Les Lumières de Lyon

I have always had a deep appreciation for Christmas lights around this time of year (or simply any time of the year), being as I rather enjoy the impression that I am viewing the world through a kaleidoscope. The whimsical glow adds a certain warmth to even the coldest of nights. It is the sort of sensation you get when drinking hot chocolate from your favorite mug after sledding, or when you find yourself enveloped head to toe in winter wears watching kids pelt each other with snow.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of experiencing this feeling magnified tenfold at one of France's most luminescent festivals: Le Festival des Lumieres in Lyon. Coinciding beautifully with the commencement of the holiday season, this 5 day long festival of city-wide illuminations adds modern technlogical feats of light to the traditional candle-lit ceremonies of the 8th day of December.  In its humblest beginnings, the Festival of Lights took the form of candles lit on window sills in commemoration of Lyon's deliverance from the Plague in the 17th century.  In thanking the Virgin Mary for saving the city, the city's gratitude is represented in a myriad of forms, not the least of which being the words "Merci Marie" in radiant lights beside her basilica on the hill Fouvière, and in clear sight from anywhere in the city below. She watches over the weekends proceedings from her post atop Fouvière as the tourists file in in droves impatient with anticipation.

First the Hotel de Ville melts away before their eyes, followed a snow storm that mysteriously touches only the building's facade, only to sparkle its way into oblivion as the gargantuan clock ticks away the passing time.  In the Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) a prodigious hand from above traces the rose windows of St. Jean, sketching each pane to perfection. The work then shifts across the cathedral canvas from pencil and paper to the construction of the church by armies of animated medieval workmen.

Photos of St. Jean by Lucy Hodge

Photo by Lucy Hodge

The streets are lined with temptations of chataignes and vin chaud, the sumptuous pairing of piping-hot roasted chestnuts and mulled wine.  Middle Eastern kebab stands rest comfortably between traditional crèperie carts and sandwich vendors, their allure rivaled only by the aroma of candied pralines wafting through the air from around the nearest corner. And just when you begin to adapt to the overwhelming magic of the moment, you turn to face the Rhone River, only to be rendered breathless once more. Dozens of twinkling buoys grace the river's gentle azure waves, leaving the impression of viewing the night sky at one's feet. It is truly a spectacular demonstration of shear artistic brilliance, and the magnitude of its force is unimaginable.