Sonning - the Bear on a Boat.: Small Bears "En Vacances" Part 3

After our day and night cruising on the river Saone, we woke up - in a very cosy bear bed we made in one of the seats - back at the mooring in Lyon where we had joined the ship.

"Is that the end of our cruise?" I asked Grizzly, feeling disappointed because I thought our whole holiday was based on the boat.

"No, little bears," he said. "We're going to be travelling along the Rhone now, all the way down to the cities of Arles and Avignon, then cruising back to Lyon."

We all agreed that it was Endon Bear's day to go ashore so, after breakfast, while Hanley and I did some bed bouncing, watched the small boats and ducks on the river and helped Mr Mitko our steward tidy the cabin, Endon went off on an adventure.

There were several other cruise boats moored near ours, including these ones with lips on the bow and, across the river, we could see some barges that looked like they were being used as houseboats. Endon and our humans made their way along the quayside to coaches, which drove them through the city and up onto a high ridge overlooking it, which is the Fourvieres district.

On the way to the very top, where there is a huge basilica, he passed ruins from when the city was the Roman settlement of Lugdunum. There was a view point overlooking the whole city and the guide told them that on a clear day, you could see all the way to the Alps from there.

Endon went into the basilica with the humans, to see the mosaics on the walls and hear more about the history of the city. The basilica wasn't very old for a human building but there was a church next to it from the 12th century dedicated to St Thomas a Becket of Canterbury.

On the way out of the basilica, Endon noticed there was a big lion's head on the door and a huge statue of another lion overlooking the square.

"That's the symbol of our city!" explained Isabelle, the guide. "You will see lots of them as we explore more of it."

Endon, being a gardening bear, was curious about a row of olive trees outside the basilica covered in little coloured ribbons, so Polar took him to look at them. The ribbons had people's names on but he couldn't find out why as it was time to go,

The coach toured the rest of the city centre before stopping in the medieval district. Endon learned that the city had become rich and busy due to setting up a successful silk-manufacturing industry in the middle ages, and that nice quality silk things were still made there.

One of the most curious things he discovered were that there were lots of secret alleys between the streets of the old town called traboules. These had a door at each end that looked just like the door of a house or workshop, but led through to little hidden courtyards. Isabelle explained that they were used by the Resistance to escape from the Nazis during the Second World War.

Endon and his human companions used them to get to a patisserie where Isabelle collected a tray of tasty treats for them - brioche with pink pralines.

It was a perfect snack for a busy small bear, although he thought the macaroons looked very tasty too!

Polar and Grizzly had a little bit of exploring time on their own, with Endon in the Bear Bag of course. He decided to look out for more of the city's lions and noticed them everywhere, There were statues, there were water fountains, there were carvings on buildings and there were even lion gargoyles on the cathedral.

Being a gardening bear, Endon was also pleased to see lots of plants and flowers being grown on balconies and even a big flower sculpture which they passed on the way back to the boat.

When the coaches were all back at the boat, it was time for lunch and to start cruising again. Soon we had reached the first lock on the Rhone and it was huge - and there was a big hydro-electric power station beside it!

"What a great way to make electricity," said Hanley Bear.

Endon agreed, although he said you had to be careful not to flood special habitats with rare plants and animals when you built dams, or villages full of humans and their cubs.