Farewell Paris, Bonjour Lyon

Tuesday 27th August 
Today we are going to drive from Paris to Beaune for lunch, and then into Lyon, where we will stay for 4 nights. Parisians are now back for their summer holidays, and the taxi we ride in through the thick traffic to pick up the Peugeot 2008 SUV, fills us with excitement (?intrepidation) at the prospect of driving out of Paris. Our brand new car is ours within minutes but it needs petrol. Flashy takes the PIC left hand seat  and proceeds to do an aggressive u turn to reach the petrol station, nearly killing two young gentlemen on motorbikes. Never mind, they wave at him with both hands, nice chaps. We are now fuelled up, water for hydration and GPS set to English. Lady P is ‘navigating’ and off we head to Beaune. No scary moments worth recording- unless remembering to change gear counts - and a  coffee stop later we enter the walled Burgundian town of Beaune where we meet Robert and Anna, friends from Cairns who have been cruising on their canal boat for the past 4 months, for a delightful lunch in a little bistro enjoying a haute du Beaune chardonnay.

A stroll around Beaune to walk of lunch before Lady P takes the LHS and we cruise without an incident or argument into Lyon; park outside Kelly's Irish bar and call our host Anne. We are staying in a 16th century stone apartment in the old walled city of Lyon, Rieux  de Lyon. This is pretty special. Anne takes us to our apartment through a secret passage (traboule) overlooking Rue St Jean. After settling in she gives us the code to go through other secret passages that actually go through people’s homes to get from one part of the city to the other. Blimey, you could be in an Angels and Demons movie. We are in wonderful accommodation in a World Heritage precinct. We go out for a walk along cobbled streets for dinner, surprised to see an Uber Eats via bicycle pass by but I guess there are 30 somethings here as well, before adjourning to our pied de terre.