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.
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.
...seattle...spokane...kooskia... duluth is also on the list down the line
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.
The doors of Cathédrale Saint-Jean are indeed a deep red, but the rest of the facade is painted with light. The statues that flank the doors are created by projected images, the actual figures were destroyed in one or another of the French revolutions.
The remnants of two of the figurative sculptures that remain are highlighted with projected color to recall the original highly-coloured Romanesque facade.
View to the north from our apartment window of Cathédrale Saint-Jean, as they practice lighting techniques for the fête des lumiêres. Lyon is bracing for an influx of 3 million visitors over the next four days for the Fetes des Lumieres, that dates from 1643 when Lyonaisse believe they were spared from the plague by the Virgin Mary. It's become quite the optical event. I've taken a few photos the last few nights as they prep the light effects, everything from image projections onto cathedrals to a fascinating interactive installation called binary waves which generates a light show based on movement sensors on the city street. But it has also been pouring rain, so image focus and umbrellas are a complication. The local paper headline reads: Fête des Lumières : comment éviter l’asphyxie ? or how to avoid suffocation.
View of the place Bellecour grande roue dynamic color wheel from our apartment window. 
The hand-shaped doorknockers seem to be all just a little different, some very slender, some chubby, others with wedding rings, others with frilly sleeves.
Door and shutter detail next door to our building on Montee du Chemin Neuf.
Door handle on the corner of rue de Capucins and rue Saint-Polycarpe. 
Window lock and missing doorknob on rue Tramassac. I walk by these every day on the way to the boulangerie.
Moustiers Sainte Marie in Provence. Look in the valley between the limestone outcrops, just to the left of the shadow- the Notre Dame de Beauvoir.
Up the stone steps trail to the Notre Dame de Beauvoir in Moustiers Sainte Marie. Quite the hike for Messe, but a stunning construction achievement for the 8th century monks who lived in caves nearby.
The interior of the Notre Dame de Beauvoir.
Another Provence village built up from the rock base on top of a hill. We have visited here a few times over the last 10 or so years. The village is showing signs of an invasion of "wealth". Walls of stone have spread along most roads leading into Gordes, hiding the private estates. The new buildings fit well visually, but it's all a facade of engineered stone.
The village Roussillion is set on top of a vast ochre deposit that has been mined since the Romans occupied the area, and most likely since the Neolithic. The building colors are intense in places, and beautifully faded in others. Next time I will plan to be here to take a workshop at the conservatorie des ochres, shown on the left.
L'église Saint-Michel de Roussillon - passageway between streets
Bibliothèque de la cité Lyon has over 200 trompe l'oeil paintings across the city.
La Fresque des Lyonnais celebres, this wall mural shows celebrities from Lyon. On the right is the creator of Guignol, an infamous witty puppet created by a peddlar turned dentist in 1797 to attract more customers. On the "balcony" is Antoine de Saint Exupéry and his creation la Petit Prince.
