[The earliest Gallic occupants] of the territory at the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône were the Segusians. In 590 B.C. some Greek refugees from the banks of the Hérault, having obtained permission of the natives to establish themselves on the Croix Rousse, called their new town by the Gallic name Lugdunum; and in 43 B.C. Munatius Plancus brought a Roman colony to Fourvières from Vienne. This settlement soon acquired importance, and was made by Agrippa the starting-point of four great roads. Augustus, besides building aqueducts, temples, and a theatre, gave it a senate and made it the seat of an annual assembly of deputies from the sixty cities of Gallia Comata. Under the emperors the colony of Forum Vetus and the municipium of Lugdunum were united, receiving the jus senatus. The town, burnt by Nero in 59 A.D., was rebuilt by him in a much finer style, and adorned by Trajan, Adrian, and Antoninus.
Mont-d’Or.
Among the most interesting, and at the same time easiest excursions from Lyons is to Mont Ceindre, 4 m. from Lyons. Take the omnibus starting from the Rue de la Platière to the village of St. Cyr-au-Mont-d’Or, 3¼ m., time 1½ hr., by a road always ascending. Fare, ½ fr. The omnibus office at St. Cyr, the inn, and the café, are on a wide terrace commanding an extensive view. The village, pop. 2000, is poor and dirty, and built on the side of the hill. To ascend Mont Ceindre walk from the omnibus office up to the new church, whence ascend by the telegraph posts, and then turn to the right. The ascent
and descent can be done easily in 80 minutes, in time to go back to Lyons by the returning coach. On the top of Mont Ceindre are some houses, an old hermitage, and a chapel surmounted with a statue of Mary. The view is grand, embracing the valleys of the Rhône and the Saône, the towns of Bugey and Beaujolais, the mountains of the Forez, the Dauphiné, and the Alps. Mont Ceindre, 1532 ft. above the sea; Mont Verdun, 2020 ft.; and Mont Houx, 2008 ft., form together [Mont-d’Or], a group of mountains covered with vineyards and meadows. [ Cheese.] The wine is thin, but the cheese is one of the best and most celebrated in France. They are soft, round, and flat, about 5 inches in diameter and half an inch thick, like round pancakes. They are made from a mixture of cow and goat’s milk, and are said to derive their peculiar flavour from the vine leaves on which the goats feed during a considerable portion of the year. The cheeses of Mont Dore (likewise famous) are thicker and smaller in diameter, and sold in small boxes. The coach, on its way from Lyons to St. Cyr, passes by Roche-Cardon, a favourite retreat of J. J. Rousseau. Another easy excursion is to the Ile Barbe. Take any of the mouches (penny boats) going up the Saône to Vaise station. Here change into the penny boat going to St. Rambert, a rather dirty little town on the right bank, 1½ m. above Vaise. Opposite, and connected by a bridge, is the town of Cuire. In the centre of the river is the Ile Barbe, across which the bridge passes. On the island there are a few uninviting country-houses, and the tower of a chapel (private property) of the 12th cent. The sail is the best part of the excursion, not the island.
For [Lyons to Nîmes], by rail 172 m. south by the west bank of the Rhône, see p. 81; [Paris to Lyons] by Roanne and St. Etienne, p. 346; [Paris to Lyons] by Tarare, p. 348; [Lyons to Clermont-Ferrand] by St. Etienne, Montbrison, and Thiers, see p. 349, and [map p. 27].
Vienne.
PARIS
MARSEILLES 338 199 [VIENNE], pop. 27,000. Hotels: Nord; Poste; Jacquet. In this, the capital of the first kingdom of Burgundy, there exist remains of important edifices, which indicate that the citizens inhabiting it in the days of Cicero were no strangers to the luxury and wealth preceding the Augustan age. The most interesting of these is the Maison Carrée, an oblong temple of the Corinthian order, dedicated to Augustus and his wife Livia, 55 ft. high, 88 long, and 80 broad, situated a little way north from the cathedral by the Rue St. Clementine. On a terrace fronting the chain bridge is St. Maurice, a beautiful Gothic cathedral commenced in the 12th cent., 315 ft. long, and the
roof of the nave 88 ft. high. It contains some fine glass, and near the altar the skilfully-sculptured mausoleum of Cardinal Montmorin, who died in 1723. At the main entrance are two ancient sarcophagi. At the other end of the chain bridge is the Tour St. Colombe, built by Philippe Valois. Up the Rhône, on the east side, at the top of the Quai Pajot, near a stair leading down to the river, stood the Tour de Mauconseil, where Pontius Pilate, who had been banished to Vienne by Tiberius, ended his life (it is said) by throwing himself into the Rhône. About ¼ m. down the Rhône from the railway station, by the Marseilles road, is the Pyramide de l’Aiguille, called also the tomb of Pilate. It is 52 feet high, and rises from four arches resting on a square basement. Columns with cushioned capitals ornament the four corners, which cannot date earlier than the 4th cent. Vienne is a busy commercial town, with important woollen manufactories. 3¼ m. S. by rail is Vaugris, pop. 250. On the other side of the Rhône is [Ampuis] (p. 81). 6 m. farther S. by rail is Le Péage-de-Roussillon. Roussillon, pop. 1500, is a straggling village among vineyards, less than a mile E. from the station. From the Château de Roussillon Charles IX. issued, in 1564, the decree that in future the year was to commence with the first of January.
> St. Rambert-d’Albon. Tain.
PARIS
MARSEILLES 356½ 180½ [ST. RAMBERT-D’ALBON], junction with line to Grenoble 57½ m. E., by Rives 35 m., and Voiron 42 m. E. Junction by bridge with Peyraud, 3¾ m. W., on the opposite side of the Rhône, whence rail to [Annonay] (see page 81, and map [pages 26] and [46]).