A Very Long Transit Day!

Good morning!

 

As a constant-blogger-before-I-forget kinda gal, I admit to taking yesterday off.  It was a long day – transfer days generally get that way! – but I’m thinking some of the aspects were definitely memorable; or more likely, very forgettable!

 

Up yesterday morning about 7:30 am (my sleep bank is still in need of topping off!) to a rainy and wet day in Paris.  Down for breakfast about 8 am and fully packed up and ready to go about 10 am.  As our train was not scheduled to leave Gare de Lyon until 12:30 pm – and European train stations are notorious for not having much in the way of waiting rooms, we ordered our cab for 11 am.  And we were off!  One interesting thing to note – while it wasn’t raining as we were heading to the station, it was definitely warmer thanks to the rain than it had been the days before.  Yeah! 

 

Such amazing cheese...

Arrived at the station in about 10 minutes and headed inside.  Our train wasn’t even listed for about a quarter of an hour or so, (and thankfully, we were able to find some seating “squares” made of wood with different angles).  When it posted on the schedule board, we scooted off to Track C for our newest experience on Ouigo, which apparently is an offshoot of the French rail system, SNCF.  

 

Of course, it seemed like we had to walk to Lyon, our train car was so far down the line, but we eventually reached our seats, which were actually seats facing each other, with a table in between; very comfortable.  Not much room for luggage on these trains.  The storage area at the end of the car filled quickly and the rack above our seats would take our coats but not our backpack, so we were a bit cramped around the feet, but otherwise okay … that is until the other passengers arrived.  To say that we were in the train car from *#!*&^()is an understatement.  It was a very difficult next two hours!

At Raj Mahal

 Across from us we had a man with two small children – neither of whom had a clue as to how to behave on a train – but the three seats they had facing three empty seats gave them plenty of opportunity to run, jump, scream and cry.  Very relaxing!  Added to that was one very large dog with muzzle and a medium sized dog without – one on each side of us; different families.  Suffice it to say that it became very clear very quickly that the larger dog did not like the medium dog – and may I say how dogs growling and unhappy with each other tend to echo in a closed train car?  Third and last point: Apparently – and it would be in our car of course – there was an unidentified bag that caused some concern.  We had no idea what attracted the attention of the authorities but it did.  That required us to stop somewhere along the way for approximately 20 minutes while “they” were getting the bag out and disposing of it to their satisfaction.  Many of the passengers used this as a smoking break, but it did, of course, make us late into Lyon.

 

Let me end this portion by saying that never have two people been so happy to get off a train.  My one resolution was “never again”, which means I think we’re going to change our plans and instead of going by train back to Charles de Gaulle airport to pick up our rental car (our original plan), we will rent a car here in Lyon, drive directly to Brittany and then drop it at CDG as we leave.  Whew!  I do admit, though, that ear plugs do help quite a bit and of course I always carry at last two sets at all times!

Shrimp plate

 Arrived in Lyon and made our way into the train station.  It appears that there is construction everywhere, and we were unable to see any signage at all for “Taxi.”  We were swept along with the crowd outside, where it was at least dry.  We finally found what appeared to be a gathering of Taxis – but no drivers were anywhere in sight!  Finally, as we were planning on getting somewhere we could get an Uber, a taxi with a real driver in it pulled up and we were off to Clothilde’s apartment, 26 Quai de Bondy.  Between trams, cars and electric buses, added to the fact that it was Saturday, the streets were full of people, but somehow we arrived unscathed.  Clothilde was there to meet us, and suddenly we were back in “our” apartment!  I’ll have R take some photos today to include in tonight’s blog.

Forgot (again!) to take photos first! Sorry!

 Things looked fairly familiar (except no Christmas tree this time!) with the exception of a new washer/dryer – I have never been able to make one of those “both” combinations work; will try it in the morning, as we definitely are in need of clean clothes!

 

It took a bit to get things resettled – laundry here, clean clothes there, etc. and R set up the computer. Unfortunately, it may have been a while since anyone was in the apartment and it definitely needed heating up.  We decided to head out to see if we could find groceries and decide where to have dinner.  We had visited an excellent Indian restaurant on our last visit, but it was necessary to get things like address, as it has been a few years since we were here.   

R's main shrimp plate

We were able to find a very nice grocery store about 10 minutes walk away.  I had brought one large grocery bag, which we were able to fill very nicely.  We just bought the basics – baguette, cheese, salami, water and wine – so now regardless of what is/isn’t open today, we won’t starve!  

 

So now, out to find food!  Within just a few minutes’ walk of the apartment, in Vieux (Old) Lyon, we came upon Raj Majal, an Indian and Pakistani restaurant.  It smelled wonderfully, so in we went.  It turns out that their computers weren’t working and they could only accept cash or checks.  We obviously found a very popular place, as it filled up quickly, and the food was wonderful.  (Unfortunately, the lighting wasn’t, so R has had to doctor up the photos!). I hadn’t realized that with Pakistani food, beef is no problem, as it is with a typical Indian restaurant – and it was wonderful!  We both ordered off the set menu of 29.50€ each.  R’s starter was grilled shrimp, and mine was Tandoori chicken, and we added a beef samosa to the mix.  Everything was great.  They had several dipping sauces and chutneys, but R’s favorite seemed to be something along the lines of red peppers mixed with lemon; made for an interesting combination.  For mains, R had more shrimp and I had a beef dish – fabulous, although it might not show in the photos!  We were so full we weren’t even able to get to dessert!  

By this time, we were just hoping to stagger home along the very slippery and cobbled steps, as it had rained a bit while we were eating!  

My main beef dish!

And so, we made it home and back upstairs to our nicely warming up apartment!  I went pretty much straight to bed – after, of course, reserving a car from Lyon to Charles de Gaulle!  

Up now about 7:45 am (I am getting VERY sloth-like!) and on our second load of laundry – wash only, no drying yet!  Off to the market very soon, with umbrellas in hand as it had rained during the night!

 

So … more later!

m

xxx