Day 2 - Lyon

On Day 2 of our trip, S and I made our way to the train station in Paris for a two hour TVG ride to Lyon, the third largest city in France, to meet up with Mr.CP and his class.   When we arrived, we checked into the Hotel Des Artistes.  The rooms were small, but clean and the bathrooms were nice.  The hotel is conveniently located and we walked everywhere.

Lyon is well known for its food and we started off our time in the city with a tasty meal at Cafe Le Sud, one of Chef Paul Bocuse's restaurants.  Cafe Le Sud specializes in cuisine from the south of France. Although slightly pricey, the food was quite good - S had a delicious stew.  We were too full to try any desserts, but the ones that we saw come out of the kitchen looked great.

Afterwards, we were within walking distance of Vieux Lyon, the oldest district of Lyon.  One of the most popular things to do when you go to Lyon is to take the funicular up to Fourvière to admire the views.  Again, it was a cloudy day, so my photos don't do the view justice. 

Also at the top of the hill is the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, a very ornate church.

Facade on the side of the church.

A mural inside the church

Stained glass windows of the Basilica

After a little more wandering through Vieux Lyon, it started to drizzle, so we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before dinner.  The hotel was within walking distance from both Rue des Marronniers and Rue Merciere.  Both of these streets have many restaurants to choose from.  For dinner we stumbled upon a super cute and cozy place called Cafe La Menthe and were lucky enough to snag the last open table.  The daily menu is written on a chalkboard that the waiter brings to your table.  The service was good and the meal was reasonably priced.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and were surprised by Mr. CP who crashed with us instead of staying overnight at Le Corbusier's La Tourette.  We did visit the convent on the following morning though...and I'll have photos of the interesting structure in a future post.