Lyon - just not as expected

Our next stop is Lyon, with a change of trains in Paris, though opposite sides of Paris. The man in seat 61 (seat61.com) has every thing you need to know about getting from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon, the station in Paris for the train to Lyon, not to be confused with either of the Gares in Lyon which often pop up in searches for Gare de Lyon.The man has even done a video, so there are no surprises. We bought first class as the man suggested. For only a few euros extra, we got bigger, more comfortable seats with more legroom and easier luggage storage.

Not surprising, our transfer across Paris went quite smoothly. The train across Paris was pretty crowded but probably quite normal for lunch time in Paris on a week day. We had allowed plenty of time so still plenty of time for a stress free lunch.

We caught our TGV train from Gare de Lyon just a few hours after the main Ghostrider group caught theirs, though they went on to Avignon where we will catch up with them to start my first cycling tour in France.

We arrived in Lyon on time and found our accommodation. We have a one bedroom apartment for our stay here. We didn't expect that the bedroom to also be the living room and only ever so slightly larger than the bed.

We missed the bit about only stairway access to upper levels, something we try hard to avoid. But you get stairs sometimes getting in an out of stations so I can cope with that even with 2 suitcases. But 5 floors of fairly narrow spiral stairs is a bit more demanding. I don't know how the suitcases will make their way up.

But at least we have a washing machine (hiding in the wardrobe), a microwave and a fridge so we can get real milk for a decent coffee at last, even if it is instant coffee. But better still, we also have a Nespresso for an even better coffee.

It's going to be a very cosy time here, tripping over each other and everything else but, hey, we have coffee!Read more