June 9-June 11: Lyon, France

We flew from Barcelona to Lyon, and our hotel was located directly outside the metro stop…which was great because we didn’t know where we were going. As we checked in, the man told us that our room didn’t have a shower. We said that was fine, and asked which floor the shower was on. He said that there was no shared shower. We asked where we were supposed to shower, and he suggested we use the bidet. He seemed embarrassed and commented on how the rest of the world thinks that the French are dirty and don’t bathe. Luckily, we were able to switch to another room with a shower for the next night.
Lyon is said to be the gastronomical capital of France, and some would consider of the world, and it doesn’t disappoint. We had a delicious first dinner in the old neighborhood: soup a la’ognion (onion soup), steak au poivre (steak in pepper sauce), potatoes au gratin, crème brulee, and some rich chocolate mousse type cake. Lyon has an amazing permanent market filled with all kinds of specialty and gourmet food and wine. We picked up some pate en croute (pate in pastry), slices of roast pork, ham and cheese filled endive, a wheel of camembert cheese, chocolate mousse, a baguette, and a bottle of wine for about twenty euro! We took everything to the park and had an amazing picnic in front of the deer paddock.


The picnic!


One of the cute deer

Lyon, like Tarragona, has some Roman ruins. They are up on a hill, and concerts are still held there. Nearby, there is a beautiful basilica, full of warm colors and intricate detailing. Look at the pictures; it’s difficult to describe!


The ruins






The basilica






Random pictures of the city of Lyon