We have spent the past few mornings walking the streets of Lyon trying to find a decent breakfast place – without much luck, I’m afraid. So this morning we thought we’d give our own hotel a try. The breakfast room was situated below street level, down a tight spiral staircase. And the breakfast was excellent, everything we’d been looking for, and we hadn’t even realised it was here. And relatively inexpensive too. Ursula joined us for breakfast.
Because we booked our river cruise and paid the deposit so early, Scenic offered us a free pre-cruise night in their preferred accommodation. Once I knew that, I had searched for another hotel nearby for our first few nights in Lyon that was also close to the train station and to the Old Town and places of interest. That’s how I’d originally found Hotel Silky. It’s relatively small, but it’s been a great place to stay and there was a slight tinge of regret when we had to check out this morning. I took this pic from our room before we left. It’s become a very familiar view.
Ursula walked with us as we rolled our suitcases several blocks through Lyon to our new hotel, the vast Intercontinental Dieu, once a major hospital serving this region, on the banks of the Rhone. There’s quite a contrast in size between our two hotels.
Our room at the Hotel Dieu was not yet ready, so we left our suitcases with the porter and wandered through the neighbouring streets looking for a bar. A police siren was blaring and a guy was pulled up right in front of us. I don’t know what his offence was, but he looked rather perplexed when the cop walked up to his car to have words with him. We moved on, still searching for that elusive bar. At this time of day, places will turn you away if you’re not ordering food. Some of the food places had long queues outside, a sure sign that the food must have been pretty good, whereas others had more than a few empty tables. I watched several cars park in places I considered almost impossible to get into, places I would never be able to get out of, and I marvelled at the skill of the drivers – or perhaps I should have marvelled at the skill of the people who designed the cars. In the photo below, the guy in the white car just pulled up and reverse parked in a matter of seconds. Such a tight space. Amazing.
We asked at several places and were told ‘Sorry, food service only’ before we eventually found a bar where we could sit and enjoy a couple of rounds of drinks. As a bonus, it was on the Saone bank with views directly opposite to the Palais de Justice, it was cosy with lots of character, it had friendly staff and good beer, and the music was all Motown. What’s not to like about that? So we sat down for about an hour enjoying what will be our last day with Ursula for some time.
After our drinks, Ursula returned to her hotel as she had work to do, and Marg and I walked back to our new place. Our room was ready. It’s very spacious, with a view of the old hospital courtyard. We like it.
On The Road With Garry 