We discuss with our relatives what they want to visit and we have a few choices and to our relative surprise they choose Vienne. It is located about one hour from our AirBnB and given the name maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised, they really like actual Vienne, the capital of Austria. But in this case Vienne was the capital of the Allobroges, a Gallic people, before being made a Roman colony and becoming a major urban center. We enter it through a decidedly non-historic area weaving our way through the outskirts towards downtown.
We then pass through the heart of Vienne next to the impressive City Hall while we search for the few attractions downtown. We do not plan to park as our relatives cannot walk a long distance, but just to pass by them.
The major attraction is the Temple of Augustus and Livia, one of the best preserved Roman temples in France due to it being transformed into a Church after the conversion of the population to Christianity. On the top of the hill overlooking the city sits a ruined castle visible from everywhere and looking quite impressive. And then we enter the famous Roman museum and explore it in depth, a visit described separately.
After exiting the museum we take a different route to reach the other major attraction, the Vienne Pyramid. Here it is rumored that Pontius Pilate, of Bible fame, is buried but quite likely it is a legend only. And then it is time to return back to our AirBnB to eat dinner and explore the area around the AirBnB.
