Sunday
First thing Sunday morning we packed up the last of our things and headed toward Lyon! First we took the 22 bus to Amsterdam Central, where we got on the Thalys high speed train to Paris. We got there early, but we’d much rather be there early than late or be stressed about it. So we ate appleflap on the platform and took pictures of the station while waiting for the train.
I bought first class tickets because they were almost the same price as second class and it would not only give us more room and free WiFi, but also breakfast! The breakfast was surprisingly good! We had ham with a chutney sauce, apple flap, bread with a selection of jams, yogurt, and drinks. We were very impressed — it was miles better than airline food, that’s for sure.
The Thalys train itself is FAST! According to an app on Keller’s phone, we topped out at 188 mph (300 kmh)! At that speed, the country side literally is a blur as we zoom past. It takes just over 3 hours to go from Amsterdam to Paris on the high speed train, which is much faster than pretty much anything other than an airplane … without dealing with security or getting there early or airport transfers. It was great!
Once in Paris, we had to transfer to a different rail station to catch our next train. In theory, one metro line should have taken us there, but the line we started on only went one stop because of the on-going mass transit and train strikes. So we then had to change to a different metro, which got us to the right station. Once we reached Gare de Lyon, we had to find our train to Lyon. Unfortunately, manhandling all the suitcases up escalators caught up with us. I didn’t manage to get all 4 suitcase wheels on the step, so one suitcase fell into the other, which knocked Caden down. The poor boy was so scared! Keller abandoned his two suitcases at the bottom and raced up to grab Caden. Fortunately, Caden wasn’t seriously injured, but he did get some scrapes on one ankle from the escalator steps. Some kind travelers brought the rest of our suitcases up the escalator to us. Once we had him patched up with bandaids (we always have them handy in the backpack), we found and boarded our train.
I was a bit concerned about this leg of our trip — since the train employees are striking, and Sunday was a strike day, many trains were not running. I’d received an email from the SNCF train company saying that our train would run as scheduled, but I still wasn’t 100% sure. Thankfully it did run, on time too, so it was another 2 hour train ride to Lyon.
Once in Lyon, we needed to catch a bus to bring us to our AirBNB apartment. It took a bit to find both the ticket machine and the bus stop, but we’d built in about 30 minutes from our arrival to the bus’s departure, so we were there on time. The bus dropped us a 5 minute walk from our apartment, and we arrived at 4pm.
We had a full day of travel — from 7:15 when we walked out the door to 4pm is nearly 9 hours. But we went a long way too, it’s almost 1000 km from Amsterdam to Lyon.
Bus -> Thalys train -> metro -> metro -> SNCF train -> bus -> feet
Joan and Mike came to visit with us this evening about 5pm. We’d unpacked and were enjoying a break from traveling. They were very generous to bring us some basics to stock the fridge, especially so we would have food for breakfast in the morning. The grocery stores in the area close by 1pm on Sundays, so we were unable to get our own groceries after arriving.
We visited in the living room of our apartment for about two hours, and then headed to dinner. Joan had made reservations at a great restaurant very close to the apartment, so we had our first French meal! Keller and I realized that we haven’t really had much French food because it tends to be very formal and expensive in the US.
We went to eat at Brasserie Le Sud (The South), closely associated with legendary Lyonnaise chef Paul Bocuse. The kids both ordered off the fixed price kids menu (steak hache for Caden and pizza for Kamy). I ordered the osso bucco with saffron rissoto which was fabulous and very rich. Keller picked a cesear salad and the beef filet which he also enjoyed. Mike also had a cesear and the beef, while Joan chose the veal saltimbocca. For dessert we shared a creme brulee and a molten chocolate cake. Caden had the strawberry tart and Kamy had waffles with melted chocolate, apple sauce, and chantilly whipped cream. To say we had a good dinner was an understatement! Joan and Mike generously treated us as well, so we had a wonderful evening.
We hurried back home in the rain and then headed to bed. It was a long, successful day!
Monday
We started off today slow — that gave everyone a chance to sleep in and recover a bit from the busy weekend. After breakfast, we walked to Bellecour Square, just north of our apartment. We stopped at the tourist office for some information, maps, and guide book, and then wandered toward the Saone River.
We crossed the river and then explored Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon). The kids loved the crooked, steep, narrow streets. We tried to check out the Saint George Catholic Church on the river, but it didn’t look open to tourists.
We found a playground at Square Valencio that the kids enjoyed for a bit before walking on. We discovered my favorite store thus far — Soierie Saint Georges, a custom silk and fabric store. They have some incredible, antique looms and machines they use to create custom fabrics. The owner’s son kindly allowed us to see their workshop, where he showed us the machines they use and explained that they often fulfill custom orders for replacement fabrics at palaces and historical museums. He said it may take them a full day to weave 5-10 cm of fabric. You can also purchase silk scarves and pashminas in their store. I am very tempted to go back and purchase one for myself. It’s definitely expensive, but they are all hand made on site and would certainly be a memorable souvenir.
