It’s the last day of our trip. Waaaaaaaaaaaah! We’ve arrived at gigantic Charles de Gaulle airport via train from Lyon. Our hotel for the night is inside the airport complex, which makes everything convenient. We had quite a time figuring out which shuttle to take from the train station, through the airport, and to the hotel, but we made it without too much difficulty. Everything considered, it was a pretty easy travel day.
We’re staying one night in a hotel designed for business travelers. They have office equipment, computers, printers, a restaurant — everything one might need so there’s no need to leave the hotel. It’s handy for us, because we can pre-print our boarding passes for the next morning so we’ll be all ready to go. One less thing to think about tomorrow.
We Started out in Paris
It’s been a good trip. We started out in Paris, where we rented an apartment for the first time instead of staying in a hotel. The apartment worked out great. We got pretty used to “our” apartment and our new neighborhood, Montorgueil. It only took a few days before we were saying things like, “look at those poor lost tourists, looking at their map, trying to figure out how to get back to their hotel. Ha ha ha.”
While we were in Paris, we went to Montmartre to have lunch and to watch the painters in the square, doing their thing. We did a lot of walking and explored some parts of town that we hadn’t been to before. We took a boat ride on the Seine. That was fun. But the best part was probably just hanging out at the neighborhood cafes, sitting outside people-watching and taking it all in.
We had made a list of restaurants in the vicinity where we wanted to eat, and we knocked a few off the list. None of them were disappointing, but one of them, named “Frenchie,” was really incredible. It’s hard to describe how good the food and the whole experience there was. It didn’t cost an arm and a leg, either. (Just a leg. Honh honh!)
Next Stop : Dijon
After four days in Paris, we took the train to Dijon, in eastern France, in the heart of Burgundy. We rented an apartment again, and it turned out to be way better than we thought it was going to be. (The pictures had not done it justice). It was owned and operated by a nice couple who made us feel right at home.
Dijon was nice because it’s more like a small town than a big city, and has a relaxed feeling to it. We found a perfect spot to people-watch there, too, sitting in one of the outdoor cafés across from the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. Wow – what a great spot!
Dijon has a large pedestrian-only street in the center of town. Buildings on either side of the street have flags spaced out along the rooflines, waving in the breeze. It has a very regal-looking effect. We walked all over Dijon, which was just small enough for us to be able to do.
One day we took a guided wine tour through Burgundy. It was supposed to be for a group, but we were the only ones who could find the driver, so we had him all to ourselves. He was a character, and we had fun and learned a lot, too.
One day we took the local train to the nearby wine town of Beaune. It’s more alike a village, really. We visited the famous Hospice de Beaune, had a great lunch and toured wine caves that seemed to go on for miles.
And Finally, Lyon
Then we went to Lyon, which turned out to be the City of Food. Wow. I think I gained a few pounds there. Then we went to beautiful little Annecy, nestled at the base of the French Alps, where I’m pretty sure I gained a few more.
If I ever have the unfortunate fate to land in some prison on death row, (wrongly convicted of some terrible crime, obviously), and they ask me what I want to have for my last meal, I’m gonna tell ‘em, “lunch in Annecy!” No point in aiming low, I always say. Honh honh!
To be continued…
