Around the World with Marsha & Joel

All packed, breakfeasted, and ready to bus back to the Gare de Lyon station to head for our riverboat. Traffic was almost as insane as yesterday that did make us worry for a bit as the clock kept ticking.

We made it with time to spare while our bags were put on a truck to meet us at the boat.

We had first class tickets in the first three cars of a sleek TGV high speed train. Very luxurious…all airplane seats should be like that. We took off right on time for the quick 180 mph, 2 hour trip.

The landscape went flying by the windows of the smooth and quiet cars that belied the speed. Until. About 20 minutes out we felt and heard a rapid deceleration. At first we thought there was a station coming up or an area of slow track. Nope. The train drifted to a stop in the middle of lovely rolling fields with cows wandering the distance. Dead silence. No air movement. No air conditioning. No announcement.

Then we heard footsteps and metallic clangs on the roof of our car. And, finally a PA announcement, all in French, that we could loosely translate as some kind of electrical problem. Duh.

A half hour later we felt the air start to move as well as the train. Same problem 15 minutes later, but shorter delay. Then on to Lyon. But, there are two stations in Lyon, and we were too late to be able to reach our final stop. Lots of discussion as to whether we should get off? But the Viking red shirts appeared. We were whisked off to a waiting bus for a short ride to our boat, the Viking Delling.

A welcoming view from the bus toward the old city of Lyon just below the hill. We’ll explore it soon. No. That’s not the Eiffel Tower. It was created around some utilities some say to help prove Lyon is the second largest city in France with 2 million inhabitants (third if you don’t count the surroundings). Don’t say that to the people of Lyon.

Our boat was parked just outside the local University on the east bank of the Rhône. Several bridges in the area cross over to The Peninsula of Lyon, where all the modern action is. The peninsula is bordered by the Rhône on the east and the Soane on the West. Their confluence is at the very southern tip where they are now called only the Rhône as it wanders south. The city and bridges were damaged badly in the bombings of WWII. It laid pretty much in ruins until after Nazi rule ended in 1944, but now is in full swing, still going through a successful redevelopment.

It is now the most important educational center outside Paris with, I think, twenty museums. It’s brimming with young people.

We did an afternoon orientation walk in the heart of the peninsula. Above is an art piece and fountain by a Korean artist that was supposed to be temporary, but it’s been there for 17 Years. It’s at one end of the center square, a huge place where everyone meets for concerts, bocce tournaments, football, you name it. We checked out the shops, and of course, the restaurants as Lyon is probably the capital of cuisine in the world. We’ll talk a lot more about that tomorrow and the next day.

We headed back past some local Rhône residents to get familiar with our luxurious boat, and to prep for what turned out to be an incredible dinner. This trip is not for anyone who wants to maintain their weight. Tomorrow we’ll be on an extensive tour of the old city of Lyon. Loosen your belt, and get some rest.

Today was one of the primary reasons we wanted to add our Parisian visit. We had purchased tickets online to visit Monet’s Garden having never been during previous visits to Paris. We had usually been in late fall and winter, so this was the perfect time. Flowers in June. Now or never.

The two previous days were sunny and hot (80s). We woke up this morning to low 60s and rain (the weather forecast was dry and low 70s). Now or never.

We dug out the umbrellas and raincoats and made the tough decision on how to get to Giverny. It’s not close and you can get tickets only for either the morning or the afternoon. We’d been told to leave a half day for the trip and visit. Wrong. You almost need a full day. But, so what. We grabbed a taxi at 9 am to fight rush hour traffic to Gare Lyon and still had to rush to get tickets for the 10:20 train to Vernon…for our 1:30 entrance to the house and gardens. Now a choice between a bus or a scenic, semi-open tram to get to the garden. The tram was right there so we hopped on and bore the slow, winding route.

Before entering the house and gardens we stopped at the local church burial ground where we found the final resting place of Monet’s…along with other members of his family.

We also found a little escargot on the hoof making a visit.

The rain let up just as we entered the garden, but still cool with beautifully filtered light. Let these very few views of the gardens tell their own story. All the visitors were in awe.

And, almost on queue the sun started coming out giving a whole new glow to the garden as we moved on to the water lilly ponds.

We were in an absolutely dynamic painting. What a beautiful way to end our visit.

The house was spectacular as well with replicas of all the famous paintings Monet had collected during his life. What a contrast to van Gogh who we’ll visit in a few days in Arles.

Now we reversed our tracks back to Paris where we searched and found one of the best Lebanese/Middle eastern restaurants we’ve ever been in.

We ate outside on what had become another beautiful evening, bought more of their homemade baklava and other pastries for later, and walked it off back to the hotel, where we had to pack for tomorrow’s bus and train ride to Lyon.

But before we went to bed we went to the Sky bar on the 35th floor for a panoramic view of the City of Lights (and a half a finger of Laphraoig 10 for 25 Euros – paid for the photos. Even more worth it, at the stroke of 10 The Eiffel Tower suddenly lit up and began to sparkle to wish us a bon voyage on our trip south.

Eiffel Tower Goodbye (click here)

Another crazy, walking day. It’s 88 degrees with a blistering sun. The highlight site; Sainte-Chapelle. It never fails to fill you with awe as you emerge from the spiral staircase and see the room full of the above, especially with the sun pouring through the expanse of stained glass…but, more on that later.

We started the day after the usual, massive breakfast with an included Viking tour of the City via an (air-conditioned) bus. We covered basically what we had walked the day before with some additional insights, but had the chance to get off the bus and wander the area just across from Notre Dame.

The smell of the smoke still hangs in the air, but the scaffolding growing around the space of the spire gives a great deal of new hope. The miracle is the rest of the building remaining basically intact awaiting its renewal. We slowly walked around getting lots of different perspectives.

We took a short break for some coffee and chocolate croissants, and boarded the bus asking to be dropped off at Luxembourg Gardens. Bonnie and Steve have a dear friend who was to meet us there for a visit. She is the daughter of the man and woman who set up a memorial to Steve’s father who, among others, crashed landed near their village. They saved and protected these American heroes. It’s a long, glorious story that you should hear some time. In the meantime, Katerine is a lovely, charming woman, who graciously spent the afternoon with us, walking us to some wonderful neighborhoods and sites that are off the general tourist ways.

Lunch was at Angelina’s, a beautiful restaurant chain that is in many historical and art-oriented sites. Comfortable and pleasant just at an entrance to Luxembourg museum and park. Katerine joined us a little late for dessert.

Steve with Katerine outside an obscure Metro stop on our off the path tour. Wd did a birthday video here for Maxwell (grandson #4) who turned 6 today.

After a long “urban” walk, it was a nice respite to climb up to expansive Jardin des Plantes. On the way was this incredible “insect hotel”, the kind of thing you see more and more at home (right Alex and Stephen? – who have a great one in their garden in Princeton).

The gardens are incredible and wild. Also an impressive greenhouse complex for cultivation and study. And, a huge museum of Natural History.

From there we said goodby to Katerine and hoofed it again, guided only by our hotel map and phones back to the middle of the city. Approaching 25,000 steps again, we decided to find the Metro at Gare de Lyon. It looked pretty easy on the map. About an hour later, dripping and stiff-legged, we staggered through the station’s labyrinth and finally found the right line (#1) that would take us back close to the hotel. The train was air-conditioned. Time is very deceptive this time of year as the light lingers almost to 11:00 (2300). Dinner at almost 9 pm by this time. No going to bed early, again. But, we’re all excited for a great day, tomorrow as we will wind our way to Giverny and Monet’s Garden.

As promised, we’ll leave you for the day with another view of St. Chapelle: