Opéra de Lyon

One of my big regrets the last time we were in Lyon was not being able to go to a performance in the opera house, but that changed this time. A happy chance meant that I was able to catch a performance of Benjamin Britten's church parable Curlew River, presented by Opéra de Lyon as part of a month-long Britten Festival, commemorating his centenary last year.

Carl and I had arranged to meet in the city to spend some time together before the opera. The weather had improved nicely after yesterday' rain, so we were able to spend a pleasant few hours wandering around Presqu'île, which is more or less the heart of Lyon. We met at Place Bellecour, which we later learned is the largest pedestrian square in Europe, and wandered aimlessly around the area. Most shops were closed because of the Easter holiday, but at least the restaurants were open. We had a bit of a bad experience in the first one we went to, where we were rudely told that service was finished, after sitting at a table waiting for ages for a menu to be brought. A French group at a neighbouring table told us we'd sinned against local etiquette by not waiting to be shown to a table, but we left in a bit of a huff and moved on to another place a bit further down the same street.

Where we ate was lovely. It's Les Enfants terribles, a place we'd recommend to anyone who enjoys good food and fine service. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal there. Afterwards we sheltered from the rain which had come on again rather heavily and had a beer or two before I went on to the opera. The opera house lived up to everything I'd heard about it (a wonderfully imaginative modernising and extension of the old building, with unashamedly modern architecture added on to the original structure — I took the blip as I was leaving after the performance through amaze of industrial-style stairs and lifts and see-through landings). The interior is arranged in a series of several steeply raked balconies, which maintains a feeling of intimacy despite its being a large space. The staging was wonderful, and the lead singer was magnificent, but I came away feeling that it's a work which doesn't sit well in the opera house. I saw it years ago in St Paul's Cathedral in London, where it worked much better, Still, it was good to be there and to experience this fine opera house.

I'd been invited back to Carl's sister's house for an evening meal, so we repeated our journey of Saturday night by metro and bus to Collonge. We had more lovely food in enjoyable company, this time just Nicole and here husband Manuel and their two children and us. A lovely end to the christening experience. Manuel took me back to my hotel, where we parted company.

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Back-blipping of our French trip begins here.