This is my trip report of Lyon and Provence with an heavy emphasis on the ancient ruins and surrounding tourist sites from June 2019.
I spent several days in Lyon and then five days in various Provence towns travelling mostly by train and bus. I’ll start by oversharing and say that I got relatively severe food poisoning in Lyon only because it affected some of travel decisions. The only other thing I will mention that June in Lyon and July and August are festival times in southern France and many of the theaters continue to be used so many have modern scaffolding/lighting etc. set up during these times.
Lyon: The ancient sites in Lyon are primarily the two Roman theaters at the top of Fourviere Hill and the accompanying museum. The theaters are open to the public and encompass a large theater and smaller Odeon theater created for better acoustics. The theaters themselves are great sprawling complexes with organized seating and a good deal of now ruined building complexes that sprawl up the hill above and around the theater itself. I saw it with modern staging being set-up that damages the “ancient feel” of the theater itself but I also like to see that people still use it the same way it was
The museum is a real gem filled with room after room of huge inscribed blocks and many fully restored floor mosaics and decorative features. The museum is dug into the hillside and after walking through all the artifacts you get to scale models of the theaters in full restored mode and then look out the window at the actual site.
The site is free, the museum is a staggering 4 euros with decent audio guide, is included in the Lyon Pass, and really worth it.
Vaison-la-Romaine: I arrived in Vaison on Monday afternoon, toured the two adjacent Roman sites and the old town. Tuesday morning is market day so experienced that - pretty awesome - and then reviewed the other Roman sites from outside because much of it is visible from the surrounding streets.
The site at VaR is unlike any that I have every visited in that it is basically a large wooded park filled with sprawling ruins and a giant theater. It feels very much like “You kids go play in the park and see the Roman ruins but be home before dark.” Many of the Roman sites are the hot, dry dusty affairs but this wooded park really gives you a sense people living there and enjoying life and has a real feel of exploration and discovery. Where does this weird tunnel thing lead? Let’s find out…
The second smaller part of the site lies across the street - you need to buy your ticket that main site with the museum - and they will give you instructions on getting into the otter side. (When I went there was a code of the ‘handicapped’ access gate to get in that you had to use.) The second site is
What the site lacks, however, is any of the mosaics, frescoes, statues, or finishes that complete the lifestyle picture. There is a small museum and an audio guide that adds some context but if you’re familiar with villas and Roman city layouts I doubt it adds much you don’t already know.
The odd thing is that two most impressive Roman ruins are not that much to look at. The Roman bridge that spans the Ouvèze was the only bridge across the river well into modern times and survived flooding that washed away the more modern bridges. The other is that if you notice sewers in the Roman sites that have modern grates over the top that is a sign that they were used by the modern city until the 1990s. Roman engineering at its finest and still in use all these centuries later.
From Orange, bus Line 4 bus stop just outside the train station, buy a ticket from the driver - about 2.70e - and it takes about 40 minutes. (Note: Ignore Rome2Rio that has you traveling all over to get there.) The bus stops in rural France are not well marked or all that obvious.
=Tod (Continued)