I had a hectic but doable morning. I woke up early to do laundry at the laverie, ate a quick breakfast, turned in my e-velo, walked back to the B&B, packed, and walked to the train station for my 1010 train to Lyon. Phew! Made it with 10 minutes to spare but I had really planned it out. I didn’t want to be stressed and sweaty.
The trip to Lyon took a few hours because I had to backtrack to Paris, cross town by bus, and then take the TGV out a different “spoke” to Lyon. Still, it’s a pretty great way to travel and I recommend.
I bought a sandwich at the train station before boarding. This connection was a little tighter, plus the transportation was less frequent since it was Sunday.
I arrived in Lyon and took a quick cat nap, which was very refreshing. Then I took a self-guided audio tour of the Old Town. It was ok but admittedly, I’m completely spoiled by my Rick Steve’s Prague audio tour I took a year ago. It was free and better done.
But I learned a few things and found two traboules I wouldn’t have found otherwise. Traboules are covered passageways and stairways that connect buildings, formerly used by silk merchants to keep silk out of the rain and then used by the Lyon Resistance during WWII.
I spoke with SMS, which I did a few times yesterday. It’s been tough to talk during the workweek due to the time difference and the fact that, well, he’s working:)
Then, it was dinner time! Although Lyon is known for bouchons, the food sounded heavier than I wanted. Maybe next time I’m here.
First, I went to a wine bar that I thought would have light snacks. Wrong! But I should have known since its name is Soif (Thirst). I had a natural Pinot Noir by Villard, which is Swiss I think. It was very good. But I wanted food so off I went.
I found Micro Sillon– it was delightful! It was super cute inside and they had space for me. I sat a high top and the menu was reviewed by the waiter. It was funny because I was following pretty well, but then he said something I really didn’t follow. He then said in French something like, “Are you following at all.” And I just looked at him completely flummoxed by the contrast of understanding most of what was going on and then all of a sudden, completely not.
Anyway, he switched to English for a bit. Basically, he was describing the part of the menu with medium-sized dishes, as opposed to the true tapas sized dished and the two large plats.
I ended up ordered chanterelle mushrooms and soft boiled egg in a miso butter sauce served with a side of sourdough baguette. Amazing.
Then, I was still a little hungry. Just kidding, I wasn’t but I wanted more tasty food. So I ordered a trumpet mushroom and mussel dish. I was sad that I had eaten all my bread, but then I wasn’t sad anymore because they gave me more! Who doesn’t love a dense carb to mop up delicious sauce? For wine, I had another bio Pinot noir-style red: Corentin Houillon AOC Vin de Savoie “Arcane” 2023.
Those mushrooms with the egg look AMAZING.
It was! I thought the photo looked a little dark and gray but I’m glad the deliciousness came through.
Oh, I meant to comment that when I was in France in 2022, we took the train from Nice to Paris, and did not think to buy a sandwich first. It’s a long ride, as between Nice and Lyon you make a lot of stops. We had gotten breakfast every morning from a wonderful boulengerie in Mougins, where we were staying, but ended up eating crappy dining car food on the train. When our seat mate pulled out an amazing looking sandwich and ate it, I realized what my life could have been like, and I was sad. If we had gotten sandwiches and a bottle of wine? Amazing. I don’t have a lot of regrets about that trip, but I do regret that. I’m glad that you got a sandwich first!
I often have little trip regrets too- ways to do just a little bit better next time. I think it makes me happy to know that there will hopefully be a return trip! I learned my railway meal tricks from my parents and from when I lived in Japan and train bentos were the best!