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| Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière - Lyon, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
WE ARRIVED in Lyon in the morning. It would be our final port for the Viking Lofn. We thoroughly enjoyed our crew, from Carlos, the overall manager (who was everywhere, doing every job on board with great cheer and humor), our crew of great bartenders, the cruise director, and on . . . all the way to our room steward. It may have been the best ship crew I have ever experienced.
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| Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière - Lyon, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
OUR VIKING-included excursion for the morning was another coach/bus trip around the city ("Panoramic Lyon)." We did have an opportunity to stop and get off the bus at a couple different venues, which was nice. We were able to stretch our legs and see a couple sights up close. Our guide was a good-humored guy who started by telling us about a rivalry between Lyon and Marseille, regarding which city is the second largest in France. Most sources give the nod for that honor to Marseille. But like so many different statistical statements, it really depends on the "metrics." If talking about the entire metropolitan area, then Lyon is probably a bit larger (by population). Does it really matter? For our purposes, not one bit. But you could see that he had acquaintences in Marseille and that there was a friendly, bantering rivalry (he brought it up several times).
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| Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière - Lyon, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
My opening image is the Notre Dame Basillica (Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière), way up on a hill overlooking the Rhone and Saune Rivers. The two rivers join at Lyon. Interestingly, this one is referred to as a "minor" Basillica. Architecturally, there is nothing "minor" about it. It is massive and impressive. It is, however, one of the newer such churches of note around the world. It was built in the late 19th century, on the site of the ancient Roman Trajan Ruins. The photo, taken from inside our moving bus, demonstrates the challenges of such a shot. However, when we arrived on site, the street side facade was undergoing restoration and was covered with scaffolding; not a very photogenic shot. I did like the crypt entrance at the top of the stairs in the center of the entrance though. The view across the river is panoramic, and impressive. That morning, we were looking directly into the sun, though, so I didn't make any memorable photographs from there.The interior of the Basillica, however, was worth taking a few minutes inside. As impressive and ornate as I have seen around the world, I really liked the look here. I was especially enamored with the cylindrical hanging lights throughout the sanctuary.
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| Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière - Lyon, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
WE HAD some time to walk around the exterior courtyards and use the public restroom facilities. I took a bit of time to walk around and make a few more photographs. The tower - quite reminiscent of the more famous tower in Paris - immediately drew my attention. It is sometimes referred to as the mini-Eiffel Tower of Lyon (it is said to be an exact replica of the third stage of the Eiffel). Ironically, it was originally built by protestant supporters, to offset the overpowering - and strongly Catholic - presence of the massive adjoining Basillica. Today, it is used as a radio and communications tower, and it not open to the public.
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| Tour métallique de Fourvière - Lyon, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
AFTER RE-BOARDING our bus, we stopped in the downtown area and walked around for a few minutes. Like many European cities, it has its older sections with pedestrian - only, often cobblestone streets. One of the kind of cool and unique things we saw in Lyon was the passageway - entrances to some of the residential dwellings. Rather than entries directly onto the main streets, there were passageways between two main streets and the dwelling entrances were in those passageways. It made for a much quieter residential spot, and the entrances were protected from bad weather. I was taken by the bicycle locked to one of the railings, giving us just a peek into the life of a Lyon local.
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| Lyon, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
AS WE drove back to the ship, our guide pointed out the modern towers pictured here. They flank two very large, public swimming pools. Very popular during that time, as France has been experiencing record high (high 90's F) temperatures this summer. I made my image from the walkway just up from and in front of our ship.
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| Lyon, France I made this image in color, but my B&W version seemed better in this case Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
WE WERE back to the ship by 12:30. Predictably, just in time for lunch. Viking seems to be pretty well planned around their meals. 😋. The rest of the day was free time for most of us (some may have taken one of the optional excursions). It was so hot that it was difficult to get motivated to go out though. I spent a little bit of time later in the afternoon smoking a cigar up on deck. But mostly we just loafed and rested.
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| Lyon, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |