Today was a travel day from Avignon to Lyon. Our host, Francois, in Avignon drove us to the train station at 7:15 AM, which got us there wildly early (scheduled 8:10 train; actual departure at 8:30). In Lyon, we dropped our luggage off at a hotel to hold until we could check into our AirBnB, and then took a 45-minute walk to meet up with Tim’s analytics friend, Simon Néouze, for lunch and to get the lay of the land of Lyon. Simon has lived here for 20 years and is a Lyon enthusiast. Tim had reached out for some tips on things to see/do, and Simon has gone above and beyond (we’re meeting him for lunch again tomorrow, and he’s going to take us on a little walking tour).
After lunch, we got checked in to the AirBnB, and then Lucy crashed (she had not slept well the previous night) and Tim and Benton both got some screen time. :-)
We eventually headed out to do some exploring: wandering through Old Lyon looking for the semi-hidden “traboules” (and finding a few), getting some ice cream at a place that Simon strongly recommended (and it was amazing), taking the funicular up to La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière and admiring the view back to the city, walking down through the gardens below the basilica, grabbing dinner, and then heading back to the apartment for the night.
An interesting/memorable experience of the day:
Benton: Simon’s extreme thoroughness in helping us plan our time in town.
Tim: The ice cream was unique and amazing (most notably, perhaps: Lucy’s mint ice cream actually tasted like natural, unadulterated…mint).
