Tag: Europe

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Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

Travel Planning Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

 

Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic

Motivation

This is about trip planning, but more than anything, it’s about an exercise of imagination, the expression of curiosity, and the definition of a theme. Imagine  approaching an elegant buffet with a great variety of food and drink, ranging from haute cuisine to more basic, but tempting dishes from far flung parts of the world. You’re hungry. How do you decide what to eat with so much variety? The problem comes down to choice, with an endless array at our fingertips.

Such is the challenge in trip planning. The explorable world is before us like an elegant, well organized buffet. We merely need to decide what’s next on our plate. It sounds easy, and it would be if we had hard constraints. Using the buffet analogy, if we were shellfish lovers for example, we could immediately eliminate a large portion of the menu and concentrate on what we like most. And so it is with trip planning. We need to know what we like, or at least what interests us next, either due to curiosity or the ongoing execution of a theme.

And that’s what I like to do – work on a broad theme, in this case it’s Europe. This particular theme has been unfolding for over a decade, with sometimes focused exploration of one country, and other times far flung meandering across a region. This trip leans towards the meandering, but with a connecting thread that binds the destinations together – mostly.

Slovakia, southern Poland, and the Czech Republic, a collection of Western Slavic speaking Central European countries, geographically contiguous, and explorable by automobile over a couple of weeks. All three share the same branch of the European language tree, and have culture and history binding them together as well. The food is hearty and the drink is strong, with the latter useful for warding off the chills of the long winter nights.

 

Itinerary

In short, the selection is as follows, to be navigated in a grand counterclockwise circuit by automobile over 14 days:

 

Bratislava, Slovakia – 3 nights

 

Kosice, Slovakia – 2 nights

 

Krakow, Poland – 3 nights

 

Wroclaw, Poland – 2 nights

 

Olomouc, Czech Republic – 2 nights

 

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic – 2 nights

 

I wanted to visit Bratislava and Kosice in Slovakia because they are its main cities. I wanted to visit Krakow because it’s simply a must see in Poland, more so than any other city based on its history, culture, and architecture – and Wroclaw not only due to geographic proximity to Krakow, but because in addition, it’s worthy of a visit.  I wanted to finish the circuit with the exploration of smaller towns in the Czech Republic, since I’d already been to Prague on a previous trip.  Olomouc stood out a great opportunity for exploration with its history dating back to the 11th century, and as a lesser known, off the tourist path type of destination. I selected Cesky Krumlov as the final destination for very similar historic reasons, although it is as firmly part of the beaten down tourist path as possible.

I elected to start the itinerary in Bratislava and work my way east to Kosice, covering most of Slovakia over a 5 day period.  Then head north to Krakow, Poland for a 3 day exploration of the ancient seat of Polish Kings – which saw no damage to speak of in the major wars of the 20th century, and should be in pristine architectural shape. Continuing the counterclockwise circuit, I next selected Wroclaw for 2 nights as a compliment to Krakow in Poland. Also steeped in history, but did not escape the specter of war unscathed. And the circuit is completed in the Czech Republic with stops in Olomouc, and Cesky Krumlov, each for 2 nights, covering both the former kingdoms of Moravia, and Bohemia.  I thought the two cities would represent the Czech Republic well, although Cesky Krumlov is densely touristed, I had hoped I was early enough in the season to avoid the main surge.  I reserved a 1 night stay in Vienna to await the early return flight to Heathrow, connecting back to Atlanta.  Without this tactical accommodation, I would have had to drive from Cesky Krumlov to Vienna in the very early hours of a Sunday morning, like departing at 2:30 AM, to arrive at the Vienna airport at 6:00 AM. I shudder at the thought.

 

Logistics

There are no direct commercial flights from the US to Bratislava. It’s easy to check this with Google Flights using the Explore feature while filtering on direct flights only. Given that I had to make a layover, I selected London Heathrow because of the broad selection of connecting flights, which gave me a reasonable connection time, as well as good prices due to competition among carriers. I chose a direct flight to Vienna from Heathrow to complete the outbound air transportation part of the trip. The Vienna airport is serviced by many more carriers than Bratislava’s airport, which drives up competition and reduces prices. And the Vienna airport is an easy 45 minute Uber ride to central Bratislava.

With so many cities to connect to, I definitely wanted to drive over taking trains and public transportation. It’s the connection time that elongates travel using public transportation. And nothing beats the convenience of going on your own schedule to wherever you need to on any given day. Can’t do that with public transportation. Driving is more expensive to be sure, but I’m optimizing for time, not budget.  And there will be plenty of driving, to be sure.  I estimate about 2,000 kilometers of driving with 3 to 4 ½ hours between the destinations planned, which is a golden opportunity for discovering the countryside, and stopping in little out of the way places in between.

With so many interesting, steeped in history, smaller cities to explore, I definitely wanted apartments over hotels on this trip. And I was focusing on apartments that were centrally located, within the confines of the  pedestrian-only parts of the old town. This allows for convenient exploration with no transit time to get to the historic and interesting parts of town. And there’s nothing more immersive than stepping out of your own door and being in the heart of the historic part of town.

 

Resources

Google Flights is my standard tool for research, and planning airfare. There are plenty of others, and I’ve tried most, but find that I really don’t need to save the very last nickel at the cost of spending more time chasing that nickel.

Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and Airbnb were used to book all of the apartments for this trip. My preference is to avoid Airbnb because they’re not transparent with property locations, and do not promote the size of their properties in their standard description.  But I do use them if I can circumvent their deficiencies.  It’s interesting that I booked no properties with Homeaway on this trip, especially considering that I explore for apartments there first.

Google Maps is absolutely indispensable for planning purposes. I shudder to think what trip planning would be without it. I download the maps for the countries I travel, to avoid being out of cell range (highly unlikely in Europe), and to navigate should I exceed my daily data allowance.

Google Translate is installed on my phone with all of the languages I need on this trip already downloaded. This way I can translate on the spur of the moment even if I have no data left for the day, or if I’m out of cell range (a huge improbability in Europe).

In Your Pocket guides were useful for getting a background, and some history of Krakow and Wroclaw in particular, but also good for an overview of Olomouc. The quality is very good, and I hope they do more cities.

Sixt is my first choice for car rental in Europe. They are a competent company, typically delivering road worthy German cars. On this particular occasion, I reserved a BMW 520d. An excellent automobile for the exhilarating driving possible on European roads.

Uber is what I planned to use to get to central Bratislava from the Vienna airport, as well as return to Vienna from Bratislava after dropping off the rental car to spend the night before the return flight to Heathrow.  It also comes in handy for getting around from point A to B once I’ve had enough walking for one day (which sometimes, but rarely, happens).

 

Epilogue

Reflections on this trip.  The itinerary in general was very good, but I am disappointed as to how densely touristed Cesky Krumlov was even in early June, the time we were at this particular destination. CK was interesting, and I liked the destination, but found it impossible to blend in, and have an immersive experience. There is no such thing – it was like trying to be immersive at Disney World.  In retrospect, I would have chosen Telc as the second city in the Czech Republic, and bypass CK, because it doesn’t fit my criteria for Immersive Travel. Otherwise, I would consider this trip epic, with many fond memories of the destinations visited.

 

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1Fwk6GkN5lYRR_Lb3hU-qrw1bUAM&w=640&h=480]

 

Related Destinations

Bratislava
Košice
Kraków
Wrocław
Olomouc
Český Krumlov
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Immersive Travel Bordeaux

Immersive Travel Bordeaux

We set off for Bordeaux from Lyon early in the morning, and prepared ourselves for a 5-hour road trip. We grabbed a couple of sandwiches for the trip from Boulangerie Saint Vincent just around the corner from the apartment. These neighborhood bakeries not only sell fresh breads and pastries, but also make wonderful to-go sandwiches on baguette with your choice of meats and cheeses. As I drove toward the highway, exiting Lyon for the last time, the traffic was again heavy, and congested. But once on the open road, I was able to drive at whatever speed I was comfortable. I had the Waze application running to help identify “safety camera” zones en route to Bordeaux.

We spent the next 5 hours westbound on Route A89. With no major cities in between, and traffic very sparse, I had this in front of me for the majority of the time. It was an enjoyable one-stop for gas, long-haul drive through picturesque Massif Central countryside.

 

Arrival

On arrival to Bordeaux, we entered the city by car and worked our way towards the center of the old town. I crossed the Garonne River via Pont François Mitterrand, then turned north. In the next few kilometers, the cityscape transformed from typical European town to something requiring an extent of talent to describe. But in the absence of such rare stuff, this URL will help. Visually, it felt like I just time warped back to the nineteenth century. The architecture was consistent, and visually stunning – It wasn’t just a few buildings. It was the entire old town, and this was the facade of buildings facing the Garonne River – the rest of the old town was yet to be explored.

Rue Sainte Catherine

I had secured a centrally located apartment on Rue Sainte Catherine, in the heart of the old town on a pedestrian-only street. Parking was available within an easy 5-minute walk to the apartment, as we arrived in central Bordeaux just before 2 o’clock in the afternoon. We were a little early to our rendezvous with the person presenting the apartment. So, we sat down at a café and passed a few minutes over an afternoon drink, admiring our new home for the next 4 nights.

I couldn’t help but notice the number of people on Rue Sainte Catherine. We were near the northern end of the street, which was slightly elevated so that I could see downward into the distance. The pedestrian-only street looked like a river of people flowing downhill and away from me – it was quite the visual. And the interesting thing – it was Wednesday afternoon just after 2 o’clock. It was a beautifully sunny day in early April, and maybe it was some sort of holiday for high school kids – I was grasping to rationalize the level of activity for the middle of the week in the middle of the afternoon. I guessed it must be good to be French.

 

Settling in

An elevator ride and a flight of stairs later and we were inside of our well-appointed vieille ville apartment. I chose the apartment for its location, the interior design, and its amenities. It’s amazing how well-renovated a 200-year-old building can be. I felt like we had every convenience we would need. The central area of the apartment was a single room that had the kitchen, dining area, and living area – an open space concept. There were two major design elements – a wall of glass looking onto the glass rooftop of the Gallerie LaFayette building down below, and opposite the glass was the curved stone exterior wall of the building. The exterior stone wall really added character and contrast to the interior design.

 

We dropped off our luggage, and eagerly set off to explore the area surrounding our apartment, keeping an eye out for a nice restaurant – always in the back of my mind: food. We found ourselves at some wonderful landmarks just wandering about: Place de la Bourse, Place du Parlement, Hôtel de Ville, and Eglise St. Michel – each less than a five minute walk from our apartment. Just stretching our legs after driving all day. 

Initial Exploration

The sense of wonder at how visually stunning the old town was on arrival, was followed by the anticipation of seeing more of it. There was no organization really at this point, no list of what things to see first and next. It was more like kids wandering around a candy store. One interesting landmark led to the next one.

This section has complimentary Google Maps photos. To see the “Arrival” photos on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select the “Photos – Arrival” layer from the menu on the left side of the map.

 

Discovery Trek

This section has a complimentary Google Maps route and photos. To follow the Discovery Trek on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select both “Route – Discovery Trek”, and “Photos – Discovery Trek” layers from the menu on the left side of the map.

Bordeaux is an architectural treasure. As we walked through the old town on our discovery trek, it felt like we found something interesting with the turn of every corner. It was by far the best-kept vieille ville of any city of we’ve previously visited in France. Bordeaux has the kind of architectural heritage that drives an urge to take a photo of every building.

Place des Quinconces

We set off from the apartment and made our way towards La Place des Quinconces early in the morning with beautiful blue sky, without-a-single-cloud walking weather. The air was brisk and cool which contrasted the warmth of the sunshine nicely. The walk was a pleasure and the scenery was memorable.

 

From La Place des Quinconces we turned north and walked along the river, and bumped into a open air market selling a variety of seafood. We continued along the river until we arrived at Le Miroir d’Eau, which had a variety of water displays – sometimes like a mist, sometimes like a fountain, and other times a thin layer of water which was the mirror image suggested in its name.

 

We crossed the road away from the river and made our way back into the old town, walking by Place Bir Hakeim, and once again a variety of beautiful architecture was on parade before us.

 

From there we made our way past the Ecole des Beaux Artes to the Eglise Saint-Croix where we toured the interior.

 

Place de la Victoire

We continued our walk through the old part of town towards Place de la Victoire, which was busy with outdoor cafés and people going about their day. It seemed a cross-road of pedestrian traffic, a little busier than other parts of town.

 

Leaving Place de la Victoire, we headed for the first of the beautiful green spaces situated inside the old town. The garden was surrounded by period architecture buildings, which were as decorative as the wisteria hanging from their walls. The public garden should have been full of people enjoying the sunshine on a beautiful spring day. But it was lightly used, and we practically had it to ourselves.

 

Leaving the Botanical Garden behind us, we headed back towards Place du Parlement for a bite to eat. All that walking did work up an appetite. We stopped at Chez Jean for an epic French meal. It was memorably good, and I rant about it in the Food Scene section.

 

The old town of Bordeaux, situated on the west side of the Garonne River, was much more expansive than Lyon’s old town. General impressions of the old town were that it had its share of narrow medieval lanes, but it also opened up to broad avenues with modern trams running down the center. It opened up to lovely small squares hosting shops and cafés, and grand squares with cathedrals and churches as their anchors. There were monuments, statuary, and water fountains interspersed throughout the old town. There were several green spaces as well. Some were on the grounds of its institutions, like the Musée des Beaux Artes, for example, while others were stand-alone public parks.

 

Food scene

I didn’t know what to expect from Bordeaux with regards to quality of food. All I knew was that it was France and, it will be good. I didn’t have any idea how good. I found the cuisine in Bordeaux to approach the quality in Lyon. And Lyon was very, very good. It seemed to me that we had more variety in Bordeaux. In particular, I found that we had more seafood available to us than we had in Lyon.

In Bordeaux, restaurants typically don’t open until after 7:00 PM for dinner. And it’s not just restaurants, it’s everything, cafés included – wherever we could sit down, no matter what they call themselves, the hours were similar. Usually in larger cities, cafés stay open and offer smaller portions, and snacks throughout the day. The restricted hours I think speaks to Bordeaux’s smaller size, with reduced customer traffic and demand.

L’Embarcadère

We both had a seafood bisque as an appetizer, we tried the sea bass, and mussels for our main dishes. The seafood was fresh, and well prepared. This place specializes in seafood. We would revisit L’Embarcadère for the last meal of our last evening in Bordeaux.

 

Boite A Huitres

The name translates to the Oyster Box. We walked by this restaurant and noticed a guy standing outside by the entrance, shucking oysters all through the lunch hour. What a way to advertise that a restaurant serves oysters (aside from the name). We had Jambon de Bayonne, and sausage for appetizers. A bit of variety with warmed brie on toast, fresh oysters, and finally Fromage Blanc with strawberry preserves. It was very good. The oysters in particular were very fresh.

 

Chez Jean

A classic French restaurant just around the corner from our apartment, highly recommended by a local. Beef bone marrow, and smoked trout for appetizer. I love bone marrow, and this was very good – I considered ordering a second helping (a very bad idea in France). I don’t snob on about the wine, but for this meal a hearty local red was recommended for me. We both had Cochon Noir – 10 hour slow cooked Basque Pork. No knife was necessary, it was that tender. Followed by a medley of sweets for dessert. The wine went well with all of it, especially the marrow and the pork. I became quite the fan of Eau de Vie de Poire, what a wonderful digestif.

 

Le Moderne

This was our lunch stop in Villeréal on our Village Road Trip. This was a regular café fare, with what you see is what you get. This tiny restaurant was a farm-to-table associated with a local farm for high quality beef. Some of the tables around us were sharing enormous servings of what looked like ribeye. Would have loved to have tried it, but we were not interested in anything that heavy.

 

Brasserie des Douanes

This should be titled “The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men.” We stopped at this little café in the morning to get some coffee and tea. Meanwhile, fifteen minutes later – 2 types of eggs, bread with butter and apricot preserves, jambon, and fresh orange juice. It was very fresh and good. And considering that tax and tip are included in the price, not expensive either.

IMG_1040

 

Via Luna

This was a little café we stopped in for lunch in the middle of the Discovery Trek Part Deux. It was very simple café food, Charcuterie, fromage, and two types of salmon, along with some salad. Good café chow, and very reasonably priced.

 

L’Embarcadère – Part Deux

So this is the reason we had to stop at this place a second time, and it should be titled “Seafood Porn.” We saw a table of 4 order something like this during our first visit. This is not a tourist place. That is not a stack of bad seafood sold to people that don’t know what they’re ordering. A big variety of mostly raw shellfish, along with a compatible local white wine. It was a labor of love getting to all of that seafood with the variety of little utensils provided. The chocolate dessert seems out of place, but it was awesome.

 

Village Road Trip

This section has a complimentary Google Maps route and photos. To follow the Village Road Trip on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select both “Route – Village Road Trip”, and “Photos – Village Road Trip” layers from the menu on the left side of the map.

We hit the road for the Village Road Trip early just after 8 o’clock in the morning. We drove through pastoral two lane country roads, winding our way through the hills of Aquitaine west of the city. The weather was beautiful with blue skies and sunshine. I couldn’t have asked for better spring weather to be outdoors. The Volvo S60 was very well behaved on the backroads, with all the power and agility I needed to maneuver around the twists and turns.

Les Bastides

All of the villages we visited were Bastides, built from the 13th to the 14th centuries, and laid out in a grid pattern with a central market square. Many of them had medieval walls as fortifications, some built much later than the village itself. Usually the church takes the most central and prominent location in most towns and villages. But here, the church is relegated to a corner, and the focus is on the market square – on commerce.

 

Eymet

We arrived in Eymet, the first village of the day, and worked our way to the main square looking for a bite to eat. We found ourselves a little working café off to the corner of the square. It looked like other tourists had the same idea, as several tables were occupied on arrival. Interestingly, this little village is favored by British expats, accounting for one third of the locals – total population just above 2000 people. I won’t hold that against the locals.

 

Villeréal

This was one of the smaller villages visited this day. But it was big enough to have a good café – turned out to be a farm-to-table partner with a local beef producer. There were a number of tables that ordered what looked like enormous servings of beef, perhaps ribeye. I thought I was back in the States judging by the portion size. We met a very interesting Brit expat, sitting at the table next to us. She painted a colorful picture of retired life among the French folks in the area.

 

Monpazier

This was our favorite village. it was very picturesque, and authentic. It was also among the largest, with many artisanal shoppes throughout the main square in particular. While this was April, and the volume of visitors was light, I fully expect heavy tourism here in the heart of summer. The locals are prepared for, and expect them. It was a pleasure exploring here.

 

Villefranche-du-Périgord

This village was our second favorite behind Monpazier. It was perched on a hilltop overlooking a valley. The village looked to be more residential village as opposed to a tourist draw like Monpazier, with fewer shoppes, fewer attractions for visitors, and more homes. It was very quiet and scenic, with the valley overlook.

 

Tournon-d’Agenais

Another hill-top perch overlooking a valley below. This was the smallest village visited, not deeper than 3 residential streets. It’s main square was under repair during our visit, so we didn’t get the full impact of its charm. Very quiet, with hardly a soul in town.

 

Villeneuve-sur-Lot

This was the largest of the villages visited, and it had the least charm. I would remove this stop from the village itinerary as it didn’t fit in with the rest. It was more of a small city than a village, with things like kebab shops full of loud teenagers. We stopped in to have an early dinner, but no restaurants were open. So we settled for a boulangerie prepared sandwich and some patisserie for dessert.

While all of the villages had some Bastide design elements in common, they were all unique in their own way. Some were very small requiring no more than a few minutes to walk through its entirety. The per-village photo count speaks to how visually appealing each village was to us.

 

Discovery Trek Part Deux

We contemplated the idea of going on a second road trip from Bordeaux, but after a brief conversation we simply discounted the idea. We wanted to continue to explore the vieille ville, and whatever parts of town we hadn’t yet discovered. For example, we had not been across the river, although we knew it wasn’t part of the old town. I thought it still merited exploration. We opted to do that versus additional village tours, or trying a winery junket with some unruly future drunks.

 

Comprehensive Map

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=10tdtnEYcaW2sRkukl17FTdJAVAA&w=640&h=480]

The map shows all of the places discovered and photos taken along the way for Destination Bordeaux. To use the map to its potential, click the rectangle in the top right corner of the map to open it in a new tab. Set your browser to fullscreen mode so that you can see as much of the map as possible. Browse the map layers by selecting or deselecting the check boxes on the left side of the map.

A good example in selectively exploring the map would be to check only “Photos – Village Road Trip” and “Route – Village Road Trip” on the side of the map. This would display just the Village Road Trip elements on the map. Then zoom in as tight as you like to view parts of the route of interest, along with the photos taken there. I’d love to hear feedback on this use of Google Maps to enable interaction with travel content. Enjoy!

 

Epilogue

Final words on Bordeaux. I find Bordeaux to be at the largest end of the cities I would consider for an extended residence, like for a year or more. The quality of the city in terms of its architecture, history, food culture, and even the climate, makes it very appealing to me. But I would have to live in the old town. No exceptions, and it wouldn’t be on Sainte Catherine Street. it would have to be on a more cozy and intimate residential square, like some we wandered by on our walks through town. I envision easy access to a café, charcuterie, and boulangerie/patisserie – the essentials for French living.

Related Trips

France Travel Planning - Lyon to Bordeaux France Travel Planning – Lyon to Bordeaux

Related Destinations

Lyon
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Lyon

Arrival

Due to good planning, if I do say so myself, we had a short layover at Charles de Gaulle terminal 2. We took a 55 minute flight – what felt like a commuter – to Lyon Saint Exupery airport. Passport control and customs were a breeze at this smaller, provincial airport. We made our way to the ground transportation area just outside of the main terminal, and were able to “hail” an Uber directly from the airport. Very convenient, and no local currency needed to be exchanged, meaning no need to hunt for an ATM machine at the airport. There would be plenty in the city.

The Uber ride from Saint Exupery airport to the Presqu’ile neighborhood in central Lyon was almost as long as the flight from Charles de Gaulle to Saint Exupery! Our Uber driver – a young man – was sporting a BMW 5 series. I eventually engaged him in conversation, testing my French for the first time on the trip. I complimented him on his vehicle being so well maintained, and I asked how many kilometers it had on the odometer. I was surprised to hear that the 5 Series had 300,000 kms given that it was in such fabulous shape. Then the conversation turned to the challenges of driving on French roads, with their so-called “safety cameras” used to enforce speed limits. I was curious because I had a traffic violation when I was last in France in 2015, issued via the automated safety camera network. When I shared this with the Uber guy, he curiously asked how much I was charged for the citation. When I replied €45, he reacted with “Ooooooo… superr speederr!” rolling his Rs in the way only a Frenchman could. When I asked him what happens if you have too many of those, he eventually replied that for tourists, nothing, but for citizens there’s a number beyond which they take you to prison, and he laughed. I actually thought €45 was quite affordable for a super speeder violation. At that price I may budget for a couple of them per trip to France going forward.

