Arriving in France, a day in Lyon

Thursday started with Broph and Clare checking out of the lovely Rocca Civalieri to start the drive to France. We picked up Steph at the station in Turin, the navigation there was easy, it was the parking that was hard. The Italians know how to park their cars in all sorts of small spaces.
Then began the long drive through the beautiful Alps, many tunnels including the Mont Blanc 11km tunnel. We stopped for lunch in a small town called Cluses, and discovered a large stage had been erected for a music festival. It must be the time for music festivals in Europe.

A beautiful lunch salad.

Then onto Lyon where we checked into a hotel in the old town, after losing ourselves in peak hour traffic and going in circles for a while. They do love one way streets.

Lyon is a beautiful French city, with a huge Basilica, Notre Dame, on top of a hill and a large cathedral, St Jean Baptiste, near the river. It has two large rivers, the Saone and the Rhone, and the 2 rivers meet in the town. Amazing. 

There are also some amazing Roman ruins, ampitheatres, which are currently being set up for a music festival. Would have loved to see some of the acts, including Diana Krall and Nick Cave.

Below is the view from our hotel room.

We have again eaten well, but it is hard to find vegetarian meals in a very meat centric country. Steph may be eating a lot of salads over the next few months.

Saturday, we again embarked on a long drive across France to Chateau La Gontrie near Bordeaux. We had a lovely picnic lunch on the way, great local bread, cheese, tomato, spinach and of course some wine. Steph took the helm for the last couple of hundred km. It was her first time on the other side of the car, on the other side of the road, with the gear stick on the right. She did a fantastic job.

We arrived in the early evening to a warm welcome from Jean Louis and Nola.