Last Day in France

Writing from Lyon, which, according to Rick Steves, is France's best-kept secret. I think I agree. Not only is it the food capitol of the country which is the food capitol of the world-and we've been learning that first-hand- but it's also the real city of lights. Sometime in the past century, to celebrate Dec. 8, the whole city lit candles, and that turned into a yearly tradition which has contributed to making Lyon the authority on floodlighting technique. They actually have seminars here on floodlighting. Anyway, it serves the city to wondrous effect. The basilica of Notre Dame, which sits on a hill above the city, dazzles against the dark sky with its lit hues of blue, gold, and white, looking like the stuff of fairytales.
This is our last day in France, and as usual I'm in a hurry to say something interesting before my time on the computer runs out. I left off after Lourdes; that was the start of a rough patch in our hitherto smooth travels. Nothing too bad; we were pretty tired for a few days afterwards and Provence proved to be not as cool as I was hoping. May have had something to do with getting dropped by the bus in a huge Texan strip mall with no idea where our hotel was. It turned out to be the ugliest pink building we could spot from the parking lot. Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, where we stayed, seemed like big cities with their fair share of graffiti-ed post WWII buildings. But then again we were tired and so it was best that we didn't have a ton to run around and see.
The rough patch ended with The French Riviera. By contrast with our previous stops, perhaps, but certainly also in its own right, it was a feast for the eyes, with its rocky shoreline and pink and orange-roofed houses, flooded in golden light. Our hotel was in Nice; we dumped our stuff and wandered along the English Promenade, snapping shots like crazy. Monaco also gorgeous. We went into the Casino and played a few hands; won enough for a five hundred euro dinner on the top floor. Well, that happened in my mind. Could say more about this area, but in the interest of time, I'll close with an urgent appeal to all of you to drop what you're doing and go to it for some of the most beautiful sights you'll ever see.
Yesterday we went to Annecy from Lyon; it's a town close to the Swiss border and also the bishopric (right word?) of Francis De Sales. Took a boat tour along Luc d'Annecy, a lake sheltered by massive mountains and flanked by 11th century chateaux and montasteries converted into five star restaurants.
Tomorrow we begin our Italian adventure, starting in Milan. I'm far sorrier to leave France than I was to leave England, but stoked to see Italy. If they have any of the three-course melt-in- your-mouth meals that we've been savoring over here - and I believe they do - we can't go very wrong. Pretty sure the red wine in Lyon is worth making a special trip to France for.