Good news, bad news, good news

We started our last day in the fabulous city of Lyon with nothing planned. Heading out for breakfast we found that the rain had disappeared and that it was a fine Sunday morning. The locals were obviously sleeping in, and there was little activity on the streets, which made it even better.

After checking out of our excellent hotel, and leaving our bags in their storage room, we headed off towards the old town, a ten minute walk away. We'd only got as far as he nearer river bank when we came across the Sunday market. Clearly, this is where the Lyonnais go for their food shopping. Extending over a good couple of hundred metres alongside the river, the stalls were packed with the most delicious and tempting food - raw meat, cooked meat, cheeses, fish, olives, pates, fruit and vegetables - everything you could think of. We succumbed to a minor extent. Mary can sniff out good grapes from a mile away, and Brian likewise with fresh raspberries, so we were in seventh heaven. There was so much more that we could have got, but we resisted the temptation.

We then spent the next hour or so just sitting in the warm sun and watching the locals go by, after which we wandered the couple of hundred metres or so to the old city. It was lunchtime, and just like on the previous two evenings, all the restaurants were absolutely packed, both the inside tables and those out on the street. We couldn't believe how big the restaurant scene is in this city of fabulous food.

Eventually, the time arrived for us to grab our bags and catch a taxi to Gare Part Dieu, the railway station. We were heading for our next stop, Avignon, prior to joining our river cruise. The signage at the station took us a while to understand, but eventually we cracked the code and found our way through dense crowds to the right platform. We boarded our train, heading for Marseilles, and ten minutes or so later, that's when disaster struck, We headed for the buffet car to get ourselves some coffee, when Brian realised his wallet was missing. No doubt about it, it had gone, Somewhere in the crowd, his pocket had been picked.

We then spent the next few minutes cancelling our credit cards, though sadly the 70 or so euros were a write-off. Fortunately, the two of us have separate credit cards, and we still had our passports so all was not lost. It was however a major inconvenience, but we were confident that Brian's international drivers licence, which we still had, would be sufficient later for the rental car company.

We disembarked at Avignon after what should have been a very relaxing train trip, and waited for our driver as instructed at the station's meeting point. No sign of anyone, We noticed another couple there, French, who we discovered were booked on the same cruise and were waiting also. Eventually, after a good 40 minutes, the driver found us. Unbeknown to us, it seems that there are two such meeting points in the station. How confusing.

After a 15-minute drive we reached our boat, moored in the river very close to the Palais des Papes in the middle of town. The Phenicien, a converted barge, is very spacious. The dining/lounge area is massive, and with us being such a small group we felt a little lost. The boat holds 18 passengers, though there were only ten of us on board. Very luxurious. Eight were Australians and there was the French couple whom we'd met at the station. We feel a little sorry for them, as they had only basic English, so were struggling a bit to keep up with the conversations. Brian, meanwhile, was a bit disappointed that there would be less chance for him to improve his French. All that said, they proved to be a very good crowd of interesting people who had already done a lot of travelling.

As promised in the brochure, the food and wine flowed freely. The boat has an open bar, including top-shelf drinks if we wanted them. Dinner was certainly magnificent, and it was clear from the outset that we were going to be very well looked after. We learnt that each day we'd be introduced to food, wine and cheeses from the regions we were visiting at the time. It sounded brilliant, and we soon found out that it was every bit as good as we'd been promised.Read more