Lyon, Paris and London.

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Lyon and Paris

Sunday, May 16, 1999

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday, we talked about our slow but relaxing train trip to Lviv in Western Ukraine. Two days after that trip, I HAD to go on a business trip to Lyon, France &endash; one of my favorite places anywhere. Since I was scheduled for a meeting in London the following week, we arranged for The Little Woman to meet me in Paris for the weekend. Just when you thought we were being so brave and tough, traveling to rural Ukraine and such, we reveal our true colors. We do indeed prefer Paris to Lviv.

My travel started on Wednesday, April 28th. My trip scheduling had been uncertain so I had planned on just flying in and out of Paris and then using trains to get to Lyon and London. On the day before I left, this plan developed even more uncertainty since the French railroads went on strike. I hate travel uncertainty but there was little I could do. Ukraine, and our travel agent, were on holiday so there was no way to investigate options. In the end, I simply considered the worst case scenario &endash; being stuck in Paris for days and days &endash; and grabbed the plane out of Kiev.

The strike was over when I got to Paris so I caught the "TGV" train to Lyon. Paris to Lyon is about the same distance as Kiev to Lviv. The TGV took 2 hours 6 minutes whereas the Grand Tour had taken almost 12 hours. I could tell I was in a different world. I was in Europe again.

In my previous job, I had gone to Lyon on several occasions and loved every minute there. It's big enough to have attractions but not as overwhelming as I imagined Paris to be. After checking in at the hotel, I went to my favorite shopping area just to wander around. Without Marianne, I really don't buy things but this part of town has a wonderful collection of interesting shops dealing in art, antiques, food, clothing, toys and games. There is no question that our cost of living in Kiev is a fraction of what it would be in Lyon &endash; but it would be a great way for the money to disappear!

After this, I went up on the hill above Old Lyon and wandered in the old Roman ruins and around the church that stands on the edge of the hill. In this picture, it's possible to see the oldest part of the city just below me, the next oldest between the two rivers and modern Lyon beyond that. All the old parts are fascinating to wander through and it's easy to get a sense of almost 2,000 years of history between the Roman amphitheater behind me and the Credit Lyonaise tower dominating the new part of town.

Lyon is justly famous for fine dining. Wednesday night I had a wonderful dinner with friends at a restaurant in Old Lyon. My host had suggested "the Chef's Surprise" so we were treated to course after course of delicate "seafood" specialties. "Seafood" included snail pate and frog's legs so the French sea is different than ours I guess. I'm not sure I could handle such four-hour dinners as a regular practice &endash; but it might be nice to try! In fact, even the rather normal business meeting food the next day was excellent. It was a "box lunch" but done only as the French can do it &endash; five courses and wine.

On Friday, I packed up and took the train to Gare de Lyon in Paris. Another 2 hour 6 minute trip. We had tried to get convenient hotel reservations while we were still in Kiev but it seemed that any hotel we tried was full. I thought I'd try just walking up to hotels near the attractions we were planning to hit and ask for a room. Good thought but I found we had run into one of the busiest Paris weekends of the year. May is busy and there was a major industrial convention too. Nevertheless, in the Montparnasse district, the Berkley Hotel had space so I grabbed it. Decent location, good price, but the room was tiny, even by our Kievian standard. But we were not planning on hanging around the room anyway. That night, I picked up Marianne at the airport and we began our weekend in Paris.

The next morning, we started our tour with a visit to a real bakery. Ukrainian baked goods are filling and inexpensive but pretty plain. French baked goods are wonderful. We took our goodies and walked to Luxembourg Gardens where we sat, ate and talked. We could get used to this. After eating, we continued to wander in the park snapping lots of pictures. Even grungy old fountains look good on a May morning in Paris.

For the rest of the two-day stay, we just wandered around. I'd never been to Paris and it was just a small village the last time Marianne had visited. We loved everything we saw. Shops. Churches. Bridges. Monuments. Parks. People. Lots of people. The street art was fascinating and our brief encounter with The Louvre was overwhelming. Two-days is not enough. Two-years maybe. On our last evening, we took the obligatory boat ride on the Seine. From the outside, these boats look like cattle cars. Inside, the people disappear and all that remains is the magic of Paris from St. Michel church to the Eiffel Tower.

The vacation ended when I put Marianne on a plane Monday morning and I went to the empty airport train station. My train arrived, exactly on time and three-hours later I was at Waterloo Station in downtown London. Train travel is the only way to get around in this part of the world. Quick, convenient, comfortable. Of course there's always that strike thing but, in France, that can affect planes, trains, boats or even highways.

My London stay was very short. On Monday, I managed a boat tour on the Thames and have a standard picture to prove it. The rest of the stay is a blur of subway rides, bad food, and business meetings. I'm sure London has wonderful charm but I didn't find it on this brief visit. I was kind of glad to catch the chunnel train back to France Tuesday afternoon. I'd been on the road for a week and I wanted to get home.

I was not done with new experiences however. My flight didn't leave until Wednesday morning so I needed a place to stay Tuesday night. Hotel rooms around deGaulle airport are VERY expensive and generally not so convenient. Hotels in Paris are better but the train trip back out can be a pain. So I found a Cocoon. Really. This is a "non-hotel" chain that is found in many airports where a very small room can be rented for brief stays. My room at deGaulle airport was about the size of a large train compartment. No windows but there was a shower, TV and a bed. All I needed for my ten-hour stay between the train and the plane.

The next morning, I walked to my Ukraine International departure gate and discovered the plane would be late. But I had expected the lateness because it seems that all flights out of France for Eastern Europe are delayed. The current excuse is the war in Yugoslavia but rumors abound that it's really some sort of labor action by French workers. Too bad. The war will end but the French workers will be around forever. Oh well, I'd gladly take the package that makes up life in France &endash; labor disturbances and all.

Take care. Do good. Avoid evil.

Regards,

John and Marianne.

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Originally sent May 16, 1999. Reformatted fro website June 3, 2001.

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