Day Eleven: Monday, October 13th Trèbes -> Carcassonne -> Lyon

Well, this morning becomes eventful although not for good reasons. We set the alarm for 07:00 and grabbed some fruit, hard boiled egg and an old croissant for a quick breakfast. Our bus is scheduled for 08:09 and the bus stop is a very short walk from Le Boat. The bus is a little late, but we arrive in Carcassonne a little before 09:00. A bit of a walk from the Carcassonne bus stop to the train station but we arrive with plenty of time to spare.

Bus schedule in Homps to get use back to Carcasonne--because is splits in the middle and has a small offshoot on the left--figuring which bus you need to catch is quite confusing. Hence why Don said "take the #1 Bus only" when we were travelling from Carcasonne to Trebes. 

 

OOPS! For some reason I believed our train departed at 09:20 from Carcassonne to our final destination of Lyon. WRONG! Our train departed at 08:23 so we were late. The tickets confirmed 08:23 although for some reason I did not double-check. Lana pretty nonchalant about it. We get in the queue to speak with the train clerk and purchase new tickets to Lyon. The original tickets were about 50Euro each and these tickets will be 103Euro each as we will now need to connect through another train station. No refund available, but we were told to go online and process a request there. Our new departure is 11:28 so we have quite a wait until our train shows. The other option was to wait much longer for a direct train, but we would not arrive until after 19:00. On a good note, it is another sunny day in Canal du Midi.

One gripe about Europe is their smoking rules are pretty lax. Smoking inside is pretty much banned, but outside you can smoke anywhere. Problem is the smokers are right outside the doors and the breeze blows all their smoke inside. We have free one hour WIFI at the station. Our train arrives on time. We arrival at Montpellier Saint-Roch as scheduled for 12:54 and then connect to train for Lyon at 15:50. As we travel north through the countryside I really notice the number of wind turbines. Also lots of vineyards with the vines changing colours. Interesting on the first leg of the trip, nobody checked our train tickets. 

It's a very large train station at Montpellier on multiple levels. We are back in civilization! Lana sees a Starbucks so knows she's in a regular size city again LOL. This is a large metropolis with a diverse population. I buy a French ham and cheese sandwich and sparkling water. We each pay 1Euro to use the train washrooms on the top level. My toilet did not have a seat, but it was ceramic. We sat outside in the sun for a brief time until we got kicked off the table as it was for a specific restaurant. Lana checks Starbucks for cards to collect but they do not offer these in France as explained by an employee. Our train is on Track C and you present your QR code on upper level to be scanned and then take the escalator down to the actual track. 

The train is waiting for everyone so we have lots of time prior to departure. We are facing the correct direction (same as train travel otherwise Lana gets motion sickness!) with our dedicated seats. It will be a two hour trip north. We arrive at the gigantic Lyon train station around 15:50. Crowds of people! We find the taxi stand and 24Euro later we arrive at our Airbnb apartment. During our trip the driver actually pulled over and got out of the vehicle. Left the meter running for a while so he could get himself a bottle of water in a store! We think he does this all his customers during the day so he cranks up his income every time. Harumpffff. 

Lots of instructions on how to access our Airbnb apartment which is on the fifth floor. Very old elevator with enough room for one person and two suitcases. I walk up. Good exercise anyway.... A beautiful apartment with great views of the city below as we are on the side of a tall hill. Population of the metro area is around 2.5 million. First thing we noticed was the drop in temperature as we are much farther north now. 16 degrees when we arrived and slightly overcast. Our host is in Paris on business. The wifi password is 22 characters/#s long! Our host Charlotte provided a list of recommended restaurants. One of the reasons we are in Lyon is for the food! First item of business is to shower. It is after 16:30 now so we are keen on dinner. 

Our first restaurant will be Café Comptoir Brunet which opens at 19:00. I made a reservation online. T'his was a Bourdain favourite when he was in Lyon. The place is ninety-one years old as it was established in 1934 in the second arrondissement. About a twenty minute walk. I really feel good about being back in a large city. Lots of joggers and cyclists. Use Google Maps to navigate by foot. Plus, stopped at a small grocer for some fruit and fruity bread. 

When we arrived they did not have my online reservation on file for 19:00. Oh well, they found a table for us. Sitting next to us was an English speaker and a French speaker. And while we weren't trying to overhear their conversation it so close that it couldn't be helped and they started talking about an upcoming SAP implementation. Lana was doing her best to ignore the discussion but I could tell she was dying of curiosity to hear what they were saying. You can take the woman out of work but not the work out of the woman! The entire time we were there the place was packed. Service was friendly and helpful. My combo dinner was 32Euro and that was full value. I ordered a Beaujolais (25 cl) for 11.5Euro and Lana ordered their special apértif for 8Euro. 

Randy's Beaujolais and Lana's Apértif du Comptoir Brunet being a sparkling apértif comprised of cherries, Morello and sweet almond. It was delicious.

Randy's entree (we use the word appetizer) of Oeuf en Meurette. Check the menu above for description. The complimentary brown bread with our table was perfect for sopping up the meaty sauce. 

Lana's excellent Lyonnaise salad. This was a proper size salad portion and not made to feed 4 people like the last salad she ordered. 

Randy's Plat of Poitrine de Cochon fumée, braisée & grillée (smoked pork belly braised and grilled). Superb! Best dish I had so far in France or Spain. 

Oh yeah, dessert was memorable. Apple praline cake--basically apples, crushed pralines, sugar, cream. 

L'Addition (handwritten)

The meal was a superb start to our gourmet trip to Lyon. A good walk back to our Airbnb apartment in the dark. Streets are pretty busy. Lana having problems with her left glute. We are back to the apartment just before 21:00. We have a big soft and comfy bed. I check for any 'free' walking tours and paid food tours prior to bedtime. The food tours are outrageously expensive. We will do a walking tour tomorrow as a good introduction  Lyon. Total steps about 9,000 with 16 floors. 

Fun picture taken by Lana of a Michelin man at our restaurant. A play on Michelin starred restaurants--someone here has a good sense of humour.