Lyon

We left Prague early this morning to catch an Easy Jet flight to Lyon. Levi had met our cab driver coming back from the airport after dropping off the car and had arranged for an early morning pick up. Martin was there at 6:00 as promised and took us the more scenic, residential route to the airport. At one point he passed a stopped truck by driving up onto the tram tracks. I wasn't too worried until I saw an oncoming tram (fortunately there was enough room for tram and taxi). Anyhow he was a very nice fellow and it was fun to practice my Czech for a few more minutes before having to switch to my horrible French.

The flight to Lyon was super easy and very short (about 1hr 15min). We did pretty well getting onto the train to downtown Lyon - even getting help from an English speaking fellow from Saudi Arabia who had studied in Corvallis, OR (!). We had some struggles getting the Metro ticket machine to read our credit cards but finally realized (duh) that we could use Euros. Walking to our hotel was impressive for the sheer number of restaurants we passed that looked really great (and had the scents to match).

Our hotel is called the Hotel des Célestins which is by Place Belle Cour on the Centre Ville peninsula that is bordered by the Soane and Rhone rivers. It is an old style French hotel with the funky tiny elevator, windy staircase and cool wood doors. The neighborhood is filled with restaurants and clothing stores. I'm tempted to box up all my clothes and mail them all home just so I can buy a new all-French wardrobe. However, if all my meals are like this afternoon's lunch I won't be able to fit into anything I've brought.

For lunch we ate around the corner from the hotel at a place called Le Comptoir des Marronniers. Yummy yummy. The crazy thing is that all the menus look appetizing so it's pretty much a matter of saying, "That one." Who knows what dinner will bring. We'll have to see after our nap.

Final posting from Prague

Well, we head off  tomorrow morning. for Lyon. Bye bye Czech Republic. It's strange to think we have a week in France since it feels as though we've been gone a long time. I can say without hesitation at this point that I've packed too much. I'll never wear the colder weather clothes I brought just in case - the weather is full-on summer (and I've got the pinky glow to prove it). I'll just have to avoid purchasing anything more. 

Today was just a wandering around and lazing kind of day. No particular destination in mind. We went to the Memorial for the Victims of Communism (see the pic). Our friend Suzanne recommended it. I liked it - the figures gradually disappear as you look up the stairs - my kind of art. 

I'm awfully tired so this isn't he most interesting post. I'll send it out when we get to the airport tomorrow morning. 

More from Lyon on Thursday.

Final day in CZ

First full day in Prague

Callipygian picture from yesterday

Navigation lessons

One thing you learn quite quickly when driving through CZ is that many people just don't know where things are. At first I thought it was all language but, after today, I'm convinced that most don't really know where things are on maps or how to point you the correct way. Case in point: we managed to get lost getting in to Prague (my fault by suggesting we make a turn where we shouldn't) and every single person gave us different directions that seemed to go nowhere. One fellow who, when I asked where Malá Straná was seemed genuinely baffled about where I could possibly mean (Malá Straná is a major section of town that sits next to the giant river that cuts through the city). Maybe it's how they have fun with the tourists or maybe it's a genuine issue with map reading - who knows. During the Soviet invasion in '68, the Czechs took down all the street signs in Prague to confuse the invaders. 

This aspect of CZ has perhaps been the most challenging to my mind - trying to figure out where you're going. And maybe the Czechs have the same issues we have - the maps are sometimes a little incorrect or don't reflect construction and the signs aren't always clear. The moment today when I thought I would lose it was as we found ourselves driving down into a shopping mall parking lot, getting a ticket to park and having a fellow who was either security or polizei tell us he had no clue about how to help us. It was fortunately still in the nervous, bordering on hysterics laughter stage when we finally figured it out how to get to the general area of where we wanted to be. 

The one moment of triumph in directions was when Levi asked a woman where Nerudova Street was and she said "here" and when he said "number 27?" she looked behind her and said, "Here." Glory be! The car is now parked and is likely to stay that way until we drive back to the airport. 

I should also say that it was Levi's birthday and got his wish to visit the Unesco Heritage site at Telč. The photo of the callipygian statue is from Telč. 

That's all for this evening. 

Leslie Levenson

The view from our pension window