Settling in

Having arrived at our apartment at the appointed time, and after proper introductions, our host gave us the grand tour of what would be our home for the next four nights in Lyon. Among the more important parts of our tour was getting a basic tutorial on how to work the washing machine – a key element for us because we travel with carry-on only. We simply admired the brilliant views from the apartment for the first time – across the Saone River to the Notre Dame de Fourvière. I looked forward to the views later that evening after nightfall, and I wasn’t disappointed.

 

We set off looking for something to eat as it had been a long day with nothing but airline and airport food. We walked about for at least an hour investigating the surroundings in the vicinity of the apartment along the Saone River in the Presqu’ile neighborhood. We stretched our legs after the day-long transportation confinement as we evaluated the restaurant recommendations made by our host. With the first couple of options booked full for the evening, we eventually decided on Le Grand Café des Négociants for our first Lyonnaise meal, which was not disappointing – high quality French food paired with complimentary French wine.

 

Discovery Trek

This section has a complimentary Google Maps route and photos. To follow the Discovery Trek on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select both “Route – Discovery Trek”, and “Photos – Discovery Trek” layers from the menu on the left side of the map.

The weather wasn’t exactly cooperative on the first full day in Lyon, and what was a drizzle in the air, with overcast skies looked to be an all day affair, per the weather forecast from Meteo France on my iPhone. But we came prepared both with clothing and equipment. And so we grabbed our umbrellas and set off for a day of discovery.

A short distance from the apartment, just as we set off, we stumbled upon a little café with indoor seating, thankfully. We stepped inside eager for a bite to eat to get ourselves prepared for walking around all day in the colder weather. I nearly caused an international incident by expressing a preference that my eggs should be cooked in any fashion different from that which the chef (yes in Lyon the dude that prepares your eggs is called a chef) had intended. More on that drama in the food scene section.

Next we walked to the Renaissance Quarter across the Saone River from the Presqu’ile neighborhood. There was an organized run of some sort in progress with a large number of participants as we made our way into the quarter. They didn’t pick the best weather for it, and neither did we – but the difference was we had umbrellas, and warm clothes on. This thought somehow made me feel better. We toured a small section of the Renaissance Quarter just north of the Cathedrale Saint Jean Baptiste, but were focused on finding our way to the top of the Notre Dame de Fourvière hill.

 

So we moved away from the Renaissance Quarter, climbing the Notre Dame hill. Due to the inclement weather, there wasn’t a lot of pedestrian traffic on the way. We did however have to contend with the runners from the organized event as they completed their circucuit, getting wetter as they went.

 

We departed the high Notre Dame hill and headed down toward the ruins of the 2000 year old Roman amphitheater. There was a complete Roman residential complex built around the amphitheater, and we took it all in void of any crowds, a weather-provided bonus.

 

We next found ourselves back in the Renaissance Quarter, at the Cathedrale Saint Jean Baptiste, which was situated on a square allowing for good photo opportunities. A little farther down river, we made our way through some classic narrow streets of that period. Turning on a narrow lane, we suddenly found ourselves facing Eglise Saint Georges. However, the streets are too narrow to accommodate good photography of the church front. But there’s always the close-up of the pediment above the entryway of Saint Georges slaying the ubiquitous dragon. Photos of the back of Saint Georges were possible from the Saone side of the Church.

 

The Renaissance Quarter wasn’t large. It was longer than wide, sometimes just a few streets deep along the Saone River. It was a lovely area with narrow medieval lanes, buildings very close together, and it didn’t take very long to work our way through the entire section. We ended up taking a lovely walk along the Saone, heading south to its confluence with the Rhone. We had a memorable luncheon at the appropriately named Le Petit Glouton – I rave about this place in the Food Scene section.

 

Food Scene

Le Grand Café des Negociants

This was our first meal in Lyon after a long day in transit. It wasn’t our first choice because we got a late start, but the café was quite impressive on the inside with formal French decor, and well dressed staff. We started with something simple, pâté de foie gras for starters, sea bass accompanied with black rice (which was unusual). The pâté was very rich and went well with the Côtes du Rhône wine recommended for me. The sea bass was also good, but not memorable like the pâté. It’s noteworthy that this was the only restaurant I felt was pricey on this trip.

 

Le Rocambole Café terrasse du Vieux-Lyon

As mentioned in the Discovery Trek portion of the post, I nearly caused an international incident. I ordered eggs over medium, and our lovely young waitress immediately put the palm of her right hand to her head, uttering “Mon Dieu.” It was serious. She invoked the name of the Lord. She indicated in English that she would try to explain my request to the chef. I immediately backed down on my unreasonable demands. But by this time she had already committed herself to do battle with the chef, with customer satisfaction and an American-sized tip in the balance. It turned out OK, although I think the eggs were a bit bien cuit.

 

Le Petit Glouton

We stopped here for lunch to fortify ourselves on the day of our grand discovery trek. I was very hungry from all of the walking in the cold, drizzly weather that day. We happened upon this restaurant – the name translates to “the little glutton.” I had ordered a pork knuckle – not something you’d find in Paris, but apparently it works in Lyon. It was absolutely fabulous – crispy skin, and all. And the mustard complimented the meat so well, a strong horseradish Dijon that opened the taste buds like no other mustard I’d tried.

 

Brasserie Léon de Lyon

This is the restaurant we were turned away from on our arrival day because they were booked and we didn’t have reservations. The food was very good. The foie gras in particular was very rich and noteworthy. Grilled, glazed cod over a bed of fresh spinach in a slightly mustardy, slightly sweet sauce, and grilled hake with carrot, beet, turnip on turnip sauce for the main courses.

