morning. It is the same trip we will be taking next Sa************** home. She wanted to visit the Lyon art museum because she had read there were Renoir and Rembrandt paintings displayed there. After she finally got moving and we got our collective act together we walked over to the museum which was on the other side of the Rhone near the Opera building and city hall.
When we got in the museum we were a little confused (surprised?) as to which direction to go. The museum information provided us showed this was not only an art museum but also an antiquities museum. I wanted to see the Egyptian antiquities since these were on the first floor and the art work was on the second floor. We went the long way around and apparently backwards to find the antiquities, the map was confusing and the signage was even worse but eventually we found what I wanted to see. The most significant item was the Temple Gate from Medamud, which dates to 221 bc during the reign of Ptolemy VIII. The gate was excavated in 1925 by a French archeologist and eventually sent to Lyon. It was in amazing condition.
After finding that piece we went to the second floor to look for the artwork, the museum literature indicated there was a Picasso hanging in the modern art section. We went in search and of course went the wrong way again, at least we are consistent. When we got to the area where the Picasso was supposed to be it was not there. Melanie asked a museum employee and was told it had been sent to Mexico for a six month exhibit. Oh well maybe we can go to Mexico to see it, uh I don't think so. Anyway we did find the Monet's, no Rembrandt, however there were two Manet's, a Paul Gauguin from when he painted in Tahiti, a Pissaro, a Rodin statue, and a famous work by Paul Ruebens. So this trip was not a loss at all, and although a confusing museum to navigate we did see what we wanted to see.
After we left the museum we headed back to the hotel because it was time for Melanie to get her things and head to the train station. After she left Robyn and I decided we would book a train to the town of Beaune for tomorrow. It looked like an interesting town to visit and we could get there in less than an hour and a half to get us enough time to explore the town and get back at a decent hour. After we booked that Robyn suggested we go to the Lumiere Museum. This was the house of Antoine Lumiere who, along with his sons Louis and Auguste, developed many early motion picture films and cameras. It sounded interesting and we had nothing else to do so we headed over there. The fastest way was the metro and it stopped right at the museum. The museum was interesting and displayed motion picture development. The brothers were the first filmmakers to display a film to an audience which they did in Paris in 1895. I am attaching a few pictures Robyn took at the museum.
We had arrived at the museum before 5 and when we came out it was after 6. We had dinner reservations in Vieux Lyon at 7:30 and decided to take the Metro and walk around the old city until our reservations. We get to the metro station and it is closed. We are four miles away from Vieux Lyon, there is no way Robyn can walk. Fortunately a taxi pulls up and he was free, however when we told him the metro was closed he was very surprised and went and looked himself. We got to Vieux Lyon and eventually made it to the restaurant for dinner. This restaurant was recommended by our winery tour guide Olivier and it was a very strange place. It was called the La Nef Des Fous which translates to ship of fools but had a jester on the sign so I think it is supposed to be group of fools or something like that. Anyway the decor was a bit strange and there was a bathtub full of fish. The food and wine was good and that is all that counts.
While we were walking back to the hotel we ran into an English couple who are staying at the hotel and Melanie and I had talked with at breakfast that morning. They come to Lyon quite often because their son lives here. We mentioned the problem with the metro and they told us the metro had shut down for the transport strike at 5:30, we had gotten off the metro just before 5. This was the second time either Melanie or us had been impacted by the strike. When we got back to the hotel Robyn started checking on our trains for tomorrow, we found out we can get to Beaune but the trains back are cancelled by the strike or we get back really late. So we cancelled the whole trip. Strike three. We now are just taking a rest day tomorrow and hope our trains will be running on Tuesday when we leave for Tours.
When we got in the museum we were a little confused (surprised?) as to which direction to go. The museum information provided us showed this was not only an art museum but also an antiquities museum. I wanted to see the Egyptian antiquities since these were on the first floor and the art work was on the second floor. We went the long way around and apparently backwards to find the antiquities, the map was confusing and the signage was even worse but eventually we found what I wanted to see. The most significant item was the Temple Gate from Medamud, which dates to 221 bc during the reign of Ptolemy VIII. The gate was excavated in 1925 by a French archeologist and eventually sent to Lyon. It was in amazing condition.
After finding that piece we went to the second floor to look for the artwork, the museum literature indicated there was a Picasso hanging in the modern art section. We went in search and of course went the wrong way again, at least we are consistent. When we got to the area where the Picasso was supposed to be it was not there. Melanie asked a museum employee and was told it had been sent to Mexico for a six month exhibit. Oh well maybe we can go to Mexico to see it, uh I don't think so. Anyway we did find the Monet's, no Rembrandt, however there were two Manet's, a Paul Gauguin from when he painted in Tahiti, a Pissaro, a Rodin statue, and a famous work by Paul Ruebens. So this trip was not a loss at all, and although a confusing museum to navigate we did see what we wanted to see.
After we left the museum we headed back to the hotel because it was time for Melanie to get her things and head to the train station. After she left Robyn and I decided we would book a train to the town of Beaune for tomorrow. It looked like an interesting town to visit and we could get there in less than an hour and a half to get us enough time to explore the town and get back at a decent hour. After we booked that Robyn suggested we go to the Lumiere Museum. This was the house of Antoine Lumiere who, along with his sons Louis and Auguste, developed many early motion picture films and cameras. It sounded interesting and we had nothing else to do so we headed over there. The fastest way was the metro and it stopped right at the museum. The museum was interesting and displayed motion picture development. The brothers were the first filmmakers to display a film to an audience which they did in Paris in 1895. I am attaching a few pictures Robyn took at the museum.
We had arrived at the museum before 5 and when we came out it was after 6. We had dinner reservations in Vieux Lyon at 7:30 and decided to take the Metro and walk around the old city until our reservations. We get to the metro station and it is closed. We are four miles away from Vieux Lyon, there is no way Robyn can walk. Fortunately a taxi pulls up and he was free, however when we told him the metro was closed he was very surprised and went and looked himself. We got to Vieux Lyon and eventually made it to the restaurant for dinner. This restaurant was recommended by our winery tour guide Olivier and it was a very strange place. It was called the La Nef Des Fous which translates to ship of fools but had a jester on the sign so I think it is supposed to be group of fools or something like that. Anyway the decor was a bit strange and there was a bathtub full of fish. The food and wine was good and that is all that counts.
While we were walking back to the hotel we ran into an English couple who are staying at the hotel and Melanie and I had talked with at breakfast that morning. They come to Lyon quite often because their son lives here. We mentioned the problem with the metro and they told us the metro had shut down for the transport strike at 5:30, we had gotten off the metro just before 5. This was the second time either Melanie or us had been impacted by the strike. When we got back to the hotel Robyn started checking on our trains for tomorrow, we found out we can get to Beaune but the trains back are cancelled by the strike or we get back really late. So we cancelled the whole trip. Strike three. We now are just taking a rest day tomorrow and hope our trains will be running on Tuesday when we leave for Tours.
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