Vienne

One of the people I met at the ECPA office in April had recommended the town of Vienne as a worthwhile side trip from Lyon, and after looking into it a bit further, Aaron and I decided it would make a good destination for our first weekend day trip out of the city this past Saturday. Not to be confused with the other five French communes that are also named Vienne, our destination was Vienne, Isère, a small city of around 30,000 people located about 20 miles (a half hour train ride) south of Lyon.

However, it turned out one of the main attractions for the day was actually located in Saint-Romain-en-Gal, an even smaller town just across the Rhône from Vienne. There, in the late 1960s, ruins from a dense Roman settlement were discovered during the construction of a school. The site has since been turned into a Gallo-Roman history museum, with numerous restored mosaics from the floors and walls of ancient Roman residences displayed inside the museum and several acres of the archeological site open for visitors to explore outside, complete with an audioguide explaining what is known about the various residences and other buildings that have been uncovered. We took our time touring the museum and the grounds, then headed back over to Vienne to check out a few more sights before getting a bite to eat and catching an evening train back to Lyon.

Favorite factoid of the day: The ancient Romans used urine as a cleaning agent because it apparently reacts with air to generate ammonia. (You may not want to try this at home....)

Perrache train station in downtown Lyon



Grabbing a sandwich before getting on the train (I think that's the broadest grin I have ever managed to catch on Aaron in any picture!)



This picture gives you the flavor of Vienne -- locals nonchalantly dining at sidewalk cafes a few steps away from the well-preserved ancient Temple of Augustus and Livia



Crossing the river from Vienne to Saint-Romain-en-Gal (the Rhône here marks the dividing line between two départements, Isère and Rhône)



Gallo-Roman history museum in Saint-Romain-en-Gal



Archeological site at the Gallo-Roman history museum



The "Fine Arts" Museum in Vienne was a three-room museum containing an interesting mix of paintings, ceramics...



...and archeological artifacts such as this mummified cat



Vienne uses their restored Roman amphitheater as the venue for (among other things) their annual summer jazz festival



I enjoyed a few minutes of naptime while Aaron climbed to the top of the amphitheater to take in the view



View of Vienne from amphitheater