Loved Lyon

On the Friday morning we woke to the task of getting out of Paris in a rental car also named Margaux. Why? because they are as ugly as each other. To cut a long story short, we got lost on the way to Gard De Nord to get the car, then narrowly missed a near death experience as the Bald man turned into some oncoming traffic, we only went round in a circle once and somehow we hit the open road to Lyon with the BBC world service on the radio. Apparently professional cricket stars are getting depressed when they retire - who would have thought. It was fascinating to hear John Kirwin talking about his experiences though and as we drove south both of us did some thinking and some actions were noted.

After a quick coffee in a truck stop we swapped and I drove us into the traffic jams of Lyon and to a rather spectacular city. As I discovered in Winchester, the Bald Man is not perfect and can not navigate which led to some abrupt words and a little longer trying to find hotel and parking than necessary. However, we checked in and made our way to THE MOST REVOLTING square whole of an apartment room in Lyon. A room with a sofa bed is not an apartment and so the Bald Man told them, so we moved up 3 floors to a room with not only a sofa bed but the first double bed we had slept in in weeks. The “balcony” was a filthy mossy mess but it was better than the hell whole downstairs. Downstairs, we discovered the next day was also the abode of a rather glum looking prostitute and as we discussed the pro’s and con’s of prostitution, it dawned on me her abode was a sofabed in a hell whole. Nothing glamourous there.

Our first meal was on the Rue Mercerie, a street of restaurants which was touristy but good for dinner. We were squeezed into a table and had two English menus dumped in front of us. Determined to eat Lyonnaise the Bald man had eggs cooked in red wine with lardons and crutons (which is French sounds much more appealing but they only gave us the English option so english it is) They were devine and he was in heaven. Not a heavy dish, but one I am going to master. I had sausage and lentils (again better in French) delicious and simple. My main dish was crucified duck which was my own fault for mixing instructions up and ordering well done, the Bald man had a chewy steak. Not brilliant, but ok. We went back to La Appartment Prozy’ell’hole via a bar and lots of red vino!

Lyon is the easiest city to get around. The Metro is quick clean and efficient. We headed in morning to the best place in the world http://halledelyon.free.fr/ Halle de Lyon. It can only be described as food heaven, aisle upon aisle of French Cuisine, delicious French Cuisine. My eyes popped out, my ears rang and I wanted to run up and down shouting loudly “I’m here, I’m here.” However, I didn’t! We had breakfast, got ideas, ate chocolate, shopped, snapped and left. You can fill the rest in yourself!

A little walk later and we were back where we had dinner the night before. In search of the open top bus stop, we stumbled across a homewares shop and yes reader you guessed it, Elle is a happy chappy with some stonking new oven gloves and a rose scented drawer liner..... the Bald man bought a clock! Our simple lunch of salad and a burger washed down with some beer held us in stead for the afternoon of avoiding the gay pride march blasting YMCA around. We escaped to the hills, a cathedral and some amazing views via a cable car (he was a happy bunny) As we got back down we discovered the complete delight of Old Lyon, where we shopped, pottered and oooh’d and ahhhh’d at buildings before our afternoon beer. It is an absolutely beautiful city.

We headed back to freshen up and return to Old Lyon for dinner. In the hour we were at La Appartment Prozy’ell’hole her downstairs was a busy girl. I have to say I’m impressed by the use of her blackberry for bookings. Dinner was at a little restaurant where the Bald man tucked into terrine and a scrummy fondue while I devoured onion soup and discovered Quenelles. Quenelles are a poached mixture of creamed fish, meat or chicken in said shape, that in my case was served with a gorgeous cheese sauce. I will be investigating and making. A yet again simple, but delicious meal.

As we said goodbye to Lyon, I promised to be back and after doing various laps of the city trying to get out, I thought we would never leave. Our next stop beckoned, with cheap cd’s and impressive views to see. We were off to Lake Como.