We are calling this adventure Our Escape to Europe. We left Vail on Tuesday, June 10, arrived in Lyon on Wednesday, June 11, and our Kia Sportage SUV that we bought remotely arrived from Germany on Thursday, June 12. We were thrilled. (We bought it despite all of the challenges and with much perseverance and determination by Dimitri).
Another bit of good news: we are making progress in getting a 5-year permission to stay in France based on Dimitri’s Greek passport. And, in Lyon, we are bien installée in an apartment-hotel called the Warwick Reine Astrid. Very convenient and comfortable for us.
We have a 90 square meter (968 square feet) 2-bedroom and 2-bath apartment in the 6ème arrondissement, a very classy neighborhood. It is on the top floor, looking down on the garden in the back of the hotel (not on the Parc de la Tête d’Or). It is very quiet--we rarely hear any noise, except when roadwork is being done. We can see the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière in the distance, and, also in the distance, we can see the building we call The Unicorn, the Incity Tour in Part Dieu.
We both love the lavish17th and 18th century architecture of many of the buildings in Lyon. Along the two rivers of Lyon--Saône and the Rhône--there are large plane trees giving beauty and shade as well a many gorgeous buildings. Getting around Lyon by bus, metro, VeloV or by walking is simple (because Dimitri is good at navigating).
The hotel provides us with a very good breakfast buffet as well as items cooked to order. Although we have a kitchen, Audre doesn't cook in it--there are too many wonderful restaurants and traiteurs in the neighborhood that we can walk to. The garage at the hotel for our new Kia Sportage SUV is difficult to navigate, and the spaces are too small but Dimitri is getting good at parking (and then opening the door enough to get out of the car.) The air conditioning in the apartment works and can be set for any normal temperature--there is no law preventing the temperature from being set below a mandated number (like there is for commercial establishments).
There is a sufficiently good gym at the Reine Astrid, and we are very close to the Parc de la Tête d’Or. We walk in the park, go to the gym, and also use the VeloV city bikes to get exercise. We do this even in the intense heat caused by the canicule. We (even Audre) has found it easy enough to bike in the city--there are dedicated lanes and paths and it is not too scary for her.
We actually stayed at the Reine Astrid in 1999 and 2000 when we came to Lyon from Courchevel (where we spent two winters skiing then). The people working at the Reine Astrid are wonderful to us; we enjoy talking to them and getting to know them. The hotel staff gave us a gift from the fancy cheese shop La Fromagerie du Parc in our arrondisement.
The lovely gift from the Warwick Reine Astrid
In Lyon, we even socialized! Audre met a lovely American woman at Auchan, the local supermarket. She invited us to her gorgeous apartment which is right on the Parc de la Tête d’Or for aperitif. We met her husband too and had a lovely time getting to know them. We were able to reciprocate their hospitality by having them over to our apartment for aperitif.
Sally and Bob with Dimitri for aperitif chez nous
We reconnected with our French friends from 25 years ago. We had lunch with Wil at a lovely riverside restaurant on the Sôane.
Our friends Jean and Noelle invited us to their home in the countryside near Mâcon for lunch which was a real treat. We had a delicious lunch in their garden and it was wonderful. And we forgot to take a picture. We drove our new Kia there and the countryside was lovely.
The greatest surprise was that the couple we call The Kids came to Lyon so that Kent could have a hip replacement (they are young enough to be our kids; hence The Kids--but old enough for a hip replacement). We first met Heather and Kent in 2011 in Vail where we were all skiing and they were looking for guidance in order to pursue a traveling lifestyle like the one we had had for twenty years. Each winter, they would ski for two months in Vail and then go to the Bahamas to sail for the spring. Each summer, they would come to France to ply the canals in their barge boat--their péniche. We had never been able to connect with them outside of Vail before. This time we had them to our apartment at the Reine Astrid for dinner (from a traiteur)! Heather and Kent with Dimitri at our first dinner party
Because it is so special to meet up with The Kids in Lyon we are posting a second snap with all of us in it.
All of us chez nous
We will see them after Kent's surgery too. He was able to walk out of the hospital and up the stairs to his apartment near Lyon at about 4:30 in the afternoon after his morning hip replacement! His recovery was remarkable and the surgeon recommended by Dr. Kim from Vail was remarkable too.
We went on a great VeloV e-bike ride north along side the
Rhône on a trail called the ViaRhôna that goes 815 km from Lake Geneva to
France's Mediterranean beaches! (We only went 16miles/24 km of it.) We got to a huge parc
called the Grand Parc Miribel Jonage where we found a nice place to have lunch
called the Les Saveurs du Grand Parc. What fun even if it was 95 degrees.
Us VeloV-ing
Another wonderful rendez-vous while we were in Lyon was with Monique and Charles at their country home in Anduze in the south of France. We had originally met Monique and Charles in Los Angeles where we were all working and living in the 1980's. Monique's bank was a client of Audre's law firm and Monique was Audre's client. We dined together, sailed together and generally enjoyed each other's company in LA. When we moved to Washington, DC, Monique and Charles came to stay with us, bringing their two baby girls with them (as well as their nanny). Since 1992 in DC, we have stayed with Monique and Charles in the various cities in the world where Monique was posted by her bank--London and New York. When we were living in France, from 1998 to 2003, we visited them in Anduze and in London.
Their large country home in Anduze (built in 1799) can accommodate us very comfortably. Monique and Charles are great hosts and Monique is an exceptionally good cook. Her Vietnamese food is much better than any Vietnamese restaurant--anywhere, even Vietnam.
We drove from Lyon in our new Kia Sportage on a Saturday and it took us 7 hours instead of 3 1/2 because of the summer holiday traffic. That car is so smart we are playing catch up to use all of its capabilities. One of the things Dimitri liked was the speed control: it maintains the set point, breaks gently when there is a car too close and speeds up again afterwards. It changes the set point when the speed on the road changes too.
Monique and Charles were gracious about our delay and we soon lost ourselves in reminiscences and in the Vietnamese dinner Monique made for us.Dinner with Charles and Monique al fraicheur in Anduze chez eux
The next day the four of us went to Le Saint Hilaire, a Michelin-starred restaurant nearby for an excellent and lovely lunch.
Monique, Dimitri, Audre and Charles at Le St. Hilaire
It was so much fun to share this fabulous, creative food with people who have great appreciation for, and knowledge of, good food.
On Monday we drove back to Lyon without traffic for our final week before our road trip to the Dolomites in Italy where we will spend the summer.
(You might need to open a Google account to see our photos. Click on the "i" in the top ribbon and look at the description at the bottom of the list.)
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