France: Lyon Part Dieu
October 2007, by Tom
Thanks to a client of mine back in New Zealand, we were able to
kick back and relax in Lyon for four weeks. Perfect for recovering from
the grape picking excursion. Our little abode for the duration was a
tiny little apartment in Part Dieu - away from the touristy areas and close to the commercial area and the main train station. The perfect location really.
The apartment consisted of two main rooms - one, the bedroom / study - the other, the kitchen / tiny dining table. Fit for a couple, it would have been very difficult to make it any smaller. The kitchen consisted of two electric hobs, a microwave and a sink. Gini's creative cuisine skills were put to the test on a daily basis - and never failed to impress. We actually slid into a pretty good - and French - routine. With a bakery downstairs and a wine shop next door, we pretty much had all our requirements sorted within a 20 metre radius. We never needed to leave the comfort of home. But we did. A weekend was spent in Dijon and another in Chamonix - it was fantastic having a base to come home to and being able to travel light and pack free made a huge difference.
The third weekend we saw a few of the sites in Lyon we missed first time round - the Musée Lumière, with an amazing array of miniature displays and a few movie sets setup as they were for the movie Perfume (an impressive movie visually, but it loses the plot a little near the end...). Gini took me to the printing museum which was an amazing insight into the process of duplicating works - from the hand scribed bibles from the 1300's to the first machine, plate driven, arm removing monsters. Amazing stuff.
We managed another venture to the massive park (including zoo and botanical gardens) and many more walks along the Rhone. It is definitely a place we can see ourselves settling - if we were fluent in French and prepared to share a building with dozens of strangers. We also managed to join the French in their astounding win over the all blacks in a bar in Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon). Safe to say that we kept our origins quiet as we skulked out the side door, tails between our legs, through streets of singing french and finally safe and sound at home. The French are impressively patriotic. And i don't blame them either.
Love you Lyon, we will miss you!
T
The apartment consisted of two main rooms - one, the bedroom / study - the other, the kitchen / tiny dining table. Fit for a couple, it would have been very difficult to make it any smaller. The kitchen consisted of two electric hobs, a microwave and a sink. Gini's creative cuisine skills were put to the test on a daily basis - and never failed to impress. We actually slid into a pretty good - and French - routine. With a bakery downstairs and a wine shop next door, we pretty much had all our requirements sorted within a 20 metre radius. We never needed to leave the comfort of home. But we did. A weekend was spent in Dijon and another in Chamonix - it was fantastic having a base to come home to and being able to travel light and pack free made a huge difference.
The third weekend we saw a few of the sites in Lyon we missed first time round - the Musée Lumière, with an amazing array of miniature displays and a few movie sets setup as they were for the movie Perfume (an impressive movie visually, but it loses the plot a little near the end...). Gini took me to the printing museum which was an amazing insight into the process of duplicating works - from the hand scribed bibles from the 1300's to the first machine, plate driven, arm removing monsters. Amazing stuff.
We managed another venture to the massive park (including zoo and botanical gardens) and many more walks along the Rhone. It is definitely a place we can see ourselves settling - if we were fluent in French and prepared to share a building with dozens of strangers. We also managed to join the French in their astounding win over the all blacks in a bar in Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon). Safe to say that we kept our origins quiet as we skulked out the side door, tails between our legs, through streets of singing french and finally safe and sound at home. The French are impressively patriotic. And i don't blame them either.
Love you Lyon, we will miss you!
T
Money guillotine at work.
Gini in the "Kitchen" - where she belongs.
Our riverside lunch spot.
Tom eating on the job. Mmmm, baguette.
Pondering life at 28.
