Flight to Paris, Drive to Lyon

Mon. & Tues., Oct. 9-10, 2017:

It was a random Monday in October, we had nothing else going on so what the hell . . . 

LET'S FLY TO FRANCE!

Koreen FitzGerald was kind enough to drive us to Los Angeles International Airport through the usual intense L.A. traffic.

Wonderful friend indeed!

Our flight to Chicago on American Airlines went smoothly as did our layover and second flight to Paris.

Look who we found at Paris'

Charles de Gaulle Airport

Why none other than our college friends Loren and Sandy Brucker! We have been friends for over 50 years now.

WOW!

We decided to join forces with two other dear friends, Mark and Susie Johnson, and journey through France together.

Oui, we are in France!

Very definitely in France!

We rented a true nine passenger van from Hertz and we started our drive south from Paris towards our old stomping grounds, our beloved Lyon.

Our first stop was the picturesque city of Beaune.

Beaune's Notre Dame Church

Susie and Laurie revisiting their

walk through Ensenada, Mexico

a few years ago

Inside Beaune's Notre Dame Church

For Loren and Sandy, it was their first ever trip to Europe and this was the first old Catholic church that they entered.

There will be more I'm sure.

Tapestries

Every decent church MUST

have rich tapestries

 And a mural or two as well

Plus stained glass windows

It's the law, CANON LAW!

Of course Laurie lit candles

Our three grandchildren, Kevin, Jacob and Mary, are safe for another day.

Beaune's Hôtel Dieu

The Hôtel Dieu is an old hospital

Nice shared hospital room.

You have to have a chapel

in a hospital

Don't you?

Hôtel Dieu's kitchen

Hôtel Dieu's pharmacy

They made their own special remedies here back in the day

Eye of newt . . .

Drugs

 More drugs

I liked the feet on this table

Apparently, viewing rich tapestries made you feel better too, a few hundred years ago.

Nice looking street side cafe in Beaune

Wine and Cheese anybody?

 Jet lag caught up to Mark

in our quaint Beaune cafe

From Beaune, we continued our drive to Lyon, found our delightful AirBnB accommodations and prepared to go out for dinner.

But only after an interesting one-on-one confrontation on a narrow two way lane in Lyon big enough for only one car at a time.

It was our first meeting with a crazed French driver. It was a long stand-off between us. I was calm, she was frantic with amazing hand gesture.

Neither of us budged for about about five minutes before she finally relented and let me pass.

That's when she hit a parked car.

Karma.

Off to dinner with Lyon's new and

old Cathedrals in the background

Same view with me in it taken

by a nice stranger

 Lyon's Notre Dame Basilica

Dinner at our favorite spot in Lyon,

Les Caprices de Sophie

Cuisine de Famille

We were joined for a fabulous dinner by our Lyonaisse friends Freddy Bastiand and Marianne Damboise.

GREAT people!

 With our chef, Papa Georges, and his

son the owner of Sophie's, Olivier

Olivier getting CRAZY

With Freddy Bastiand,
the Heart and Soul of our 12-0
2013 French National Champion
 Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons

The carnage after an amazing

two and a half hour French

dining experience.

Foie gras ravioli, salmon strips, Papa's surprise truffle appetizer, red wine, great bread, pork, red wine, veal kidneys, beef filet, red wine, white fish, duck paté, tiramisu, coffee and, of course, some red wine.

Every plate was clean by the ed of the meal.

A GREAT first day in France with wonderful people, amazing food and, did I mention, the excellent red wine?