Lyon: Not according to plan

On Saturday, Amy, Mary Beth and I kicked off our weekend early in the morning as we head down to catch the TGV to Lyon for the day. We arrived by 9:30 in the Lyonnais train station ready for some power tourism. And power tourism we did. We promptly chassed down a bus and headed north to check out le Parc de la Tête d'Or, a 117-hectare manicured park, full of beautiful running paths, breath-taking botanical greenhouses, a free zoo!, rose gardens and picturesque lake. After a relaxing saunter through the park we walked down to the metro and hit the Croix Rousse, an old district renowned for its history in the silk industry. There wasn't much to see, so we wandered through a little farmers market and sat in the square to eat lunch. I enjoyed the best croissant I'd ever had, it was stuffed with almond paste and melting chocolate. We walked back down the hill, taking in incredible views of Lyon below, and the Notre Dame on the distant hill.

Our handy day pass on the metro took us into Vieux Lyon and then all the way up the hill to the Notre Damn de Lyon itself, which now sits next to a silly replica of the Eiffel Tower. The Notre Damn was the most impressive I've ever seen, and the pictures aren't even worth looking at, as the injustice they do the church is tragic. On the adjoining hill we visited the ruins of a Roman Theatre as we melted in the scorching heat, and a smallar amphitheatre where poetry readings and musical recitals where held. It was back done to Vieux Lyon then to see the older Cathédrale St-Jean. We arrived just in time to see one of the four daily chimings of the Astronomical Clock within. Back in the streets we when in search of the traboules (secret passages), some dating back to Roman time. I had read about them in Lonely Planet and we walked past them three times before I finally found the door. They wind between and below the buildings connecting the streets, and were mostly build by the local Canuts (silk weavers) in the 19th Century to aid the transport of their precious silk in bad weather. However, they came in handy again in the last century as a hideout for resistance fighters in WWII.
We headed quickly back over the Saône to look at a statue of Louis XIV, and to visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon. Mary Beth and I intended to wait in a Cafe for Amy while she toured the museum, but upon arriving realized that it was free to all students. So in we went for a large collection of statues, Egyptian artifacts, and a few Picasso's, Monet's and a large Matisse. We squeezed in a quick trip to a little museum on the silk industry to look at some old remnants of the a silk factory before heading back to Vieux Lyon for dessert and a Café in a trendy Lyonnais Salon de Thé. By the way, the Café, just as rumored, is Amazing.
Waiting for our train, we relaxed by the Rhône with our feet in some cold pools. But when we got to the metro, our luck began to change. My metro pass stopped working and upon trying to sneak in behind Amy, got pretty well smashed in the automatic door. Then as we stood looking up at the control board to figure out which platform our train was on, only to realize it wasn't there. Twenty minutes in a line let us find out that we had been sold return tickets for the night before we even left. WHAT? Lesson #1: Check train ticket dates. We were totally stuck in Lyon, no buses, no trains, no planes. We checked. Well not the planes, but Mary Beth wanted to. It wouldn't have been that big a deal if we weren't supposed to be back on the bus at 9am the following morning heading to Carcasonne with our program. In the end the lady at the train station was extremely nice and gave us free tickets straight through to Carcasonne in the morning where we could meet our group. After switching our tickets. We head back across town, running through the metro doors to avoid being smashed each time, and hiked up a hill to the youth hostel in town. Full. Back into town. Hotel after hotel was full. Finally we found one that wasn't too expensive. The guy at the front desk kindly called around to see if he could get us a better deal, but everything was full.
After five or so hours of patchy sleep, though after everything I couldn't sleep, we got up and walked through the remains of last nights partying to catch our 7:05 departure from Lyon. We walked across Carcassone to the old city and arrived just as the rest of the group did. The city itself was impressive, an old fortified city dating back to 50BC or so, but it had become so touristy that there was little to actually see. Exhausted we head home with the bus to food, showers and my forgotten homework.