 

L’Auberge du Lyonnais

What a delightful meal, and a great discovery in Annecy. The portions were generous by French standards, especially for lunch. We opted for a menu, which turned out be an excellent orchestration of entrée, main course, and dessert. This meal necessitated a long stroll around Lake Annecy to assist with digestion.

 

Brasserie Georges

Another meal where I felt more like I was dining in Germany, Czech Republic or elsewhere in Central Europe. The escargot were definitely French, and from Burgundy. I even had beer with the meal, making the meal feel even more Germanic. The boiled pork knuckle and sauerkraut were perfectly prepared. And the bacon steak was too good to describe. Eau de Vie de Poire was recommended and worked well as a digestif.

 

A l’Ecu d’Or

One of the best meals in France, and we found it in little Le Puy. We tried terrine of fish and shrimp – just a lovely appetizer. Grilled duck breast and beefsteak as the main courses. Followed by a cheese plate with 3 super selections. And finished with tiramisu, and creme brulee. The reason we walk, so we can eat like this.

 

Le Bistrot de Lyon

Starters of Lyonnaise salad with thick sliced bacon, and a terrine of duck pâté, sweet breads, pork fat, and gelatin. Insanely good, very rich, with big contrast between the ingredients. Main courses of pork sausage over a bed of lentils with a white wine sauce, and pike dumpling in a crayfish sauce. Both very good. Fromage blanc and rum biscuit with Chantilly and dried fruit.

 

Road Trip – Annecy and Chambéry

This section has a complimentary Google Maps route and photos. To follow the Road Trip – Annecy and Chambéry on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select both “Route – Annecy and Chambéry,” and “Photos – Annecy and Chambéry” layers from the menu on the left side of the map.

We walked to our Sixt Car Rental location not far from our apartment. It was an interesting walk because it was first thing in the morning, as I was shooting for an 8:00 AM arrival at the car rental location. Along the way we could see people going about their lives, heading to school or work, and just starting their day. We got in and out of the car rental location in about 15 minutes, as we were their first customers of the day. One of the reasons I like Sixt is because it’s a very well-run organization, and this is typical of previous engagements with them. Car rental isn’t the same in Europe as it is in the US. The Europeans are more bureaucratic than Americans, so it’s a pleasure getting through the process of car rental in short order.

 

Annecy was smaller than I had imagined based on my readings on and off the internet. There’s a lot of material out there on Annecy, as it’s been discovered by mainstream tourism. Most people that have traveled France to any extent likely have heard of it. For me, the only points of interest in Annecy were the riverwalk in the old part of town, and a couple of long walks possible around Lake Annecy itself. We had a wonderful lunch at the Auberge du Lyonnais restaurant along the river, and we spent about an hour there. Had it not been for that, we would’ve completed the Annecy tour in a couple of hours or less.



As we left Annecy, we had originally intended to visit Grenoble next. But based on the experience in Annecy, and my recollection that Grenoble was less interesting than Annecy, we decided to explore other options. Chambéry came to mind as a possible alternative, and it may be a bit off the beaten path – at least to me. Checking Google Maps revealed that Chambéry was closer to our location than Grenoble. And then we checked the top activities for Chambéry and Grenoble on Tripadvisor to get a big picture view of of interesting things to do in each destination. Grenoble’s top rated activity was a nearby national park, while Chambéry’s was its Ville Ancienne (old town). Based on that little research we decided we would go to Chambéry.

Chambéry was a lovely little town, and we very much enjoyed exploring its 19th century-feel Ville Ancienne architecture. The town was sparsely touristed, and less densely populated – less than half the size of Annecy, for example. But large enough to have all of the desired amenities, like cafés and restaurants. I probably say this too often, but the photos don’t do lovely little Chambéry justice. This is another place that only being there brings true appreciation.

 

Road Trip – Le Puy

This section has a complimentary Google Maps route and photos. To follow the Road Trip – Le Puy on Google Maps, go to the map at the bottom of this post and click on fullscreen mode. Then select both “Route – Le Puy,” and “Photos – Le Puy” layers from the menu on the left side of the map.

The drive to Le Puy was a bit longer than the trip to Annecy and Chambéry. Once we got out of Lyon and into the countryside, we started to gain some altitude as we were ascending the Massif Central, the grand plateau that occupies a good portion of south-central France. It was noticeably cooler because of the elevation as compared to Lyon.

On arrival to Le Puy we noticed immediately how much undulation and elevation change there was in town. Hundreds of steps, separated the lower part of town from its upper part. It was hard to imagine how one would get around Le Puy in winter time. This part of France does get winters with significant snowfall. Le Puy with its cobblestone lanes all over the town would be quite the challenge in winter. I couldn’t imagine walking on snow and ice laden cobblestone in the middle of winter while trying to descend from the upper part of town to the lower or vice versa.



Le Puy is the stuff of picture postcards. The Cathedral of Notre Dame du Puy is both historic and impressive, and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Le Puy is noted as being the departure point for the Way of Saint James pilgrimage route, also known as the Camino de Santiago. This super cool video gives an overview of the Camino originating in Lovely Le Puy.

 

We had a fantastic lunch in Le Puy at a restaurant on its main square, then headed for the most visibly impressive attraction in town. It’s a few hundred step climb up to the Notre Dame de France monument at the top of its hill – it looked like the hill was made for the monument, but most likely vice versa. This Grand Statue reminded me more of the Statue of Liberty than anything else. But wow, what amazing views from the very top of the monument. The statue was actually hollow and had a tight spiral staircase that allowed access to the top – covered by the admission charge. At the top of the monument, there’s a portal inside the head of the statue allowing access to a 360 degree panoramic view of the surrounding area.

