The journey from the south of France to the city of Lyon was uneventful,my Mapquest-maps getting us there with no problems. North paralleling the A6 and a quick zip to the East to Lyon. Unfortunately we arrived there in the middle of rush-hour, so actually getting into Lyon took a lot longer than we had hoped.

But, being from L.A. (and this WAS L.A. style traffic!), we took it all in with typical french-indifference….

The Journey…

took us through pretty French countryside so we decided to forego the advice of our maps and get off the Autoroute in favor of the roads which essentially paralled the A6. We traveled through countryside and small towns and even found ourselves on some “Rue sans Nom” (streets without name).

The weather was perfect and the drive was pleasant, past old farms and churches.

The colors were in full bloom and made for a lot of photo-ops (rushed as they would be).

The Arrival…

We finally arrived in Lyon and, once there, made use of the good Metro systems they have available.

One thing the City of Lyon has done, and is an excellent idea, is to make those companies who prosper from the advertising-contracts in the city , pay to have free bicycles available throughout the city for people to get around. There’s no cost to use the bikes, and at the end of the day, the company also provides a means to pick up all the bikes and re-distribute (or repair) the bikes in all quarters of the city.

This is an excellent way of cutting down on traffic, noise and pollution and we saw many people making good use of the provided transportation.

We were able to have lunch in a traditonal Lyonnaise-restaurant called a “Bouchon”.

they’re about the size of a large bedroom and serve traditional-food from Lyon. This can include tripe Soup, Chicken Liver salad, Pig’s head cheese, Andouillette (Pork offal sausage), Stingray, Coq au Vin and other delicacies of the region.

We ate at “Chez Mounier” and I have to say, after my initial hesitation at entering a bedroom-sized restauraunt packed with people, the food and the service was excellent!

After lunch, we spent that afternoon exploring the alleyways and passages of Lyon that were formally used by the silkmakers in the old days to save travel time through the city, and were used, during WWII to move from house-to-house without getting caught.

All in all a very interesting city!

New travel restrictions:

We were surprised to find out, as we were checking into Heathrow airport, that they’re getting ready to limit all of your luggage. The restriction on carry-on luggage is ONE PIECE per passanger. This includes any purses or camera cases. It used to be that you could take a camera-bag (or purse) as well as your one carry-on luggage, but no more!

The bigger surprise is the move to restrict your CHECK-IN to ONE PIECE as well. they are also proposing a weight-limit of between 44 and 51 pounds (depending on the airline). They will allow you to take additional luggage, but they will charge you (substantially) for that pleasure.

The rules vary from airline to airline, and also depend on what class you’re flying. It also seemed to be tougher in the British Isles (or at least on British owned airlines), but make sure to check with your carrier(s) so you don’t have any unpleasent surprises. Makes getting all those battery-chargers and lenses around a bit more difficult!