Back to Lyon

Today we moved out of our apartment in Aix. Jenafer and Ally did the bulk of the cleaning while Marty and I entertained Eli. They must have done a good job, because the landlady returned our entire deposit. We went out to the TGV station by taxi--the same taxi that had brought us into town. (We had called because of the driver's excellent service.) The train arrived about half an hour late, turning a comfortable margin into a pointless and dispiriting wait.

Eli had fun on the train. He mostly sat in a seat. We rode first class, our visitors having purchased a first-class rail pass, so the seat was huge.

Eli ate some of Ally's pan bagnat (tuna sandwich, basically a salade niçoise on bread). We had bought sandwiches in the station to eat on board. There are sandwiches and hot food aboard, but it's pretty expensive. Ally noticed that a smoothie and a shot of Ricard pastis cost the same (€ 3.90), which made us wonder if they would go well together. We decided not to try it.

The cheapest drink on the menu was a glass of vin de cépage--wine so undistinguished that it is known only by the variety of grape from which it is made, as in, "I'll have a glass of merlot." Quelle horreur! It used to be that the lowest grade of wine was vin de pays ("wine of country"), but varietals are truly wine of no country! (Look, I do not care what kind of grape the vintner used. That is a technical detail beneath my notice. Rhapsodize all you want about your pinots. I care where the wine came from, because that is the true measure of its character.)

We also had some of the bleu d'Auvergne, which I really thought Christopher had finished. If I am lucky I will get to go the Auvergne this week, maybe Le Puy-en-Velay. We will see. The countryside zipped by as we passed from Provence into Burgundy, and soon we were braking for Lyon.



Marty, Jenafer, and Nano have decided to spend two nights in Lyon before going up to Paris. They are at a hotel near the train station, to which they walked. We are back in our apartment on the Saône, which we reached by taxi. During the ride, Ally and I were remarking on how much better the weather seemed to be in Lyon than in Aix, where it had been hot and rainy. Here it was mild and clearing. We went into the Tunnel de la Croix Rousse and emerged in a downpour! So much for better weather.

At the apartment, the landlady, Stéphanie, saved the few things we left behind--tea, sugar, and other staples we hoped to use again. She is so thoughtful. We also brought a few items from Aix, so we can eat for a day or so without doing any shopping. Eli had fallen asleep in the cab and we managed to get him to nap in his bed once it was set up.

We think we will venture back into town to dine with Ally's family and perhaps buy some groceries. We're really looking forward to the arrival of Vic and Candie, my father and his wife, tomorrow.