This is the last of a series of posts on the Fête des Lumières at Lyon. As we mentioned before, there were many light shows and installations all over the city and we only managed to catch just a handful of them over the weekend.

The show on this famous hill side must be one of the most widely watched. Fourvière is the  hill immediately west of the old part of Lyon (Vieux Lyon), rising abruptly from the bank of river Saône. It is primarily known for the Catholic Basilica of Fourvière and a tower (Tour Metallique).

The photo below was taken during a short intermission.

The projected images were static and appeared to be the works of several 20th century artists – we think the works of  Klee, Kandinsky and Miro (and  others) were projected.

Miro

Paul Klee

The inauguration of the golden statue of the Virgin Mary on the north-west tower of the Basilica is the origin of the Festival of Lights.

Cave paintings ?

Picasso ?

Fourvière contains many religious buildings including convents, monasteries and chapels. The basilica has always been a natural focal point for the city.

During the festival, the buildings along the river front, the apse of the Saint Jean cathedral and the Palais de Justice as well as  the basilica served as a canvas for the projection of images.

Mondrian ?

There were crowds three or four deep standing along the river bank – Quai des Celestins.

It would have been nice to see this from a boat – getting closer but not immediately below the projections.

What surprised us was the lack of boats. Presumably, the city banned them for the evenings. The lights from the boats could mar the projected images for those watching from afar.

Here is a bird’s eye view of Lyon from Fourvière with the old town and river Saône in the foreground (the picture below was borrowed from Wikipedia). The pictures of the projections were taken while standing on the far bank of river Saône near the trees on the left.