Summary
Long before our day ended, my Apple Watch gave up from exhaustion after it registered almost 17,000 steps. But, they were beautiful steps – a long ways on the quai beside the Rhône river and to the Parc de la Tête d’Or. It’s gorgeous and huge with a lake, a rose garden (Nancy and I stopped and smelled each type that was blooming), huge trees of all varieties, a sad little zoo, and a botanical garden. Visited the ab fab indoor market Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse where the late chef assembled the best of the best food purveyors in the city under one roof. Home to cook our purchases and crash.
Details
It’s 46° F out, when I wake at 7:30. I’m glad I’m not outside. It’s perfectly quiet here at the center of a large town. Last night we could hear the people enjoying their dinner one floor down at the three outdoor cafés outside our windows.
I make instant coffee. At 10 pm last night, after we were asleep, Ron messaged our house guy. He was at a business dinner but said he could run by in 5 minutes with his coffee maker from his apartment to lend. It’s here. Now we have to buy the correct pods for it. WiFi s good so far.
In our bedroom/suite there’s a standalone wall behind the bed has the bath on the other side. The water closet (toilet) is in a separate ‘room’ (yay)… it has a door (yay)… the door is made of see-through glass (wha??) Thankfully it’s fairly tinted.
We eat, bathe, dress and head out. It’s a brisk but gorgeous day. We’re walking to park of the head of gold (Le Parc de la Tête d’Or) park. Along the way we intend to buy some fruits and veggies to add to the lunch we’re carrying. There’s a ‘sometimes’ outdoor marché directly across from our place. The vendor booths are impressive but scarce (maybe three vendors total). There’s lots of room, and lots of empty sidewalk space. Maybe it’s busier later in the season or on a different day of the week.
We stop into a fruit and vegetable shop, “Cherries and Pumpkins” is its name (translated into English). All of the produce is beautiful and impeccably laid out. We buy gorgeous strawberries (in a small ‘wooden’ basket) and two carrots.
We walk the fair distance to the park. It’s old but amazingly maintained. Apparently the city thinks highly of it. I guess this is Lyon’s equivalent to New York’s Central Park. The entry is enormous, tall, wide gates, painted black iron with lots of shiny gold.
We walk and see lots of people out strolling or jogging. We see a number of school groups out in (somewhat) single file. They’re talking and paying more attention to each other than to the nature around them. A lady worker is planting lots of small flowering plants in patterns on a big mound of rich soil at the base of a big statue. The figurines are a female centaur (half female/half horse). Thankfully the human half is the head and upper torso. No shirt on. She (it?) is galloping and carrying off a young man (human) and they’re kissing. She’s also carrying a flute. Talented woman/horse. Maybe actually a cougar?
We find a free patch of grass in the shade for our picnic. Near by are towering flowering trees, like 50’ tall and chock-a-block covered with white and yellow roses. They like it here (too).
Post picnic (the strawberries were the best we’d had in many decades) we continue on, seeing more of the park and visiting their free zoo. You get what you pay for. Each pen is kind of like a mystery game… we repeatedly try to figure out if there even is an animal in there (or is it just another empty pen). Usually it’s the latter. We do see a primate doing amazing yoga on a bar. We also see one zebra. In the big bird cage, with us inside, we witness a flock of big birds (ibis?) taking off. Of course, as it’s an enclosed cage the flock doesn’t go far.
Next we hike in the warm sun (70 degrees) over to the botanical garden. They’re planting it and babying the perennials, very much cut back at the end of last season. On our way out of the park we pass a profusely blooming peonies bush with lots of huge blossoms, fully open, white with a touch of black.
Our next stop is a twenty minute walk away. We’re headed to the Paul Bocuse Food Hall (Les Halles) but stop in quickly to a grocery to buy pods for our coffeemaker. Did we buy the right ones? Spoiler alert, no.
For Catholics, there’s Vatican City. For Islamists, there’s Mecca. For children, there’s DisneyWorld/Land. For people like Karen and Ron there’s Paul Bocuse’s Les Halles. It’s food booths (stores) and restaurants, all arranged in giant grid. Indoors. The group goes row by row, checking out every vendor. Meat, cheese, seafood, produce, packaged good, prepared food. Here they have it all. Premium stuff with premium prices. We see guides taking small groups on foodie tours, stopping here or there to buy and sample stuff.
Karen and Ron buy some things for dinner and we’re finally on our way back to our room(s). Watches are consulted to determine how many miles we walked today. A lot. This helps answer the question “why are our feet/leg muscles so sore??”
Back at the room we verify that the coffee pods we bought will fit the maker we have. No. Of course not. Most everyone hangs, relaxes, reads, showers or soaks in the tub. I head back out to the grocery (fortified by a beer) to buy different coffee pods, more beer, and another box of outrageously good coconut cookies.
As dinner time approaches Ron gets into chef mode. Karen helps him and Nancy sets the table. Dinner is divine, two kinds of marinated chicken on skewers, French green beans (from France), and lentils. And or course, French wine.
We clean up after dinner, complain about the noise from the three restaurants downstairs below our windows, and eventually head off to bed. We had a great day and decide we really like Lyon.
Photos
[Note: to view the photos in chronological order, start at the bottom :-/ ]
