Lyon

Our train ride from Biarritz to Lyon took 10 hours and we had just enough energy in Lyon to get groceries, make a pasta dinner and head to bed.  In the morning we had free breakfast at the hostel (cereal with milk and baguettes with either jam, honey, or nutella).

First on our "To see" list was the Roman theater. It's just hanging out at the top of a hill.  No entrance fee, no roped off areas, and built in 15 AD.

After we were done playing on the 2000 year old stone steps, we walked over to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.  It was very impressive and perched at the edge of a hill with sweeping views of the city and surrounding areas.  There is a path that wanders down away from the Basilica and around the top of the hill with more views and we walked around for an hour or so, trying to find our starting point for the day.

For lunch we decided to check out the daily market next to the Saone river.  It was mainly meats, cheeses and bread and we bought a small wheel of goat cheese, a loaf of bread and a couple apples.  Back at the hostel we ate our market finds on the terrace which had amazing views of the city.

After lunch and an afternoon rest, we headed out to find a mural painted on the side of a 7 story building.  After an hour and a half and miles of wandering, we never found it.  We did, however, wander through a nice part of town with small windy streets, impressive fountains in squares, and city hall.  For dinner we had pasta with a butter and vegetable sauce and met a couple of Americans, a Canadian, and an Aussie.  The guy working at the bar in the hostel gave me a free glass of beer while cooking in the kitchen, which was awesome!

In the morning we headed back out to see the mural with better directions.  Turns out we were too far away from the river before we started looking for the mural.  What do you think, worth the trouble?

For lunch we made scrambled eggs with onion and tomato. We ran a couple of errands after lunch (like picking up our train tickets and checking out the Apple store) then came back to the hostel to relax and make dinner (refrigerated microwave meals).