Friday, April 18, 2008

 

Hotel Alexander - Lyon, France

Sometimes things just work out. We had not planned on coming to Lyon but decided at the last moment maybe it was the best way to get to the scenic railway to Interlaken. We thought we would be getting in late so we went online and made a reservation at the downtown hotel in the pedestrian district.

What actually happened is we decided that it was just not going to be possible to get to the Pont du Guard.
It was one of those things where we tried very hard but it did not happen. There was the bicycle rental shop closure on Thursday, the raining weather, the bus schedule that means a whole day or a big pile of money to go 15 miles. It is too bad but France has been converted to an automobile culture with all its attendant flaws that make it necessary to do anything. The bike deal would have been great but we happen to choose the one day in the week, and only this week, when the place was closed. We looked into the window and saw all those bicycles and read the ad about the maps and retrieval service and shook our heads. Better luck next time.


In any case we decided after spending many hours on the internet planning to go to the railway station and get a TGV to Lyon. Two hours later we were in Lyon (12:00).

We got to the hotel and found that we had made the reservation for Saturday night but it was okay. This is a great pedestrian city with all kinds of malls and streets without car traffic.
The map shows the general location on the peninsula and clicking on it will enlarge the snapshot, but for real detail it is best to google the map and take a closer look.

We had a great afternoon meal and the feel of the place points to a great place that says "you should be staying longer." It is a large French city that is not Paris, but a wonderful ethnic mix of people who call this place home. The city has its own charm and the streets are filled with people living their daily lives.

Labels: , ,


Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?