Tuesday, 21 June 2011: Lyon to Tallahassee
Written June 2011
Tuesday morning we were up bright and early for the trek to the airport, which is well out of town. It's named, of course, for the city's favorite aeronautical son, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The previous afternoon, we had consulted the proprietor of our hotel, who provided knowledgeable and meticulously detailed directions from our very parking space to the airport entrance, as well as quite an accurate estimate of the time it would take us.
Accordingly, we backed out of our parking space (so early the meter maids weren't out yet), took our first right north until we hit the southern edge of the Tête d'Or park, took a left and continued until we hit the Rhône, turned right for about 20 yards, then left over the bridge, then right along the river and finally onto the first of several freeways, which took us in a long arc around the northeast quadrant of the city and finally eastward toward the airport, which lies almost due east of Lyon. It took about an hour. Another time, we might arrange to turn in the car at the Part-Dieu station and take the new express subway line that guarantees to get you there from Part-Dieu in under half an hour.
I waited at the rental car office while David and the agent went out to look at the damage to the front fender—David didn't mention the sarcophagus cover; he just said we hit a rock—EuropCar will bill us in the fullness of time. Then the shuttle bus whisked us to our terminal. Security is always easier in Europe—you don't have to take off your shoes.
David acquired a newspaper and settled in while I went off in search of a picnic lunch to eat on the plane, which I found at the Brioche Dorée, a chain bakery that does a pretty good job (though they never have plain butter and raw-ham sandwiches).
A couple of their baguette sandwiches and some pastries filled the bill and bridged the gap between our midday departure and the time they actually got around to feeding us.
Our flights home were so uneventful I don't even remember the details, except that we had to go through security all over again in Paris, because the airport isn't set up for convenient transfers. We even made the connection in Atlanta and got home the same night, and that probably happens less than half the time!
So now it's time to start planning the next trip. We're thinking of continuing down the Rhône next year . . .
In the meantime, here's the full list of our hotels and restaurants, in a Word file.