Lovely three days in Lyon which we both quite enjoyed. The Lyon 48-hour card was just great. Metro, tram, museums, Saone river cruise and our guided walking tour were all covered by this single pass. So easy - like magic. We loved the energy of Lyon, busy streets with lots of people walking and sitting in cafes and just enjoying one another. Many beautiful 19th C. buildings.
We enjoyed many sights including the Centre d’Histoire de la Resistance et la Deportation, Les Halles Paul Bocluse, Lyon’s Lugdunum (Roman ruins) and the adjacent archaeological museum, a guided tour of the Croix-Rousse, its traboules (passages), and the history of silk production in Lyon. The river cruise was a lot of fun on a sunny day! My wife was delighted with Notre Dame de Lyon, a late 19th C. church in an “eclectic” style. I was struck how it was more Mary than Jesus … and where was the humility? I was more moved by the Jeanne d’Arc mosaic on one side of the nave. A grand building, erected in not much more than 20 years with art and interior work completed in another 15 or so.
Dining was more of a mixed bag. The Michelin-recommended (Bibb, not starred) restaurant where we dined looked so promising, but was simply good. The Bouchon where we ate was also good, not spectacular. Better was a nice Lebanese restaurant at Les Halles. Best yet was a simple neighborhood creperie [in Croix-Rousse] where we lunched and, later, returned for dinner, as we had seen others enjoying some nice looking mussels at lunch. Old Lyon and the Musee des Beaux Arts rounded out our principal explorations. Sunday morning, while my wife stayed in since she was feeling unwell, I walked a piece along the Saone. An art market was being set up on the right bank and the food markets were in full swing on the left, with strong scents from the cheese & olive markets, in particular. All in all, a great 3 nights, two plus days.
Paris. First, thanks to this forum, including Judy and Pam for their comments about my planning and to avirosemail, whose “Thanksgiving in Paris” email was inspirational. This was our third trip to Paris, so we had two sights (Notre Dame & d’Orsay) and a neighborhood (Rue Mouffetard) that I wanted to see again and new possibilities for visits (Musees Jacquemart-Andre and Cluny and Jardin des Plantes) in 2-1/2 days. As ever, plan as you might and remain open to the unexpected opportunity.
My wife was a trooper despite feeling a bit tired and sniffly. She logged 22,600+ steps our first full day in Paris. On arrival day we also covered a lot of ground as we walked from Gare de Lyon to our hotel in the 5th Arr. and then through more of the 5th for orientation. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First, our 3-star hotel was quirky yet amazing. Hotel des Ecoles. It’s on a quiet street, just a few doors down from Ernest and Hadley Hemingway’s apartment in the 5th, one short block from the top of Rue Mouffetard and a short walk to Eglise St. Etienne, behind the Pantheon. The location was phenomenal - remote from Blvd. St. Germain and Pl. St. Michel. It is in two different buildings with a garden courtyard between the two. A large wall separates the hotel and garden from the street and sidewalk. There are sketches and watercolors of neighborhood scenes and people everywhere. Yes, we can hear doors down the hall closing and plumbing being used in the next room, plus more outlets or USB ports would be nice, but it was charming.
(Continued in Reply.)