BEAUJOLAIS, the RHONE ALPS and the CITY of LYON
pretty villages, mountain scenery and famous vines...
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DATES: May 9 - 17, 2007 ( 9 nights). |
The Rhone Alps and the Beaujolais regions lie to the east and north of the equally ignored, great city of Lyon in Eastern France. With the ski resorts to the east and Provence to the south, tourists just hurtle by this lovely region, leaving it to photographers like us to discover it. Lying in the shadow of the Alps, the landscapes of both regions rock and roll with undulating hills and valleys that are covered with vines in the Beaujolais, and pasture in the Rhone Alps. The ancient villages are built in various types of stone all different colors as you move from one valley to another. The tour starts in the region south-east of Lyon, rarely visited by Americans but where some of the best images and vignettes of "true France" can be found. Because of the mountains, the views and landscapes are stunning and in spring the mountain slopes will be covered in a spectacular display of wild flowers. From each turn in the mountain road we will see majestic vistas and rolling cloud formations. Because of its isolation there are many tiny medieval villages nestled in one valley or another, hidden away from time and modernization. The houses are built in stone which provides a beautiful background for the flowers that scramble up and over the doorways. Some of the villages have paintend their houses in beautiful pastel colors. The clean crisp air and mountain mists in the morning remind you that the ski-resorts of the Alps are not far away. There is an innocence about these villages that is quite disarming and the inhabitants will raise their eyebrows in surprise at the sight of a group of energetic and fanatic American photographers. One of the best preserved of these villages is Perouges. Preserved-in-amber, it is perched on a hilltop and surrounded by ramparts. Perouges is a model of medieval architecture with narrow winding cobbled streets and ancient Gothic and Renaissance houses. The oldest houses are half-timbered with projecting upper storeys and inevitable this village is on the list of "One of the Most beautiful Villages of France”. St Antoine l'Abbeye is another photogenic jewel. Buried in the heart of the Rhone Alpes region this perfectly conserved village was a destination for pilgrims during the Middle Age and most of the architecture that can be seen in the maze of village streets dates from that time. On our itinerary will be other villages such as Cremieu, Moresel, and La Cote St. Andre. In between there will be many fabulous views and chances for landscape photography. We will spend three nights exploring this region and cleaning out our lungs. On route to our next destination, we will pass through another region that is not on the average tourist’s agenda—Bresse. This region is famous for its farms where chickens roam free. But these are not just any chickens. The Poulet de Bresse, are so fine that they have their own appellation controlée label, like the local wine, and a long list of rules govern how they are raised. The result is that these chickens taste just like chicken, reason alone to come on this tour I think. Being real chicken aficionados we will follow the chicken trail through beguiling villages with old mills, tiny Romanesque churches and typical half-timbered farmhouses with overhanging roofs of curved tiles where corn cobs and huge bunches of red peppers are hung out to dry. Many of the villages on the chicken route are also on a route called the “Floral Route”...chickens, farms and flowers...the jackpot in pastoral photography! We will stop for two nights in this lovely region before making our way to the Beaujolais, the most famous unknown region in France, where we will spend the following three nights. The wines of the Beaujolais are very famous but the region where they are made is largely unknown to travelers who prefer the more famous regions of Burgundy to the north and Provence to the south. It's the most bypassed of French wine regions, which is odd because it's one of the most appealing. North of Lyons and south of Burgundy, Beaujolais is a perfect picture postcard of the French countryside. At the very edge of the Massif Central mountain range it is a region of exquisite pastoral beauty with a string of plump hills laced with mountain roads that twist around vertical vineyards. They plunge up and down the hillsides affording stunning views and glimpses of tiny ancient villages, complete with pointed steeples perched gloriously on the undulating landscape. In the southern part of the region the villages are built in a warm golden stone called Pierre d’Oree. Largely unchanged since the Middle Ages their narrow cobbled streets, alleys and stairways thread between honey-colored cottages which are decked with flowers in spring and summer. If they were in Provence or Tuscany these villages would be crowded with tourists, but in this out-of-the-way-region, few people ever visit. In May the hillsides and vineyards will be bursting with light green foliage and colorful wild flowers. We will get up very early to capture the morning light on the landscapes, and spend the rest of the day touring the villages, some of them with pretty names such as Fleurie, Julienas, and Chiroubles. The last two nights we will spend in the old part of Lyon, a great photographic destination I have been trying to get everyone to go to for a long time. It is a northern city that faces south, and hints of the Mediterranean can be seen in its architecture and the quality of its warm, sunny light. Lyon is a city seriously neglected by tourists and unfairly so. Recently Lyon joined Prague among the ranks of urban centers on the UNESCO World heritage list. It lies at the confluence of two great rivers, the Rhone and the Saone and has been a great trading city since pre-Roman times. Water is a constant theme in this city and there are many beautiful bridges spanning the sparkling water. Lyon’s historic quarter, called Vieux Lyon, is squeezed between the slopes of the Fourvière hills, site of a 2,000 year old Roman amphitheater, and the Saone River, and is the most extensive and authentic Renaissance city center surviving in France. Narrow cobbled streets are lined with a picture postcard ensemble of over 350 medieval, Gothic and Renaissance houses and contains the largest display of Renaissance architecture in France. This ancient district has the flavor of the south with colored walls and fountains, coupled with the sophistication of the north with some of the best restaurants in France, many of which have old facades reminiscent of Parisian cafes from the 1950s. This is a bustling and colorful quarter, parts of it have not yet been renovated at all and seem to come straight out of the pages of a mid-century detective novel. Unique to Lyon is the maze of underground passages called the traboules. Running for over 50kms there are 325 passages linking 230 streets. Some of the traboules in Vieux Lyon date from Roman times and have vaulted ceilings. The traboules cut from one street to another often via hidden courtyards with elaborate winding staircases that zig-zag up several floors, and through them you can explore the interior courtyards of the Renaissance and medieval townhouses. The Romans named Lyon Lugdunum, meaning the “city of light”. This tradition continues as every evening more than one hundred sites throughout the city are lit up to show the splendor of Lyon’s architecture. Those of you who are fans of night shooting can join me on a nocturnal perambulation looking for the perfect night shot. |
There are only ONE PLACE LEFT on this tour so book now... |
for more images of Lyon click here.. |
