Day 14: Rural France & La Tourette

We slept in today - it was needed.

We made our way out at about 10, and it quickly became apparent that the whole of Lyon had slept in also. It was very quiet in the streets.

We walked from Saint Jean in Viuex Lyon over the river and to Bellecour.

We headed to the tourist info centre as this afternoon we were heading out to the country via train to visit Le Corbusier's (yes...the same architect who's building we visited on Day 3) famous Convent at La Tourette, so we needed to know how to get there. 

It was a nice morning walk however, and the tourist centre pointed us towards Perrache Gare de Lyon station, so we walked that way. 

We bought a train ticket and had an hour or so to wait so we walked to the area close by known as the Confluences. Both Sim and I commented that Lyon seemed a bit bleak and drab in parts. Lifeless in many ways. Perhaps it's because it's winter, or perhaps it's because it's Sunday morning, but there's not much happening here.

We walked up to the pointy end of the middle island where the Saone River and Rhone River meet, and at the end is the new (still in construction) Musee de Confluences by co-op Himmelbau. It's a pretty crazy building. Very much a statement building at the joining if the rivers however. 

The public transport in this city and it's infrastructure are unreal, a combination of trains, metro, buses and trams! It's crazy! Although we still walked!  Perhaps that's why there's not many on the streets? They're all on transport!

We made our way back to the station and caught the train to the town of L'Abresele, about 35mins out of Lyon. It's crazy how quickly the city ends and the rural farmlands begin. There isn't much of suburbia or sign of sprawl here!

We get off at the station, and the town us dead quiet! Nothing is open, no ones on the streets. Only the train guard on the platform and even he goes inside. It's weird. 

We wander around looking to see if a bus will take us there, but see a sign that says Convent this way, so we start walking, it's uphill and through some nice tree lined paths.

Poor sim had sore feet from her shoes, but she's such a trooper. I'm very lucky that she comes along with me to these obscure parts of the world to visit these random buildings.

Half an hour later we arrive at the gate to the property. It's quite a pretty walk up to the site of the church, with sweeping views over the countryside and village below, and Rhone alps and valley beyond!

We arrive at the building, it's a brutal, sculptural concrete block of buildings within a woodland on the hill.

The tour of the building starts at 3 so we walk the grounds for a bit.

It's a very peaceful setting.

Inside the building, it's quite brutal and cold also, with a very unrefined and rustic quality to it. The light however, which filters in through interesting windows and punctures in the building facade, gives a feeling of warmth.

As we make our way around we discover the place for ourselves, as the guided tour is in French only, which is a bit of a shame, as we missed out on some interesting details I suspect!

The main church is beautiful. The spatial and light qualities in here are very powerful, and there is a real sense on solemnity!

After a good couple of hours of exploring the convent and it's surrounds we head back to the town of L'Abresel to go back to Lyon.

It's a cute little town, it's a shame that nothing is open however, as it would be nice to see its shops and little streets open and alive. It's crazy how many cars are on the roads though, it would seem everyone is out driving! To where or from is anyone's guess!

We get back into Lyon a bit after 7 and get ourselves some takeaway pizza for dinner before hitting the hay!

It's been another busy day of exploring!