Trip to France - Recap-ish

[starvenger]

So I'm doing a lot of this from memory, but here's a recap of sorts from my trip.

Day 0/Day 1
- Parked at YYZ Park 'n' Fly Valet about 2.5 hours before takeoff. They apparently have different locations for drop off and pick up now, which is weird. Still very quick.
- We had no checked baggage - carryon only - and thanks to our NEXUS we zoomed through Global Entry. We were at the gate with 2 hours to spare.
- Flight to CDG was easy peasy. Seats weren't the most comfortable, but I've sat in worse (Ryanair). Plus it's a redeye, so you're more concerned with resting up than anything else.
- CDG was interesting, because we landed at a 2A gate, but AC operates out of 2B. They got some shuttlebuses to drop us off at Immigration, so I suppose it's a moot point.
- Immigration folks were taking their time, but no issues.
- We were heading to Lyon first via train. Had the option of taking the RER/Metro or a taxi to Gare de Lyon. Would've cost us 45.60€ for 4 on the RER vs 53€ for the cab, so we took the cab. On a Saturday morning, the drive was very quick.
- This was our first sticking point. I gave us about a 3 hour buffer between landing and train departure, because flight delays can happen. But that basically meant that we were hanging around the train station for a couple of hours. With luggage. On a drizzling and humid day. We got some sandwiches, but we were definitely a bit tired and cranky at this point.

- Aside: It was super hot our first week in France btw. I brought a pair of long pants and didn't use them until we got to Paris. I packed a lot of quick dry clothes, which was good, because it was sweaty weather.

- We took the OUIGO high speed to Lyon. OUIGO is the "budget" rail. 38€ each for the "Plus" class option. The Plus class is 2 and 2, outlets at each seat. Kind of old looking, but serviceable and comfortable. No food car on OUIGO btw, so buy something before you go.
- I think one of the consistent tougher things for me on this trip was finding the taxi stands at the train stations. Probably comes with not being familiar with an area and snaking through the large stations. But we found it, and got to our hotel, the Hôtel Mercure Lyon Centre Plaza République. in the Presqu'île. It's a good location, short walk to dining, and Vieux Lyon across the river. Our room was a "family" room, meaning it was bigger and there was a hideaway bed in the sofa. AC tended to blow more to the sofabed than the primary bed, which was no fun. They had a fridge that they stocked with some complimentary drinks (beer, cola, pear puree, kombucha) every day, so that was nice.
- Had a nap (LONG day of travel), then dinner at Le Grand Café des Négociants. To be honest, wasn't the best food, but it was fine.

Day 2/3
- Got a day pass for the Metro and went to Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière. You can walk up, but given the heat we opted for the funicular. Great views of the city. Afterwards, went back down and roamed around the streets and shops of Vieux Lyon.
- We more or less chose a restaurant at random for lunch and had some classic Lyonnaise faire like tripe sausage and Lyonnaise salad. Portions tended to be rather large, too - I only managed to eat half the lardon on my salad.
- I'd booked a one hour river sightseeing cruise on the Saone river at 4:30pm. It was informative, and honestly just a nice, breezy way to enjoy some scenery.
- We had dinner at L'Entrecôte, a restaurant famous for steak frites. It's popular, and they only serve one type of steak (sirloin), a side salad, and unlimited fries. Steak is served with a sauce I can only describe as a broken mustard/butter emulsion. It was fine, nothing to write home about.
- The next day, we booked something called the Secret Food Tour of Lyon. I can't recommend this tour enough. Our tour guide, Coraline, gave us a lot of information about Vieux Lyon and some history about Lyonnaise foods (which often has something to do with offal). If you could pick a guide for this tour I'd be like the DCL stans with their servers and tell you to insist on getting her to guide you.
- Quite a few stops on this tour. We started with an early lunch (Chez Mamie) of meat and cheese charcuterie with some of the local wines. Had a snack cake called a Prauline, a late lunch at an traditional Lyonnaise restaurant (Chez M'man). Food was fine, although I don't recommend the fried tripe. I was expecting something like fried strips of tripe, but instead I got what I can only describe as a tripe schnitzel. But things like the fish quenelle and sausage were tasty. And we got more wine. Finished off with a sweet and an ice coffee which really hit the spot on a hot day.
- Had dinner at a restaurant called Les Infideles. Nice foods, a bit of middle eastern fusion and a good way to end our Lyon leg of the trip.

