fête des lumières

well! this was a big weekend for lyon. the first weekend of december marks the annual fête des lumières, a fairly recent tradition. but, as this is france, it was not just any weekend celebration but four days of festivities. though considering that 4 million visitors are crammed into the city in that time, it's really not all that long at all.

we began our explorations on friday night, starting at parc de la tête d'or which is usually beautiful in and of itself. it turned out to be rather disappointing. this (see left) was the best shot i could come up with. some of the trees were lit, there were some scattered lights in the distance, and there appeared to be some boats very dimly (and slowly) coming into focus. we lost patience and gave up. later others confirmed that there wasn't much to see here.

we pressed on. eventually we made it to the opera where we were surprised to find that it had only its usual red lights. but when we crossed over into the adjacent place des terreaux, we were not to be disappointed. certainly a centerpiece of the festivities, two of the long buildings making up the square - the hotel de ville (below) and the musee des beaux arts (right) - were the backdrop for a light show. the lighting was intricate and aligned precisely with the contours of each building which made it pretty spectacular. the show, which ran on a continuous 5-minute loop, centered around the 'little giant' who plays with his toys after his parents have gone to a party. complete with music and sound effects. it was amusing overall except for the point at which the child/giant puts out a fire by peeing on it. the french seemed amused; i think this is what contributes to their lackadaisical stance on public urination. that aside, the spectacle was lovely.

from there we crossed over the saone into vieux lyon where we expected to find some fantastic displays. we saw a decent light show (peppered with ads to ride the train) on the tiny gare st. paul and some 'bats' flying around in the windows of a nearby reformation church. what held most of our attention was the masses of people (read: tourists) and dozens and dozens of stands selling crepes, gauffres, tartiflette, hot dogs and of course delicious vin chaud (if you haven't had it, it's mulled wine spiced with cinnamon, citrus, and sugar). eventually we made it to the main church, st. jean, which was absolutely stunning. not only did the variegated lights hit every angle and niche of the façade, they even projected sculptures that (i imagine) would have once been carved into it.

now, onto night two. we began on rue de la république, the main pedestrian street running from bellecour to places des terreaux. it had a number of smaller displays, beginning with the shallow fountains (left) and spring-y lights in the trees. at one smaller square there was a display of 'flying fish' circling a fountain and being projected onto the nearby buildings. near the rhone, inside the hotel dieu (old hospital) there was a covering of colored lights accompanied by organ grinder music that the pictures didn't quite do justice. continuing on, we arrived at hotel de ville to discover that there was a light display inside it as well (at right). walking through it seems as though you're inside, under a ceiling of twinkling lights. only when the lights fade out do you realize you're actually in an outdoor courtyard. it sounds silly but it really was like a blanket of stars.

we continued on the presqu'île where we discovered a church (that i never knew existed) with a small show of its own. from there we reached the quai, where we could see both st. jean and fourviere on the hill lit up. this may have been my favorite view. i thought both churches were beautifully lit and to see them both and the river? come on. as we crossed the bridge we were accompanied by (in addition to many, many people) a small group playing native american music. we're still not sure of the significance/origin of this but it seems to be a constant at the festival. after crossing the river we marveled once again at st. jean and decided to walk up the stairs for a better view. from there we could see the church façade as well as bellecour's ferris wheel in the background. (we never did discover anything else going on in bellecour - strange for the largest square in the city). we decided to go for it and climb up to fourvière. the view of the city was nice but the view of the church from below was even better. they lit it beautifully, alternating between blue, pink/orange, and blue/green. also atop the hill were giant letters spelling out 'merci marie'. the origin of the festival, incidentally, is to thank the virgin mary for saving the city from the plague. she can also be seen atop the church (the gold statue to the left).

sunday was a day of rest. this is necessary in france as there is normally little open. we did, however, 'profiter' from the open-air markets. food, books, and crafts in the morning and christmas markets in the evening. as we tried to make our way up to croix rousse we were shocked to find that the number of tourists seemed to have multiplied. after bypassing three metro stops because of the lines, we were forced to squish our way past the overcrowded place des terreaux in order to make our way up the hill. we arrived at the rather small croix rousse christmas market which left us underwhelmed. though they did have a yurt, donkeys and sheep, and no shortage of chocolate. we decided to make our way down to perrache instead where we found a real marché de noël (above). the selection was bigger, with crafts ranging from africa to russia to south america and food from france and beyond (okay, mostly germany).

finally, monday night. traditionally this is the biggest night as the actual celebration is supposed to be on the 8th of december. according to the (free) local newspaper this is the night for the 'lyonnais'. this did not stop tourists from bombarding the train/metro stations, however. the people of the city are all supposed to light candles and put them in their windows in homage to the virgin mary. i bought my little candle and put it in the window like a good lyonnaise. nevermind that no one can see it way up on the 10th floor (i checked from the street).

the crowded streets and the cold made staying in very tempting but i decided to venture out for the last night of the fete. we began heading towards rue de la république, where we were led to believe there would be some kind of candle-lit display. there was, but it wasn't worth the walk back and forth across the bridge. this ended up being a mistake as there was something much better going on just across the river. by the time we made it to the lumière institute (fitting, i know) the firework/acrobatic show was just ending. it was probably the one disappointment in an overall exciting weekend. on the bike ride home, though, i did discover one more light display at one of the universities and saw candles in windows and balconies around the city.

overall i thought festival was wonderful and such a boon for the city (if a tad annoying at times). as for seeing all the light displays, i barely scratched the surface (there were over 50) but still i felt i fêted properly.

as i sit here in the candlelight with my tea and the window cracked open (don't worry, dad, i'm wearing a scarf) listening to the sounds of the city, it seems like a perfect end to a lovely little festival.