An unseasonably late maypole is raised in Brussels, on the anniversary of a wedding which took place in 1213. A posse of costumed giants accompanies the pole on its journey from the Sablon to the Grand Place.According to legend, a wedding party was ambushed by a gang of youths from Leuven. When the unwanted youths were finally dispatched, the happy couple were entitled to honour their saviour, Saint Laurence, by planting a may tree on his saint's day every year
As I walked through Vieux Lyon on my last day in Lyon, I saw ce petit garçon avec une baguette (little boy with a baguette). His 
This young man is looking for something sportier than a Smart Car to commute à son école maternelle (nursery school) !
This man was sitting at a cafe in Vieux Lyon on Sunday afternoon. He was singing old Bob Dylan tunes from the sixties (en anglais). Unlike the street performers, he wasn't singing for his supper. He just performed for his enjoyment and that of the numerous spectators. People crowded around this small cafe to hear him sing. everyone in the cafe and on the street. gave him enthusiastic applause. If he had put his hat out, he would have collected enough for more than just his supper.
Le Fourvière is the 400 foot hill that overlooks Lyon. You can see the magnificent Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière at the top of this hills from anywhere in Lyon. Its white facade glistens during the day and is lit at night. The picture below was taken in La Place Bellcour in the Centre Ville de Lyon. You can just see the red roof tops of the buidings in Vieux Lyon. To the right of the basilica is La tour métallique de Fourvière. Modelled after the third stage of La tour Eiffel in Paris, it was built it with the support of the city as a republican response to the basilica. 
For many years it was a sightseeing tower and a restaurant, but was converted to a radio antenna in the 1950s. La tour is the highest structure in Lyon and exceeds the height of the neighboring church. This site has had special significance during Lyon's entire history. The Romans built a forum on this site There were Roman temples here. Other cults established a presence here after the fall of the Roman Empire. The first Christian Church was dedicated to St. Thomas à Beckett. In the seventeenth century, a chapel was built here to give thanks for stopping the spread of the Plague in Lyon. Two hundred years later, the Bishop of Lyon made a vow to the Virgin Mary to erect this church if 
of steps from Vieux Lyon. While the walk through the lush greenery of le Jardin de Roseries is more scenic, most people choose to take the Funiculaire rail cars. Riding on these cars feels like you are getting on a Roller Coaster. The trains climb up the hill at about a 45 degree angle. Even the station is at an angle. These pictures show the rail car and the station. If you look closely at the tracks you will see a cable running down the middle. At the other end of this cable is another identical rail car. These two cars are attached to each other and move up and down the hill in sort of a see-saw motion. They balance each other which reduces the power needed to move the cars. You try not to think of what might happen if one car comes loose!
In the fifteenth century, the French kings decided to make Lyon the silk capital of France. Generous financial incentives lured Italian and other European silk makers to Lyon. These efforts were successful and Lyon became the silk capital of Europe by the eighteenth century. As the silk industry expanded Lyon's population grew at an explosive rate. Buildings were crammed against each other in the Vieux Lyon. Cobblestone streets, Renaissance houses, and the colorful building facades give this area a jovial Italian air. This is in contrast to the more dignified and elegant feel of the French buildings from the same era. Most workers were illiterate; even the better educated ones did not all speak French. Small statues on street corners indicated the name of the street. La rue de boeuf (the street of the ox) is a typical street intersection in Vieux Lyon. A statue of an ox indicated the name of this street. The lettered street sign is a modern addition that was added much later. A nearby street is named Rue des Trois Maries and had a statue of the three Marys from the New Testament. Unfortunately many all of these statues have not survived.
This is a typical streetscape in Vieux Lyon. This area lies in a narrow strip of land between the Saône River and the la colline (hill) de Fourvière. Many of these colorful houses date back to the Renaissance when Lyon was the silk capital of Western Europe. Streets in Vieux Lyon are long, winding and narrow with few cross streets. The streets are connected via "les traboules." These are narrow hidden passages that run through the ground floors of houses in old Lyon.
Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) is the most picturesque section of Lyon. It's located at the base of a large hill along the Soane River. The Gauls first settled on in the first century BC. They were followed by the Romans and eventually the Franks. Lyon gradually spread out from here.
cobblestone avenues. In summer, the area is filled with tourists. Saturday, July 12 was one of the hottest days of the summer. These kids found the perfect way to enjoy the day..
Despite the best efforts of the airline industry to sabotage my trip. I eventually made it to Paris in early July 2008. The plane from Chicago was delayed two hours because of thunderstorms in Chicago. I missed my connecting flight from New York to Paris. American booked me on a different flight to London with a connecting flight to Paris. More bad weather and airline bureaucracy caused me to miss the connecting flight to Paris.