- Note: We intended to go to Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse but never made it there. In hindsight, we should've went the first morning, but I didn't realize that the shops closed early on Sunday.

I'll post more later.

 

[mkmommy]

So I'm doing a lot of this from memory, but here's a recap of sorts from my trip.

Day 0/Day 1
- Parked at YYZ Park 'n' Fly Valet about 2.5 hours before takeoff. They apparently have different locations for drop off and pick up now, which is weird. Still very quick.
- We had no checked baggage - carryon only - and thanks to our NEXUS we zoomed through Global Entry. We were at the gate with 2 hours to spare.
- Flight to CDG was easy peasy. Seats weren't the most comfortable, but I've sat in worse (Ryanair). Plus it's a redeye, so you're more concerned with resting up than anything else.
- CDG was interesting, because we landed at a 2A gate, but AC operates out of 2B. They got some shuttlebuses to drop us off at Immigration, so I suppose it's a moot point.
- Immigration folks were taking their time, but no issues.
- We were heading to Lyon first via train. Had the option of taking the RER/Metro or a taxi to Gare de Lyon. Would've cost us 45.60€ for 4 on the RER vs 53€ for the cab, so we took the cab. On a Saturday morning, the drive was very quick.
- This was our first sticking point. I gave us about a 3 hour buffer between landing and train departure, because flight delays can happen. But that basically meant that we were hanging around the train station for a couple of hours. With luggage. On a drizzling and humid day. We got some sandwiches, but we were definitely a bit tired and cranky at this point.

- Aside: It was super hot our first week in France btw. I brought a pair of long pants and didn't use them until we got to Paris. I packed a lot of quick dry clothes, which was good, because it was sweaty weather.

- We took the OUIGO high speed to Lyon. OUIGO is the "budget" rail. 38€ each for the "Plus" class option. The Plus class is 2 and 2, outlets at each seat. Kind of old looking, but serviceable and comfortable. No food car on OUIGO btw, so buy something before you go.
- I think one of the consistent tougher things for me on this trip was finding the taxi stands at the train stations. Probably comes with not being familiar with an area and snaking through the large stations. But we found it, and got to our hotel, the Hôtel Mercure Lyon Centre Plaza République. in the Presqu'île. It's a good location, short walk to dining, and Vieux Lyon across the river. Our room was a "family" room, meaning it was bigger and there was a hideaway bed in the sofa. AC tended to blow more to the sofabed than the primary bed, which was no fun. They had a fridge that they stocked with some complimentary drinks (beer, cola, pear puree, kombucha) every day, so that was nice.
- Had a nap (LONG day of travel), then dinner at Le Grand Café des Négociants. To be honest, wasn't the best food, but it was fine.

Day 2/3
- Got a day pass for the Metro and went to Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière. You can walk up, but given the heat we opted for the funicular. Great views of the city. Afterwards, went back down and roamed around the streets and shops of Vieux Lyon.
- We more or less chose a restaurant at random for lunch and had some classic Lyonnaise faire like tripe sausage and Lyonnaise salad. Portions tended to be rather large, too - I only managed to eat half the lardon on my salad.
- I'd booked a one hour river sightseeing cruise on the Saone river at 4:30pm. It was informative, and honestly just a nice, breezy way to enjoy some scenery.
- We had dinner at L'Entrecôte, a restaurant famous for steak frites. It's popular, and they only serve one type of steak (sirloin), a side salad, and unlimited fries. Steak is served with a sauce I can only describe as a broken mustard/butter emulsion. It was fine, nothing to write home about.
- The next day, we booked something called the Secret Food Tour of Lyon. I can't recommend this tour enough. Our tour guide, Coraline, gave us a lot of information about Vieux Lyon and some history about Lyonnaise foods (which often has something to do with offal). If you could pick a guide for this tour I'd be like the DCL stans with their servers and tell you to insist on getting her to guide you.
- Quite a few stops on this tour. We started with an early lunch (Chez Mamie) of meat and cheese charcuterie with some of the local wines. Had a snack cake called a Prauline, a late lunch at an traditional Lyonnaise restaurant (Chez M'man). Food was fine, although I don't recommend the fried tripe. I was expecting something like fried strips of tripe, but instead I got what I can only describe as a tripe schnitzel. But things like the fish quenelle and sausage were tasty. And we got more wine. Finished off with a sweet and an ice coffee which really hit the spot on a hot day.
- Had dinner at a restaurant called Les Infideles. Nice foods, a bit of middle eastern fusion and a good way to end our Lyon leg of the trip.

