Our wonderful (not!) Google Maps was telling us the train station was only about 6 miles away, but that it would take about 40min! ??? So, for our 11:24 departure, we had an Uber pick us up at 9:00. Well, it took all of 20 minutes and the Bettembourg station only had a small waiting room (2 benches) inside. It was very humid and sticky in the waiting ‘lounge’ and we were scheduled to leave off track 2, so Jeff went looking for an elevator so we didn’t have to navigate the stairs down, cross under the tracks, then drag our bags back up the other side. There was a nice breeze outside and -yea!- an elevator with an overhead walkway that would take us to our departure track. We found a nice bench (outside) and enjoyed the morning sunshine and breezy weather. It was going to be a long day on the train. Because of the track construction, the normally sleepy little station had a line of trains coming and going almost non-stop. After the first couple came and went, we stopped even looking at them.
About 30min before departure, Jeff checked the monitor on our platform and, sure enough, our train was now leaving from track 1! It had been sitting there for about 20 minutes and we hadn’t even noticed. Glad we checked! Of course, that meant we swapped our bags down/up the stairs (the elevator was located at the end of the platform, so we opted for the stairs. Ok, enough of the tear jerking stuff, we got settled in and the train left only a couple minutes late.
When we boarded, first class was basically empty. After a couple stops (we had 8 total today), it was pretty much full and not the normal quiet, secluded first class we’ve become accustomed to. None the less, it was an otherwise uneventful trip.
‘Lyon Part Dieu’ was our arrival train station. At first we thought it was because officially this is our 2nd time in France. Well, ‘deux’ is 2 in French, and ‘dieu’ means God; we’re still working on our French. 🤭
From ‘Lugdunum’ in antiquity, to ‘Lugdon’ in the Middle Ages, and then ‘Luon’, the city’s name finally became ‘Lyon’! And we thought Americans were bad at just changing the names of places! 😂
It turns out there are 9 government districts in Lyon (called arrondissements) which are similar to a borough in a US city, and the train station is in #2, hence Lyon Part Dieu.
Lyon is famous for its World Heritage Sites, the Lumière brothers, its silk industry, and its gastronomy. And it’s known for a long list of beautiful sights, from the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière to Vieux Lyon and its traboules. We are staying right in the heart of the old part of the city center and will spend the next two days exploring Lyon.
If you’ve been to Paris Casino in Las Vegas…now I know why they painted the ceilings so blue.
We didn’t get a chance to go out sightseeing since we arrived so late, so we’ll add a cover photo to this post later.
Tomorrow’s another day – part deux in France, from Lyon Part Dieu!🇫🇷