 

Comprehensive Map

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1ev9DVHAtZrYW67rYpOTLQxVvz3E&w=640&h=480]

The map shows all of the places discovered and photos taken along the way for Destination Lyon. To use the map to its potential, click the rectangle in the top right corner of the map to open it in a new tab. Set your browser to fullscreen mode so that you can see as much of the map as possible. Browse the map layers by selecting or deselecting the check boxes on the left side of the map. A good example in selectively exploring the map would be to check only “Photos – Discovery Trek” and “Route – Discovery Trek” on the side of the map. This would display just the Discovery Trek elements on the map. Then zoom in as tight as you like to view parts of the route of interest, along with the photos taken there. I’d love to hear feedback on this use of Google Maps to enable interaction with travel content. Enjoy!

 

Epilogue

Reflections on Lyon. Big. It’s far larger than Annecy, Chambéry, or even Bordeaux. Busy. It has more traffic, and feels to me like a larger city than it actually is. While its population within the city limits is in the 400 thousands, the greater Lyon cosmopolitan area is well over 2 million – which what I think contributes to its larger city feel. Classical architecture. Architectural eye candy all over the parts of town we visited – from Roman, to medieval, to 19th century, reminiscent of Paris. Great food. To die for, unpretentious good food. I need to return for the food alone, to stopover for just one day and hit an untried Bouchon and indulge.

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France Travel Planning – Lyon to Bordeaux

France Travel Planning - Lyon to Bordeaux

Motivation – France Travel Planning

This would not be an itinerary I’d choose for a first-time visit to Europe in general, nor for a first-time visit to France specifically. This is a combination of destinations suitable to a more seasoned European traveler, and moreover, someone having experienced France previously. Having been to France in the past, I’ve visited the Paris area, Normandy, Alsace-Lorraine, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire Valley, Burgundy, Provence, and Hautes Alpes. I truly wouldn’t have seen the rest of Europe had I not taken time off from visiting France specifically!

The south-central slice of France comprising Lyon at its eastern end, and Bordeaux to the west, with the Massif Central at its center, held for me unexplored portions of the country, promising cuisine, wine, history, and architecture to be discovered. In particular, the cuisine in the historic city of Lyon, with their traditional Bouchons, was waiting to be explored. And of course the wines of the Bordeaux region, known across France and the world, were also on the list for discovery. Both cities are UNESCO world heritage sites, and both cities have opportunities for day trips to explore the surrounding region and countryside.

 

Logistics – France Travel Planning

With Atlanta as my home base in the US, direct flights from there to Paris Charles de Gaulle are frequent, but generally not competitively priced. Delta and Air France have a lock on direct flights from Atlanta, and they’re codeshare partners, where codeshare is “code” for monopoly from a consumer perspective. A workable alternative would have been Atlanta to Heathrow, with a connecting flight either to Lyon, or to Bordeaux. Because I had Delta Frequent Flyer miles to burn, Atlanta to Paris Charles de Gaulle was the most convenient option, with a 55 minute connecting flight to Lyon as the second leg of the itinerary to start the trip.

I secured a rental car from Sixt, my favorite car rental company in Europe. I requested a BMW 5-series for 6 days, but received a Volvo S60, which turned out to be fairly competitive to the German car for quality and road worthiness. I like Sixt because they generally have German cars, and the quality of service has been very good in the past. I like German cars because they are designed for high speeds and handle very well. While the French speed limit is 130 KPH (80 MPH), there are wide open stretches where one could hit much higher speeds were one so inclined. Driving any faster than 130 KPH is unsafe in a vehicle not engineered and equipped for that purpose. Driving in Europe is not for the meek at heart, nor for the timid driver. I can understand the “horror” stories recounted by some US tourists of their driving experiences in Europe. Personally, driving is part of the immersive experience in travel. It’s not like home, but it’s not meant to be. And in some ways, it’s much better than driving at home. For example, European drivers generally yield the left-hand lane to those intending to pass when practical. Compare that to the doddering old coot perpetually in the left hand lane with his left turn signal on in your favorite locale in the US. In general, highways in France are less crowded than in the US, but only away from major population centers. In the cities, the French roads are every bit as congested as name-your-nightmare rush hour in the US.

Having secured a car for day trips in Lyon and Bordeaux, as well as the connection to Bordeaux from Lyon, what remained was the transportation from Bordeaux back to Paris Charles de Gaulle to start the first leg of the return trip home. To train or not to train, that is the question. I decided on First Class TGV accommodations from Bordeaux Saint Jean to Charles de Gaulle terminal 2. Yes, the TGV (Tres Grande Vitesse) does take longer than a 1 hour “puddle jumper” from Bordeaux to Paris. But sometimes it’s not about the quickest route. The train does take longer, but that’s actually a good thing. Enjoying the company of your fellow travelers, taking in the sun-soaked countryside, and catching up on one’s blog posts are all things possible in comfort with first class train tickets. And it beats sitting around Charles de Gaulle terminal 2 for hours on end, hunting down a place to sit with access to power for portable devices.

 

Itinerary – France Travel Planning

My choice for basic itinerary was to split the 8 nights available for this trip evenly between Lyon and Bordeaux. In retrospect, 8 nights is not enough time for a thorough immersion in both destinations. But the reality is that there is never enough time, so the even split was a best effort immersion starter – and there’s always the next time for those things we invariably miss, no matter how well considered and planned we make our itineraries. 

Definitely apartments over hotel rooms for this trip. As mentioned earlier, both cities are UNESCO world heritage sites, steeped in history and architecture. Lyon has 2000 years of history, including a well preserved Roman amphitheater, a medieval and Renaissance Vieille Ville portion of the city (Old Town), and a charming Presqu’ile residential area on the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Rhone and Saone rivers. Lyon is the culinary capital of France – not Paris. The choice of apartments for Lyon was brilliant, with panoramic views over the Saone river to the Notre Dame de Fourviere at the top of the hill. The views at night were particularly stunning, with little justice provided by photographs taken as compared to being there, no matter the effort undertaken to take the right photo, under the right conditions. Seeing the views in real time always beats the pictures taken. That’s why we travel. It’s not the same as the photos we bring back. The views from the apartment in the centrally located Presqu’ile neighborhood were simply not available from a hotel. And the price would have been many times more for the hotel as compared to the apartment had it been possible. Moreover, it’s difficult to have the same level of immersion from a hotel experience as compared to being a temporary resident, in a residential city neighborhood for a few days.

