Lyon to Blanot

Elisabeth drove Mimi and me to the Lyon airport. We arrived well ahead of schedule and so we had lunch together in the airport. Then Mimi settled in to read for awhile and we started for home. 

 mistletoe

It was a beautiful day, there was no need to rush, and Elisabeth is marvelous at finding the scenic routes.

From the Lyon Rocade Est we drove to Trevoux, along a road that travelled between the Saone and this tall stone wall, probably designed for defense once upon a time.

We stopped briefly at a park where people were strolling along paths by the river. I’d walked enough at the airport, but watching some swans was enjoyable.

We were in flat farm country and noticing the difference in architecture from the vine-land area around Cluny. These houses are built with mud and straw within a wooden frame. 

Elisabeth spotted a typical farmhouse down a long lane and decided it would be a good place to pause for pictures.

In the courtyard we were greeted by several large and curious dogs. Then a young farmer stepped out of the house, also curious, but he didn’t mind a couple of strangers stopping by to take pictures of the farm buildings.

As we approached Chatillon sur Chalaronne Elisabeth found a place to briefly pull over so I could quickly get a photograph of another defensive wall. 

Taking pictures from a moving car doesn’t always work very well, as these roadside flower beds illustrate, but stopping, or even slowing down in traffic, often isn’t possible. 

We found a parking spot in Chatillon and walked to the town square to see the covered market called “les Halles.” There had been vendors there that morning, but everything was clean and ready for the next market day.

I was fascinated by the framework that was visible on this building next to the covered market. It looks like someone was playing pick-up-sticks. At least the framing in the next building looks normal, beams touch beams and don't just hang out in mid-air...

Along with mud and straw, this area also uses a lot of pink bricks.

For the fellows I know who love trains, I just had to take this picture! 

A little further on we found a stream and the French version of a covered bridge…for pedestrians only. 

We crossed over on the open pedestrian bridge. There’s Elisabeth, always patiently waiting while I take pictures.

And here’s an idyllic setting to show off fall colors…

Here a street welcomes people, but not cars. It also shows a typical building that combines the use of mud with straw plus bricks. The overhang might not be as friendly to taller folk.

And another picturesque street…

In the picture below, if the design doesn’t fascinate, just think about the consistency in the size of those stones. Stones that might have been a nuisance for a farmer become an architectural design…and that’s a street sign. Most street signs are on the corner buildings rather than on a metal pole…a small efficiency that probably saves a ton of money.

Chemin means a lane. The village is St Etienne sur Chalaronne, and Chalaronne is that stream in the previous pictures.

Another example of this building style with a peek at what is under the “skin.” The mud and straw within the wood frame is called pisee with an accent mark over the first e so it is pronounced pee-zay. This is typical of the Bresse region.

Red is not the typical fall color, but trees that turn red have become more available so people plant them where they will be noticed.

notice the rise in the road level

Lauryne is always telling her dog, “Couche” (there should be an accent mark over that final e, so it gets pronounced as coo-shay). Because of Lauryne, I have learned the word and know that it means lie down. I also know that a gendarme is a policeman. Towns don’t have gendarmes hanging around to stop speeding cars, but they do have very effective speed controls. These bumps, or ralentisseurs, are found in almost every village (Sercy has 5 of them on its main road, making it impossible to speed through town). If you forget to slow down, there is an immediate consequence! They are commonly referred to as gendarmes couches (and no one pronounces either final s).

We crossed over the Saone, leaving the Bresse farming area and approaching the hills of the Maconnais vine-lands. Those who grow grapes are wealthier than those who grow vegetables and the architecture shows the difference.

More mistletoe…. It's all over the place.

look closely to see specks in the sky...paragliders!

Elisabeth wanted to stop at Jacques and Maguite’s home in Berze la Ville so we left the main road and suddenly there were paragliders in the air over the Roche-Coche, which is the hill with a cross on top (previous post) and a quick drop-off.

I kept trying for a really good shot. 

As we began converging Elisabeth wondered if one of them might be Francis, so for fun I yelled his name out the car window...no response.

Suddenly there was one directly over us who would be landing on the driver’s side of the car. Elisabeth quickly took my camera and got the best shot of all!