Just say NO to B.O.!

Good morning. We are currently docked in Lyon, France. Lyon is France’s 2nd largest city, an amazing city at that. We’ll talk about Lyon a lot in this post.

Yesterday (Saturday) we woke up in Vivienne, France. It was a short stay, just enough time to do a walking tour early this morning. We went through the town where it is Market Day. Let me just tell you, that place is nuts! People from all over go to Market Day for their groceries. Everything is fresh produce, meats, fruits, etc. Seriously it looked like some kind of a festival. We also visited another cathedral and took a train to the top of the city. After that they dropped us back off in the center of town where we were given the option of exploring the town on our own for an hour or so. Of course we took the opportunity to do so. We ended back up at Market Day just walking around. We stopped at a stand where they were selling fresh fruits and I wanted an apple. I’m letting Kim talk to the people because I just felt I wasn’t in my comfort zone just yet. She looked at the guy and pointed 1 finger up and said 1 apple. The guy had no idea what we are saying and proceeds to dump the entire basket of apples in a bag. We were like no, no, just 1, and he just stared at us like what the heck are these 2 females doing! Finally Kim, just picked up 1apple and said, just this. Yes I don’t think he liked us too much. He told us how much it was but of course we have no idea what he saying, so Kim handed him 5 euro. He just stared at it again, and got the change while rolling his eyes. Evidently, that 1 apple only cost .10 euro because he gave give 4.90 euro back. We are sure he is glad we left. This language barrier is so hard and that’s what we get for not studying French! After that, it was about time to get back to the boat as it was time to sail off to Lyon and for our noon time feeding. The cruise from Vivenne to Lyon was spectacular, just like hanging out on a house boat in Cumberland only much more beautiful, the weather was perfect! While we were talking to Anthony (the gay or not gay guy) and admiring the views as we arrived in the city, we noticed a CASTLE on a hillside. Anthony says bet you didn’t know that CASTLE is my real home! Ha HA! We all had a god laugh and hoped we would get to visit later in the afternoon.

We arrived in Lyon, where we were to do the shopping excursion today. At the last minute, Kim decided to change her mind and go on the sightseeing tour instead. I was a little peeved at first, but I’m glad we did it. We took a bus and the tour guide proceeds to tell about a very famous Baliska and sure enough its “Anthony’s Castle”! For those of you who don’t know, (like us), a Baliska is very similar to a Cathedral. The main differences are, the bishop does not have a seat at a Baliska. It is privately funded by the Vatican instead of funded by the city or parishoners. Therefore you cannot have a wedding, baptism or any other religious ceremony there….we don’t really get it. However, it was beautiful very ornate and we took lots of pictures. From there, we walked outside to view the statue of the Virgin Mary and then on to a panoramic view of the entire city…it was breathtaking! The guide gave us 15 or 20 minutes to wonder around by ourselves and Kim attempted to purchase postcards. Notice I say the word “attempted”. Kim is second in line and the couple in front of her proceed to argue over .20 euro for the cost of a snow globe. Kim has decided that people are idiots (not just us) in all parts of the world. Pay the freaking .20 cents already! So…no postcards were purchased because after 20 minutes the couple was still arguing over the .20 cents. From the Baslika, we rode to the oldest part of Lyon. The architecture was gorgeous! Because it was the most beautiful day they had this year, the streets were packed with people! Traffic is a mess and pedestrians seem to think they own the road! We also learned that if you lose all your points on your license due to speeding or just bad driving that you are given a small red electric car to drive within the city limits only. This is supposedly an embarrassment to drive one of these cars, and let me tell you we have seen a bunch! We also learned that the French have a 35 hour work week, 2 hours per day for lunch and 5 weeks of vacation when they start a job! We really think we should be French!

At this point we opted to get off the bus and explore the city on our own with Marcus and Anthony. As you may know, Nicole is still on the hunt for a straightener. While walking through one of the busy streets full of shops, Anthony says “Nicole it’s a straightener!” Yes!! We walked in, I pointed to the lady what I wanted and did not care what is cost! It turned out is was $39,40 euro which is about $60. When I got back to the room with it and took out of the box it turned out to be a mini one, which is almost impossible to use. It’s so small, I’m literally burning my hand while using it. Its impossible. Oh well, there goes the first $60 bucks out the window! Anyway, we found a café , sat down and had a drink, Marcus ordered white wine and the waiter had no clue what white wine was….where are we again?....France?? We thought white wine was also universal just like beer! Then we were entertained by a homeless/mentally ill gentleman until the waiter chased him off because he was begging for money. After the refreshment, we came back to the boat to change for dinner. This is when we decided to forgo dinner on the boat and find a restaurant in the old part of town.

We headed off to walk the streets of Lyon in search of an interesting café. After wondering around for an hour we found a suitable café or at least we thought. We sat down, the waitress brought menus and Kim caught a waft of obnoxiously terrible B.O.!!!! At which point, Marcus who is sitting closest to the offender says I can’t eat here this is disgusting!! We opted to move to another table to the other end of the café which was much more pleasant to the nose! Dinner consisted of wine (of course), escargot, scallops, beef and mushrooms, chocolate mousse, and lots of people watching and fun conversation! Dinner was 38,40 euro a person and also lasted 4 hours. That is the norm here in France. After dinner, it was time to call it a night!

We are in Lyon again today and the group has arranged to have dinner at the famous Paul Bocuse’s restaurant. We will tell you about it tomorrow! Just got finished with lunch, and its time to walk the streets again…Mom, we’ll try our best to stay out of the sex trade…

More later, stay tuned….

Nicole & Kim