playground Croix-Rousse

Lyon in the evening

fête des lumiêres lundi

Another layer of the fête des lumiêres, and the essential layer, is based on the Catholic community. We watched one of many processions from local paroisse's walk past our building, carrying candles and singing on their way up the long hill to the Chapel of Fourvière to celebrate messe.
The tradition includes leaving candles on each windowsill.

fête des lumiêres dimanche

As I mentioned a few days ago regarding this fête, Lyon has been inundated with 4 million visitors over the past four days for the Fête des Lumiêres, an event that dates from 1643 when Lyonaisse believe they were spared from the plague by the Virgin Mary. The commemoration started with single candles placed in each window in the city, to today's optical event, with corporate sponsors, countless vans of gendarmes patrolling, and endless stands of vin chaud and châtaignes grillées. click on the images to see them slightly larger.

Projected images fill in for statues destroyed on the cathedral Saint-Jean, the platforms shown exist in stone. The projections change color and intensity using chromolith illumination, and are accompanied by Gregorian chants.

Place des Terreaux: Above, the l'Hôtel de ville showing the sequence of the children's story played over the facade. Below, the Musée des Beaux-Arts, as writing, accompanied by voice tells the end of the story. I don't have a tripod here, so I rely on light and sign posts to stabilize the camera. see www.lumieres.lyon.fr for history and other sites.

my favorite metro stop

Place Jean Jaures, Lyon metro stop.




...seattle...spokane...kooskia... duluth is also on the list down the line

progress in medicine

The main corridors of the l'Hôpital open onto central courtyards used for parking. Convenient, but transforming those areas into greenspace would be so much healthier than the exhaust that filters into the interior space.
The museum hold many objects that hint at just how far medical practice has come. This is a table de radioscopie-radiographic basculante, part of a tilting x-ray, circa 1920.

salon des vins

The Halle Tony Garnier, built in 1906 as a cattle market, now used as an event hall. The Salon des Vins is a 4 day wine tasting of producers from all over France.