Day 6 in Lyon

 [15 April]

Well it was bound to happen. Rain pretty much all day and a chilly rain at that. Also we experienced no small amount of washing machine angst, but that's the risk you run by renting someone's apartment. We've run across a wide variety of washing machines over our years of renting in Europe and Susie has pretty much figured them all out - but this one had us stumped. We could not get the damn thing to start; we went online to search for answers but to no avail.

Finally I contacted the co-host (i.e. property manager) and she walked us through the process, which was exactly what we had been doing! And still nothing. She said she would come by later this afternoon so off we went into the rain to Les Halles to pick up a couple of praline rose tarts for Susie's next blog note.

While we were out for the afternoon, I got a message telling me the machine worked fine and our co-host even sent a photo of her doing what we had been trying to do for the better part of the morning, or so it seemed. Anyway, she got the laundry going for us and that's what counts. Still, we are mystified.

Our first visit to Les Halles was a few days back when everything seemed to be winding down, particularly since it was after the lunch rush. Not this time - the place was, as they say, hoppin'! The various eateries are only open for lunch, and now we're determined to go back to enjoy a midday repast before we leave Lyon for Annecy on Saturday.

The sheer array of food offered, both raw and prepared, is simply incredible. 

paella

making paella

whole fois gras with cherries (left) and figs (right)

Limousin beef

 It was pouring rain when we left Les Halles but we didn't have to wait long in the covered shelter across the street until our bus came. A few minutes later, traffic snarls not withstanding, we got off at Cordeliers and walked to our boulangerie. A few moments later we were back out in the drizzle with a poulet baguette sandwich in hand and were soon in the warmth of our apartment.

After a light lunch Susie tackled photographing the red praline tarts which are quite the thing here in Lyon. One example from Paul Bocuse's Les Halles stand and the other from Sève's shop also in Les Halles of course. I'll let her tell you more about that later on her blog, but we definitely concluded the Bocuse was the better of the two. Both very different and probably appeal to different tastes.

One thing we often like to do in a new city is to take the hop-on-hop-off bus. We've had good luck with them in the past, and they're an excellent way to get a picture of a city. And being able to hop on and hop off can be an efficient use of one's time. 

In our case we naturally chose the first truly serious rainy day to do this but since a ticket is good for 24 hours we timed it so we can get back on tomorrow morning or early afternoon, assuming the weather cooperates. We did get to see quite a lot of what we had seen from the boat cruise but from a different perspective. And we also had the opportunity to get dramatic views of western Lyon (not photographed due to rain).

Anyway, we did get to see a couple of the other major murals that aren't too far away from our apartment so getting a closer look at them tomorrow is on our hit list. Although we started the tour up top, between the rain and cold wind we, like most everyone else on the bus, moved downstairs to the warmth and dry seats.

the hop-on in nicer weather

After the bus returned to Place Bellecour Susie and I walked back home stopping at U Express to pick up some groceries for the next couple of days. Chicken hobo packs with fresh haricot verts from Les Halles and leftover rice. Yum! With a red Menetou-Salon (Pinot Noir)!

Tomorrow we hope to get back on the hop-on/hop off bus plus more wall paintings!