Lyon
The last weekend in July, Corry and I took day trips to nearby towns in France. Saturday, we went to Lyon, which was really quite charming. Corry described it well as a more relaxed version of Paris. Here we are on one of the many bridges -- the old part of town is on a penninsula between two rivers, the Rhone and the Saone.
Me, on another bridge.
Corry, on the other side of the same bridge.
After walking around the old part of town, we came upon an outdoor market, where we bought some delicious blackberries. We ate them by the river, where we had this view of the Cathedrale Saint Jean and the Tour Metallique.
We walked around some more and ended up here at place des Terreaux, where there were a number of cafes. Behind is is the town hall, and to the right is the Musee des Beaux-Arts.
We had lunch at a great little Italian place. I had tagliatelle al salmone, bread, and a drink for about five euros. You served yourself fast-food style ... but the food wasn't anything like fast food.
After shopping some more, we went to the top of the hill, where we saw the Cathedrale St. Jean a lot closer than before.
We also saw a great view of Lyon.
We walked over to see the old Roman ampitheaters, where they appeared to be preparing for some event.
Me and Corry among the Roman ruins.
The word 'bouchon' means 'traffic jam' everywhere in France except Lyon, where it refers to a small bistro-style restaurant that specializes in food involving bits of pig. Corry and I found this fabulous one, where I had the salade Lyonnaise (salad with an egg and bacon on it) and the andouillette Lyonnaise (sausage made from pig's intestine with a mustard sauce).
For dessert, Corry and I split the fondant au chocolat and a delicious pear dessert.
Here we are, full and satisfied and unprepared for the adventure that awaits us. Our train, the last one to Geneve that day, was scheduled to depart at 9:15, and it was about 8:45. We happily walked over to the metro before we realized that we did not have enough coins for the ticket machines. After Corry's frantic dash to find change (the owner of the cafe next door refused her, but a nearby bus driver supplied the coins), we bought our tickets, and I validated them while Corry collected her things. The security guard yelled at Corry that she needed to validate a ticket, and she yelled back that I had done two, and we continued dashing towards the metro. We got on just as the doors were closing. We had to change lines to get to the train station, and it seemed like forever before the next metro arrived. It was then 9:11. At the train station, we dashed out of the metro and ran as fast as we could (which wasn't easy in my birks) towards the trains. If it weren't for the fact that our train was delayed by 10 minutes, I don't think we would have made it. But we did, and we sat puffing and sweating on the train for 6 minutes or so, thankful that we didn't have to find a hotel in Lyon for the night. :)