Wine drinker or otherwise, most people have heard of Bordeaux as the famed hub of the French wine growing region. Wine growing is the most common denominator when it comes to first thoughts on the region of Bordeaux, but the city has so much more to offer. UNESCO recognized for its beautiful, and consistent architecture, the city center is clean and well maintained. Other French cities aspire to be as well-kempt as Bordeaux. Due to its smaller size, Bordeaux has a more intimate feel than Lyon. The old town is laid out in a series of medieval streets that open onto plazas and grander boulevards. Historic sites, parks, and things that simply catch the eye are peppered throughout the old part of the city. The apartment selected for Bordeaux was centrally located, right in the heart of Rue Saint Catherine, just a few minutes’ walk from the Garonne riverfront. This apartment was more about location than views, with immediate and easy pedestrian access to all city attractions, and restaurants. Bordeaux is the type of city an enthusiast could easily walk through all day , not realizing until the end that 10 miles had pleasantly passed.

 

Resources – France Travel Planning

Absolutely can’t live without google flights. It works well with mainstream carriers, as well as the puddle jumpers. I use it to analyze costs related to date ranges, as well as stopover options for those destinations unreachable directly from my home airport – like Lyon and Bordeaux. Once I have my flight schedule selected, I add my flights to the alert list for price changes, and patiently wait for a good price to come my way.

I rely on several sites for apartment rentals. In the order of preference: HomeAway, booking.com, Tripadvisor, and last and definitely least, Airbnb. Some may be shocked that I prefer to avoid Airbnb, but I have good reasons to avoid them. Their business model simply doesn’t suit me, and they have basic functional deficiencies. I’ll have to put together a Travel Tips blog post on apartment selection, and share my perspective on the challenges in using some sites versus others. But on this particular trip, I did end up using Airbnb for Lyon as they had the best apartment, and I was able to circumvent the Airbnb location ambiguity to my satisfaction before booking it. I used booking.com for the Bordeaux apartment as they had the closest to the heart of the old town. I did use the other two apartment hunting resources, but their facilities were not competitive on this particular trip with the dates I had in mind.

google maps is a staple, and I use it on every trip for a variety of purpose. France has great cellular coverage, so I didn’t have to resort to downloading maps for offline usage, like on other trips (Chile). However, France also has the so-called “safety cameras” peppered throughout their roadway systems, mostly on their 130 kph divided highways. In the many previous trips driving in France, I have received only one speeding violation in the mail. Considering my love of driving with vigor, I consider myself lucky. This time I used waze to help me navigate around the misnamed safety cameras. The app worked pretty well, alerting upon entry to and exit from the “enforcement zones.” I do have to caution that it is a data-hungry beast when in continuous use on a long drive, chewing up a lot of roaming data, which will be of concern to those on expensive international roaming plans.

Tripadvisor is awesome for advanced trip planning, as well as finding a decent restaurant on the spot. When I use it for this purpose, I select “near me now/restaurants” and filter on “open now”. Then I sort by distance – not highest rated. When I’m hungry enough to find an unplanned restaurant, I want closest, then best. Of note is the Michelin restaurant app, which I did use both in Lyon and Bordeaux. But I always cross-referenced whatever restaurants the Michelin app recommended with the Tripadvisor app, and selected what made the most sense. It was usually Tripadvisor. Yelp is not particularly useful, and I don’t even have it installed on my phone any more.

Uber works in France, and it does come in handy. It is much better than trying to hire a taxi because you need not have any communication with the driver if language challenged, aside from properly identifying yourself on pickup. I used Uber from the airport to central Lyon, as well as around town when I simply tired of walking – once or twice.

With google translate on my phone at the ready, I seek out restaurants that have no English menu available. Going to countries where I don’t speak the language, and have bare familiarity with the alphabet is possible with google translate installed. Game changer for traveling off the beaten path – or even on the beaten path where language challenged. It’s important to note that language modules are downloadable for offline usage. Again not an issue in France because the coverage is so good, but it may save some money for those on expensive roaming plans.

Meteo-France is worth a mention as a useful resource. A better weather forecasting app for France doesn’t exist. It’s nice to have a sense for the day’s weather as I set out in the morning.

 

An Opportunity Missed

I love to plan because good planning usually yields a better experience, to the extent that planning can do that. But there is no such thing as perfect planning. Too much planning is a bad thing. Good travel, immersive travel, happens with a certain element of “being there” decisions, and even chance, that simply can’t and shouldn’t be planned. So, that’s the beginning of the conversation I have with anyone asking how I enjoyed the “wine tours” of Bordeaux. I didn’t do any wine tours in Bordeaux. The village hopping we did on our one-day excursion by car from Bordeaux was my choice for an immersive experience. And Bordeaux was too lovely to spend any less time exploring her. I do like wine. A lot. So there’s definitely an opportunity when I return to Bordeaux. And there are many more villages to explore in the region. In fact, so many that it would take months to visit every little village just one day at a time from Bordeaux. And I do love little villages. And so, I may not make the wine tour next time either. Of course the real solution is to move to Bordeaux, perhaps not permanently, but at least for a year. I could hit all the wine-maker’s chateaux, and all the villages from my centrally located Bordeaux apartment, just off the Garonne River. It’s a lovely thought.

France Travel Planning - Lyon to Bordeaux

 

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1Wf-4G9uQo10UcIMpObWEm6qmF1U&w=640&h=480]

 

Related Destinations – France Travel Planning

Lyon
Immersive Travel Bordeaux Immersive Travel Bordeaux