Lyon, Europe 2011, Day 26

We woke up well rested at the crack of 10am. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, and spent the morning planning the rest of the trip, and waiting for the arrival of Kelly and Kelsey.

Eventually, we got tired of waiting, and went to a nearby restaurant for wine and pizza. We had a delightful waitress that was also studying to be a lawyer. Kelly and Kelsey met us at the restaurant and then we hit the road in search of silk. I brought the large stash of Euro coins that I had collected over the preceeding weeks to buy metro tickets for us. Apparently, in Lyon the metro only accepts coins. Imagine our outrage when I “exceeded maximum coin input” and still couldn’t buy 4 metro tickets. We had to separate the purchase, but we got the tickets.

Boss’s bf had raved about the wonderful silk in Lyon. We took another funicular up to Vieux Lyon, which has the museum of silk makers, and, allegedly, silk shops. Of course, since it was Monday, the museum and all the shops were closed. That didn’t stop us from “hiking” (again, loosely defined) all down the mountain (hill) in search of them. I even sustained a hiking injury when I ate it in the middle of the street. We never found silk.

We did walk all the way down to old town. From there we took the funicular back up to Fourvière to go inside the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. It was beautiful. Tons of mosaics, and it wasn’t as huge as some other “important” churches, so it was a little easier to appreciate it all. Boss and Kelsey decided to go check out the Roman ruins. Wise and I headed back to get ready for dinner.

Earlier in the day, I asked the hotel to make us a reservation at Le Comptoir des Marronniers at the recommendation of my good friend Allison. I even checked back with the hotel to confirm that they made the rezo. So, we were shocked when we got to Place Bellacour and Le Comptoir des Marronniers was closed. So, we went to Le Bouchon Des Carnivores.



Le Bouchon Des Carnivores was very good, and lived up to the gastronomic reputation of Lyon. I ordered Tripe. I was certain that Tripe was a whitefish native to the Mediterranean. I was wrong.  After dinner we walked up the shopping streets (thankfully they were closed) and saw the opera house before heading in for the night.