Lunch was at a fascinating, small restaurant called La Lune. It appeared to be run by a husband and wife team. It was just them — he was the waiter and the chef, all in one. We ordered pate and chorizo sausage which were both fabulous! We also ordered a tapas plate (which we didn’t realize had more pate and chorizo), steak hache, and andouillette sausage — a Lyon specialty. Everything was very tasty! We’ve already learned that ordering beef medium here is a solid medium rare, so there’s no need to worry about over cooked beef! We were the only customers in the restaurant and they were very patient with our halting and error-filled French.
We tried to get dessert at a local Patisserie, but it was already closed for the day. Instead we ended up at POG Cafe, where we tried their chocolate cake, pineapple cake, and their specialty (and Lyon favorite), a praline tart. The praline is made with almonds, rather than pecans as we’d expect at home, and is coated in red sugar. It was very tasty and our favorite of the three items we tried.
Keller then took the kids back to the apartment while I went to both the grocery store and a boulangerie to stock our kitchen. After some down time, the kids and I went back out and wandered the streets in our area. I bought a “pain du chocolat,” which the kids really liked. What could be better — essentially it is a croissant with chocolate inside, still warm from the oven. Yum!
I made dinner for the kids back at home and we called it a night.
Tuesday
Today was May 1st, also known as Labor Day in France. Interestingly, it is set on this day because of a labor union protest in Chicago, though the US celebrates Labor Day at the end of summer. No public transportation runs, most businesses are closed, and the majority of restaurants are closed as well. With no museums to explore, and no public transit to use to expand our radius, we spent the day fairly close to our apartment. Our feet were our mode of transport today!
We got a late start before walking over the Rhone River and looking at the outdoor swimming pool complex. It was built as part of the Lyon bid for the Olympics back in the 1960s, but it is still in use today. From there we wandered further east and ran across the protest march winding its way through town. The march remained peaceful here in Lyon (but not in Paris), though there was a significant police presence and many shouting people. It led to some interesting discussions with the kids — talking about worker’s rights, how employment law is different in France vs the US, and why marching and peaceful protest could be effective tools for change. Not everything (in fact, not much) is black and white, so we hope exposing the kids and ourselves to other ways of thinking deepens our perspective.
We had a hard time finding someplace for lunch. Typically Keller looks at local restaurant reviews and then chooses a place from there, but after about 8 false starts, we switched tactics and walked until we found an open restaurant with decent reviews. We ultimately ended up at a burrito fast-ish food restaurant. It wasn’t great, but it was open and it was food, so we decided we weren’t that picky for a change. =P
We also ran across a section of town that had numerous Halal butchers. We bought some seasoned chicken thighs and sausage to try back at home. There are also many different sidewalk rotisserie chicken windows where you pick out your rotisserie chicken and vegetables right on the sidewalk! We didn’t get one, but we likely will before we leave town.
Since most of town was closed, we went back to the apartment for the afternoon to rest. Then the kids tried out the playground at Place Bellecour and decided it was pretty good! It’s not the biggest playground they’ve seen by any means, but it is a lot closer than some others on our radar that are a 30-50 minute hike from here. We’ll save those for a day where the buses ARE running!
I cooked the chicken thighs from the butcher for dinner and they were definitely a hit! They could have used a sauce of some kind, but the flavor was pretty good and they were very juicy. Now to find it again …
Wednesday
We’d initially planned to meet Joan and Mike today, but their plans changed last minute due to a repairman. So the four of us took the funicular up the hill to explore the Basilica Notre Dame de Fourviere. It is a spectacular Catholic church built in 1872 in honor of Mary in thanks for preserving the city during the Prussian war. The exterior is very grand but the interior is stunning! The mosaics are incredible — on the floor, walls, and ceilings.
Keller was interested in taking the “behind the scenes” tour that afternoon, so we had lunch at a nearby restaurant. We’ve already realized that many people here in Lyon do not speak any English, so we are doing our best to communicate in French. I’m not great at it — especially when spoken. I can read text much easier! We made it work, but I was showing my ignorance when we attempted to order lunch. It worked out though and we did manage to order and eat!
Fortunately Keller and Kamy were able to get tickets for the tour, so they spent 90 minutes seeing parts of the basilica that are usually off limits. This included the angels’ gallery, the bell tower, and the very top of a tower. The views there were incredible!
Meanwhile, Caden and I walked down the hill to Vieux Lyon.
We went back to the silk shop and bought the pashmina that I’d been thinking about since Monday. So now I have one!
We went to the bakery, butcher, and grocery store before meeting Keller and Kamy back at the apartment for dinner. After dinner I took the kids back to the playground at Bellecour for about an hour. They were lucky to find another kid who spoke English, so they had a friend to play with.
Thursday
Joan and Mike were available this morning to explore with us, so we met at the Miniature and Cinema Museum in Vieux Lyon. It was a fascinating museum with props and costumes from actual film sets — everything from Harry Potter’s wand to the Alien Queen from Aliens!
The second portion of the museum showed a massive collection of miniatures — both ones used in films and hand made creations from hobbyists. Yes, these next two photos are miniature sets — probably 3′ wide by 2′ high. It’s incredible!
It was extra special to tour the museum with Joan because she was able to give us additional insight from her time working in the film industry. We all thought the museum was very well presented and well worth the cost of admission.
After the museum, we went to lunch at Bouchon Les Lyonnais. We all ordered a mix of the three course menu and a la carte items. Overall the food was pretty good, but it wasn’t quite as special as Le Sud.
From there we all went back to the apartment. After some much needed quiet time, I took the kids to the Parc Blandan, a few metro stops away. A local expat family recommended it as one of their kids’ favorite playgrounds, so the kids were anxious to try it. It was definitely a hit! Three huge slides, climbing walls and ropes, and a maze of corridors kept them entertained for more than an hour.
There was even a carousel! It was a neat, two story carousel with a smaller upper deck with more animals. Both kids chose horses on the second level.
On the walk back to the apartment we stopped at a couple of different butchers and bakeries. We’re on the hunt for the perfect French bread, and this time I think we got pretty close! We’re finding that we prefer a larger loaf versus the thinner baguettes … the crust tends to be softer, it’s easier for the kids to eat, and we can spread a lot more topping on each piece. Frederic Henon Madeline is thus far the winner with a Festival loaf that was just about perfect. =)
Friday
The weather is finally warming up a bit and the sun came out today, so we were happy to spend the day outside! I can’t wait to leave these coats and rain jackets at the apartment every day. =)
We took the funicular up to the amphitheater ruins. There are two theaters and additional buildings that are gradually being discovered and restored. These have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and were built in the first century by the Romans. Lyon was essentially the capital of Gaul (France / Germany) and very important to the Roman Empire’s control of the area.
There was a very interesting museum next door with artifacts from the Roman times. Pillars, statues, pottery, and mosaics filled the museum. The bottom floor was essentially a massive storage space for hundreds of other items not even on display.
There was also a temporary exhibit about the Roman aquaducts. Since Fourviere Hill is at 300m elevation, extensive planning and work went into providing water for the city. Four different aquaducts were built, including one that ran 86 km, from another hill at 400m. The exhibit explained how over 1km there would be an overall drop of 1m in elevation, so it required a lot of precise work to make the water flow just as planned. Most of the aquaduct was through tunnels in the ground, but many places required bridges (ponts in French) and even a siphon system to span a large valley. I found it very impressive to understand the engineering that was required to provide clean water for the city.
Lunch was down the hill at Al Dente, an Italian pizza restaurant. The most interesting dish thus far was an entree (which by the way, is an appetizer as entree means “before”). It was a tomato and pesto sorbet with mozzarella, parmesan, lettuce, and balsamic. It was tasty and very different — especially the sorbet!
We tried various desserts from a small patisserie, Coerret Bernard, before splitting up.
I took the kids up to a playground that Caden had spied on Google Maps. It doesn’t even officially have a name — it’s just at the end of one of the bridges over the Rhone River. There were two large slides, a small “pirate” ship to climb on, and a cool water fixture where you can manipulate water flow. There was even an Archimedes screw, which was very cool.
When we were done at the park, we walked to the area of town with numerous Halal butchers. We were very happy with the seasoned chicken from earlier this week, so I wanted to see what else we could find. I bought two more rounds of seasoned chicken (thighs and drumsticks), with unknown spices but they looked good! We also picked up a rotisserie chicken from one of the street side windows for dinner. We wandered home, ate dinner, made a grocery run, and called it a night.
Saturday
We decided that we wanted to have a picnic lunch today! It’s stereotypical, but we brought a blanket, picked up baguette sandwiches and cold pasta salad, and spent the day at the park! We had beautiful weather, so it was a perfect day to spend outside. We went up to the Parc de la Tete d’Or (Park of the Gold Head), the largest park in Lyon. It is kind of like Central Park in NYC — large fields, woody areas, walking paths, and ponds and lakes. There’s also a zoo, but this one is free and just open to the park visitors!
After eating, we wandered around the zoo, the wooded areas, and the botanical gardens. The kids also rode the little carousel. The weather made it a beautiful day! It was not too busy until we were heading out around 3pm — apparently the Lyonnaise take their time getting up and going on the weekends. =P
We then went back to the apartment for some quiet time and a chance to settle down. We managed to connect with another English speaking family here in Lyon who invited us to meet them at the local park for some play time. Chris and Iris moved here three years ago, and they are originally from Australia. They have a 7 year old son and a 4 year old daughter. Kamy and AJ kicked it off right away and were fast friends. After playing at the park, we were invited up to their apartment for a drink and to let the kids show off their rooms. They live just down the street from us, so it was very convenient. No one wanted to leave when it was time to go!
We arranged for dinner reservations at La Petite Maison Thai. It was a small restaurant, like many in Lyon, so we made a point to be there at 7pm when it opened. The food was tasty, though I wouldn’t call it authentic Thai. The upstairs ceiling was particularly low … as displayed by Keller!
