John Discovers Europe!

What can you say about an American adult of retirement age, who has never been to Europe, speaks only English, and decides it’s time to take a big dive and remedy that situation?  Further, this adventure involves traveling alone, visiting multiple countries, and using Europe’s rail system.  Adventurous? Brave? A bit foolish?  All of the above?

Well, we know that person well, and that pretty much describes him. He is Anna’s brother!  And, we must admit, we are impressed!  We were really pleased when he told us that he was taking that great leap and coming to Lyon to visit us.  Then we found out his plans were to begin his trip in Paris, then go to Lyon, then on to Nice and the lovely south of France, then back to Paris, and, finally back home to California.  That’s quite a journey for someone who has never been to Europe before!  (We have invited John to contribute to this blog posting, by the way.)

FROM JOHN:

So, I did finally make it to France and finally took up the offer to pay Anna and Dave a visit in their adopted city, Lyon.  I most certainly recommend the experience.  I thoroughly enjoyed the tours of the city and the good food and wine. 

Lyon was the second part of my two-week tour of France.  I started out in Paris, staying at a nicely updated hotel on the Right Bank and wandering about both sides of the river.  I ended my stay back in Paris, staying at another updated hotel on the Left Bank.  I was able to take in the Musee d'Orsay and Versailles and take a cruise on the Seine and into the city through the canal and locks.  But mostly I wandered, just taking things in and finding refreshments in cafes.  Throughout my trip, I averaged about 20k steps on the fitbit each day. 

So as John reports, he spent the first part of his visit in Paris wandering around, soaking up the atmosphere, and generally enjoying himself.  (He was in PARIS for heaven’s sake – of course he was enjoying himself!)

He caught the TGV at Paris’ Gare de Lyon and arrived at Gare Part Dieu a mere 2 hours later.  Now this is where things unraveled just a little bit.  David was at one end of the train’s arrival platform watching for John, and Anna was at the other end.  Somehow, we missed each other.  Thanks to some texts back and forth, we finally connected, exchanged happy greetings, and escorted John to his hotel. The Radisson Blue is a very nice hotel with spectacular views from every room, and it is conveniently close to both Gare Part Dieu and our apartment.

That's the Radisson in the middle.  You can see why
folks in Lyon call it the "crayon" (pencil in French).

After he got checked in, we escorted him to our home-away-from-home.  For those of you who haven’t visited us in Lyon, our place is in a building dating back to the 1880s. (Our apartment is the one below the mansard roof and with two windows facing the street.  This photo is missing Anna's red and white geraniums on the railing outside the living room windows on the left.)

And, our apartment retains some of that gracious, old-style.  (One of John’s first questions was to ask if we minded if he took photos.  Of course, not, help yourself!)  

David and Anna in their apartment kitchen.

Since it was Sunday, and almost all restaurants are closed on Sundays, we had dinner at our apartment.  We decided to give John a "typical" Lyon dinner (appetizer, 1st course or "entrée", main course or "plat", followed by cheeses, then dessert, with baguette and wine with each course, bien sûr).  So, while Anna put the finishing touches on dinner, David and John walked over to Les Halles Paul Bocuse to get cheese at Mons and fresh baguettes at a boulangerie and give John a quick tour of this up-scale, indoor, marketplace. 

Mons is definitely our favorite fromagerie.  The counter extends around
the corner to the left.  They seem to have every kind of French cheese
imaginable.  (And, offer samples to help customers with their choices.)

Over dinner we planned the next couple of days' explorations.  (John told us he had done some homework and had listened to Rick Steves’ advice on what to see and do in Lyon which definitely helped.)

More adventures in Lyon to come....