Saturday, July 4th
Not our traditional 4th of July. We started off the day with a nice breakfast at Café Champ du Mars, and the Bakkens and Stroms went back to the room and packed for Lyon. I picked up the laundry and a new extra bag to tote along. I gave the one we brought to the front desk guy and told him that he could keep it or give it to anyone who might be able to make use of it, because it was more suited for sports equipment. It worked much better for everyone; especially Brian who has been toting it around!We took one last stroll around the Rue Cler neighborhood and made our way over to the Eiffel Tower for one last look. It truly is a spectacular structure that is very beautiful at night. Francoise suggested that we get a cab by 1:00 for our 3:00 train; she was correct since the train station was so big and in two different sections. We think the weekend front desk guy (who in general was not very helpful) called for a taxi; it took 40 minutes for it to arrive. Back to the taxi later.
While we were waiting, Jen struck up a conversation with a couple who had just flown in from NYC; they were Australian. Also, they are the parents of Ryan Roland-Smith who is one of the young pitchers for the Seattle Mariners. What a small world! They are on a 5 week holiday around the world. They started by going to Seattle to watch Ryan pitch, but he is on the disabled list and didn’t pitch. Bruce and Julie seemed like really down to earth people and enjoy traveling. They are about two weeks into their trip, plan to spend about a week in Europe, and finish their holiday with two weeks in Greece in a place they bought two years ago; they said it was cheaper to buy then rent.
Anyway back to the taxi and getting to the airport. The front desk guy must have called his brother, friend, or cousin because when the driver showed up it was a Chrysler minivan. Where was he going to take us? He seemed to a nice guy and did walk us up to the platform level of the train station. We were told to look for the 6619 train and find the correct platform. After a little investigation we navigated to the blue area where our train was suppose to leave. Thirty minutes before we left, the sign directed us to platform C. We were on our way to Lyon and we were on the correct train! The trip to Lyon which is south of Paris was beautiful with fields of grain, sunflowers, and corn. We made to Lyon on time where most of the passengers were lining up to exit the train; we were not in a hurry. We were the last to leave our car. Within 1 minute, the train was on its way. We thought it was the last stop; it wasn’t! Sophie and Alan were there to meet us and took us to their home in Sainte Foy les Lyon.
After a swim in their pool, we dressed for dinner. Sophie and Alan drove us to
downtown Lyon for dinner at Café des Federations for a typical Lyon dinner. It was a great dinner with several courses. We each had a different dinner with several courses:
• Wine soup with an egg that cooked in the wine
• Beaugolais - Morgon
• Meat platter with pork, beef, and pickles
• Green salad and lintels
• Main courses: Ken fish (Brochet) canal souffle that Alan ordered for me, Sally chicken liver cake that Sophie ordered for Sally since it was light, Alan, Brian and Jen had chicken vinegar, and Sophie had pig tablier (stomach). We all sampled each of the dishes.
• A cheese platter with at least 5 different cheeses
Not our traditional 4th of July. We started off the day with a nice breakfast at Café Champ du Mars, and the Bakkens and Stroms went back to the room and packed for Lyon. I picked up the laundry and a new extra bag to tote along. I gave the one we brought to the front desk guy and told him that he could keep it or give it to anyone who might be able to make use of it, because it was more suited for sports equipment. It worked much better for everyone; especially Brian who has been toting it around!We took one last stroll around the Rue Cler neighborhood and made our way over to the Eiffel Tower for one last look. It truly is a spectacular structure that is very beautiful at night. Francoise suggested that we get a cab by 1:00 for our 3:00 train; she was correct since the train station was so big and in two different sections. We think the weekend front desk guy (who in general was not very helpful) called for a taxi; it took 40 minutes for it to arrive. Back to the taxi later.
While we were waiting, Jen struck up a conversation with a couple who had just flown in from NYC; they were Australian. Also, they are the parents of Ryan Roland-Smith who is one of the young pitchers for the Seattle Mariners. What a small world! They are on a 5 week holiday around the world. They started by going to Seattle to watch Ryan pitch, but he is on the disabled list and didn’t pitch. Bruce and Julie seemed like really down to earth people and enjoy traveling. They are about two weeks into their trip, plan to spend about a week in Europe, and finish their holiday with two weeks in Greece in a place they bought two years ago; they said it was cheaper to buy then rent.
Anyway back to the taxi and getting to the airport. The front desk guy must have called his brother, friend, or cousin because when the driver showed up it was a Chrysler minivan. Where was he going to take us? He seemed to a nice guy and did walk us up to the platform level of the train station. We were told to look for the 6619 train and find the correct platform. After a little investigation we navigated to the blue area where our train was suppose to leave. Thirty minutes before we left, the sign directed us to platform C. We were on our way to Lyon and we were on the correct train! The trip to Lyon which is south of Paris was beautiful with fields of grain, sunflowers, and corn. We made to Lyon on time where most of the passengers were lining up to exit the train; we were not in a hurry. We were the last to leave our car. Within 1 minute, the train was on its way. We thought it was the last stop; it wasn’t! Sophie and Alan were there to meet us and took us to their home in Sainte Foy les Lyon.
After a swim in their pool, we dressed for dinner. Sophie and Alan drove us to
downtown Lyon for dinner at Café des Federations for a typical Lyon dinner. It was a great dinner with several courses. We each had a different dinner with several courses:• Wine soup with an egg that cooked in the wine
• Beaugolais - Morgon
• Meat platter with pork, beef, and pickles
• Green salad and lintels
• Main courses: Ken fish (Brochet) canal souffle that Alan ordered for me, Sally chicken liver cake that Sophie ordered for Sally since it was light, Alan, Brian and Jen had chicken vinegar, and Sophie had pig tablier (stomach). We all sampled each of the dishes.
• A cheese platter with at least 5 different cheeses
Desserts- fruit salad, pear sorbet with a pear liquor, chocolate cake, lemon tart, praline tart
• Drinks at Alan and Sophie’s by the pool
• Drinks at Alan and Sophie’s by the pool
We thought the Italians at a lot; the French are not far behind! We slept very well!
Ken
Sunday, July 5th
Our time away from home is coming to an end. Sophie and Alan have toured us around Lyon, and it is a beautiful City. Yesterday, there was a HUGE storm…thunder, lightning and heavy, heavy rain. Sop
hie had to pull over and wait because she couldn’t see to drive.
Monday, July 6th
Sophie and Alan left for work in the morning and we all had a much needed “do nothing” start to our day. We have to leave for the Lyon airport at 5:30am tomorrow, so we’re getting organized.It is hard to believe that our long planned trip is at its end. I think we have travelled together amazingly well (ask Jen and Brian how they f
eel). Travel like this can be hard, stressful work with incredible rewards. Simple tasks that take a minute at home can take 10 times a long in a different country. I thought about having a separate post called “50 ways to flush a toilet”. It is always a learning experience to travel. We have been especially interested in how health care and retirement works in other countries on trip. No country has it all perfect, that’s for sure.The best part of our trip is having all of you to come home to. We have not had an internet connection at Sophie’s, so we may be home before you read this. Thanks for following along, and a special thanks to those who commented. It has really kept us going ! Finally got on! Home tomorrow!
3 comments:
OK, you'll probably be home and have a nap before you see this, but... travel safely home!
(I'll give you a few minutes...OK, hours... to catch your breath after you get home, and then I expect email.)
Lynne
Have a safe flight home....unfortunatley you are coming home to rain ;0(
Glad your trip was amazing!
The end of a wonderful story and an exciting adventure...Will be glad to see you and hear more of your ventures....
So happy that your trip was all that you expected and more.....
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