Lyon River Cruise: Cruise Day 2

Lyon City Tour + Halles Paul Bocuse + Gourmet Dinner

I couldn’t get YouTube to work on my laptop or phone so instead did my own DIY dance workout to the international videos playing on C Star on the TV and then a general yoga practice with some of my favorite poses. I remember having this same problem during our Bordeaux trip, so it wasn’t completely a surprise. 

I had hoped to do my morning walk in the city but couldn’t figure out how to get through the other boat to the dock! So instead, I “usurped” their space and used the walking track on their sundeck to at least have something a little different, knowing that I’d be using our sundeck several times for this purpose throughout the rest of our trip. Departure for our morning excursion of a Lyon city tour was at 8:30am, and we all managed to gather for breakfast at various times before then. One of the nice things about most of our excursions was that we had guides who provided commentary in both English and French, so M and I in particular could benefit from some additional or different information for each part of the tour. Our first stop was at the church on top of the hill with its amazing panoramic view of the city.

Then we drove through some other areas of the city and stopped for a walking tour of Vieux Lyon, including views of a few of the traboules, the special passageways between buildings that are unique to Lyon. We had some additional free time at the end to wander and shop. 

Our final stop was at the food market, Les Halles PaulBocuse, where we were offered a cheese and charcuterie tasting accompanied by a small glass of wine. I wish the amazing oysters we saw at some of the seafood purveyors had been part of the tasting instead!!! 

Mr. E’s mom, aunt, and uncle had decided not to come on the morning excursion in favor of resting a bit more, so we met up with them for lunch back on the boat. In the afternoon, we had free time as the boat sailed from Lyon to Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, where we walked a short distance from the dock to Paul Bocuse’s Abbaye de Collonges restaurant for our gourmet dinner. We were seated with two other travelers, Juliet (British but lived in Argentina for 40 years and now lives in France) and Rita (from Minnesota). They were both very friendly and happy to have a table full of English-speakers to chat with. Given that the dinner started close to 8pm, I didn’t stay for dessert but instead walked back to the boat on my own to keep my reasonable bedtime. 

At this point in my life, I’ve learned how important it is for me to maintain my routines, especially my sleep schedule and workout regimen, so that I can really enjoy all of our other activities. Luckily, Mr. E has also become accustomed to this, and I’m comfortable enough with his family to not feel awkward if I don’t linger with the group after meals.