Now I’m not big on the whole cultural experience – seen one cathedral, seen them all, I always say – but today I saw something so beautiful I can scarcely put it into words: The Basilica at Notre Dame in Lyon. I was so utterly gobsmacked on walking into the cathedral, that I stood for several minutes just gasping at the incredible mosaics and stained glass windows. If I can’t put my faith in god, at least I can believe one could be closer to him in a place like this. Words are so inadequate here – it was unexpected… to say the least.

The gallo-roman museum we traipsed to next wasn’t as awe-inspiring for me, although they did have a special ‘history of medicine’ exhibition going on with some fairly interesting items on offer such as a four-valve vaginal speculum! What did they get up to in the old days? Culture out of the way, we proceeded to walk practically every street of Old Town in Lyon; shopping, then attempting to find a restaurant that wasn’t too touristy. At some point you just give up and sit down at the next bar you find. Unfortunately that doesn’t bode well for the wine choice, but one drinks on regardless…