- Note: We intended to go to Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse but never made it there. In hindsight, we should've went the first morning, but I didn't realize that the shops closed early on Sunday.

I'll post more later.

Thank you sharing , always fun to hear about other people’s trip to places out of Disney.

Look forward to reading more!

 

[starvenger]

I didn't mention this, but I bought an eSim from Airalo. $14 for 5GB data good for 30 days. More than enough for us. If you want $3 off your first purchase, you can use KEVIN1212 as a referral code (I get a $3 credit).

Day 4-6
- Done with Lyon, and onto Marseille. For this trip we took a single level TGV train in first class. Older interior but quite comfortable. There was a bar/cafe but we bought some pastries at the train station to eat on the journey. 140€ for the four of us.
- Once in Marseille we caught a taxi to our hotel, Hôtel La Residence Du Vieux Port, and I have to tell you that, while pricey (940€ for 3 nights), it was a great location with a great view (I'll insert a pic here later) - all rooms have a balcony that overlooks the port, and you can see the Basilique Notre-Dame on the hill. This was a two-room suite, so the kids were able to sleep on beds and we didn't need to hear them talking in the morning.
- There are lots of restaurants along Vieux Port. Most are outdoor seating, under an awning as needed. We ended up eating lunch at a place called the Collins. We didn't know it had such a low rating (2.5 on google) at the time, and it seems about right. We had moules frites, and you got a lot of mussels (the large pots caught our eye), but they were a little salty.
- After eating, we took the tourist train up to Basilique Notre-Dame. You can walk up, but it takes at least 45 minutes and in the 37C heat, no thank you to that. There is also a local bus that goes up there that we opted not to take, but it seems like a good budget option.
- The Basilique has some spectacular views. You won't be disappointed if you go up there.
- We had dinner at l'Hippocampe, which is also in Vieux Port. It was again, okay. Food was better than the Collins, but really nothing to write home about.

- Next day we rented a car (from the train station) to go to Cassis. We got a Skoda automatic, which unfortunately had it's own proprietary connection and did not have CarPlay. So my wife ended up having to hold my phone and give me directions on Waze.
- We hit a couple of wineries in the area. They don't give tours unless you prebook, so we ended up just sampling wines.
- Took a 90 minute boat tour of the area. Really beautiful rocky cliffs around Cassis. The guide did not speak English, but it was worth taking the trip just to see the area from that POV.
- Had a late-ish lunch at Le 8 et Demi. Good crepes, loaded with cheese. They don't look filling, but believe me, they are.
- Took a scenic drive to Toulon, and then back to Marseille.
- Kids were craving Asian food (this is an issue when you eat this every day) so we went to a place called Panasia that served things like ramen, bun and stir frys. I think the place is fine if you don't eat Chinese/SE Asian foods almost every day.

- Next day (last in Marseille) we visited Palais Longchamp and Cathédrale La Major. Saw some cruise ships near the Cathedral, which reminded me that we're doing a Caribbean cruise over New Years.
- Had lunch at L'Espigoulier in Vieux-Port. Food was fine, but service was terrible for us - very slow and we were ignored at times. Whereas everyone else appeared to be served rapidly. I'm not saying this was deliberate, but we were the only Asian group in the restaurant.
- Went to MUCEM in the afternoon. Lots of exhibits there - they currently have one about Romani travelers that was pretty interesting. Wanted to go to the attached Fort Saint Jean but that was outside and the kids weren't having it, so we left. Felt like we left money on the table doing that.
- That evening we took a sunset catamaran dinner cruise that went around Les Iles. This was really wonderful, as it was a bit cooler out on the water. Food was a cold dinner, which was deliberate and actually quite good. Drinks were included, so it was a nice time.
- Walking back from the dock to the hotel was... interesting. We heard what sounded like a firecracker but it turns out it was a gunshot, because there people running away from that and towards us! Luckily we were able to duck into a restaurant to avoid the runners. Also luckily, we were steps from our hotel so we quickly got in. A weird end to our time in Marseille to be sure.