Back in Lyon

After one of our most pleasant long flights from Seattle to Paris, we arrived in CDG with time to relax a bit before our two hour TGV (fast train) ride to Lyon.  (It always amazes us that it is so quick and easy to go through French Customs; returning home to the US is quite another matter.)  Then a short walk from Gare Part Dieu to rue Moncey, and we were “home.”  You would think that with all of the times we’ve flown, we would get better at dealing with jet-lag – but it was not to be.  We brought up most of our boxes in the basement, unpacked what was absolutely needed, walked over to our neighborhood Monoprix store to pick up a couple of things for dinner, and pretty much went into veg-mode.

That was Tuesday. Wednesday Anna did a bit of menu planning and came up with a shopping list, and we headed off to the large Carrefour (super marché) in the shopping center for some more serious grocery shopping.  Thursday was is bright and sunny and quite temperate (David spent the day in a polo shirt with no jacket).  We actually were feeling human enough to take a walk through town and across the Rhône to one of our favorite spots to eat in Vieux Lyon, la Ficelle.  We have noticed that several of the shops/cafes around us have closed or changed hands recently, and it was a relief to find la Ficelle remains the same.  The weather is so lovely that we ate outside to enjoy the sun.   Anna ordered her usual ham and cheese omelet, and David chose one of his two favorite crepes; these, along with a carafe of Côtes du Rhône, dessert, and coffee were just what we needed.  We “discovered” La Ficelle on one of our earliest trips to Lyon, in 2008.  It has been in the same family as long as we have known of it, and we have marveled at their stamina (it closes for Christmas and May Day). Through the years, we have watched as the sons grew older and began to shoulder some of the burden of running the place.  In fact, when we asked about Mama today, we were told she only works half days now and her son agreed she had earned her lessened work schedule.

Cathedral St Jean

After our meal we walked past the Cathedral St Jean, where Henri IV (“Good King Henry”) married Marie de Medici in 1600, and then we walked on through Vieux Lyon to our C3 bus stop.  Vieux Lyon is one of the oldest parts of Lyon (there are Roman ruins nearby which, of course, pre-date it).  To give you an idea of how old Vieux Lyon is, St Paul, a church near our C3 bus stop, actually dates back to 549, but that first building was demolished by the Saracens.   And, both St Paul and the Cathedral St Jean remain in use today.  Amazing!

It definitely feels good to be back in Lyon.