20261015 Macon to (what we thought would have been Villefranche but) our final destination – LYON – and some “manifestations”. Ooh la la. OUR LAST FULL DAY OF RIDING.

Thursday morning we left Macon to ride an easy 46 km to Villefranche. We rode the misty distance, pulled into Villefranche around noon and asked ourselves, “yeah but what are you doing for the rest of the day and is it worth it?”. From our viewpoint, Villefranche was a sad hotel in an industrial park.

So…. after a Croque Monsieur (he fixes everything, n’est-ce pas?) and a coffee, we cancelled our hotel reservations for the evening in Villefranche, added an early-arrival day to our reservation in Lyon, and decided to push on.

PIVOT!!!

It would mean a day of riding 86 not just 46 km but, although the morning had been (boring and) misty, the afternoon was turning out to be sunny and dry, and, the scenery on either side of the Saone River was getting hillier, and increasingly more interesting and beautiful.

Besides… Lyon – and its gastronomic enticements – loomed!

Keeping in mind that this was going to be our final day (already?!?!?!) of riding, I released the final remnants of Mum, long-stowed in a ZipLock baggie in an exterior pocket of my pannier – on the side of the Saone.

I don’t know if we were actually in Chardonnay country yet (Mum’s wine choice) but it was sunny, and the scenery was beautiful. So, so long, Mum, thanks for coming along for the ride! (in your ZipLock Baggie.)

Somewhere along the way we met an older couple walking their dog: they noticed our Canadian flags and wanted to tell us that their son has lived in Quebec City for two years. When we told them that we were going to Lyon, and then getting a train from Lyon to Paris to fly home they intimated some concern. Between us we didn’t have enough French and English to know why, then. NOW, I know. Looming was the “manifestation”, the day of action for October 17th. Hopefully we are missing that: we don’t need to get on our train from Lyon to Paris until Monday morning. The protests are happening on Saturday.

We arrived at our very unremarkable but utterly dependable Radisson Blu Hotel in Lyon around 4:30. Stowed the bikes in a secure bikes room. Checked in to our room on the 37th (!) floor, did laundry, admired the view of the Saone (now much wider than in Saint-Marcel) and Rhone Rivers, and looked down on a disparity of architectural styles – very evocative of the ’70’s – the greatest abomination of which is the Auditorium Orchestre National de Lyon.

The brown tower in the photo below is our hotel, the Radisson. Apologies for the bruise on your eyes it will create.

BTW: “The Maurice Ravel Auditorium in Lyon was designed by architect Henri Pottier and town planner Charles Delfante. Pottier, a Grand Prix de Rome winner, is credited with the distinctive Brutalist concrete shell and structural design, while Delfante handled the planning aspects for the City of Lyon.”

It is gross.

Our hotel is also kind of deplorable.

We hit the street, strolling through Pattie’s ultimate destination: the Paul Bocuse Halles de Lyon. This market offers a wide variety of specialties, including oysters, cheeses, cold meats, pralines (weirdly, pink, a Lyonnaise specialty) and dumplings.

Les Halles also serves as a restaurant and tasting place, attracting both locals and tourists looking for Lyon authenticity. The last time we were here, it was 2013. We were here with Will, Will’s wife, Anna, and Anna’s brother Tom.

By golly, they know how to Lyon. (Oysters and wine at 11 a.m. Mais oui!!!)

We picked up some food-to-go from Les Halles (creamed spinach, divine French lentils salad, mashed potatoes – the ultimate comfort food – some sort of creamy beef deal), and some wine from a quasi-snooty sommelier (whatever, his suggestions were sound), and some zero alcohol beer from the Monoprix across the street from the market…

… and came back to our room to admire the sunset, eat the take-out, and go to sleep.

86 kilometres plus a whole new city = good sleep.