Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018

We took the train from Lyon to Annecy, a relaxed 2 hour ride. A brief walk to the Hotel Allobroges and then off to dinner. It was a relief to be in a quiet hotel with A/C. This morning we got up to a stunning locale, Annecy is on a 7 mile long lake of very clear water. There is a bike path that circles the lake, 40km, so after doing as much work on the hotel’s buffet breakfast we were off to rent bicycles. It was a beautiful ride with a few hills in the first half and then mostly flat. Lots and lots of paragliders above us the whole time. We attempted to stop for lunch, and had a typically French experience. It was about 1:20pm, the restaurant said they were “complet” meaning full even though they were way less than half full. Then they said they were done serving food, even though others were still being served and there was a full staff on duty. They also had a beach that no one was using because they were charging 15 euros to cross the sand. This is the unique French idea of customer service which some what parallels what Basel Fawlty believed, eg. Everything would run better if it weren’t for the customers. Anyway, we ended up pulling over on a public beach and having a nice swim in cool waters while watching paragliders across the lake. If you haven’t been to Annecy, I would highly recommend it, although I can guess that in season it is way too crowded. September is a great time to visit.

With Mai and Fabien

Lake Annecy

Old town Annecy

Monday, Sept. 3 and Tuesday Sept. 4, 2018

Arrived in Paris a touch early, but lots of walking and lines to get out. Luckily a woman took mercy on me and let me into the priority line which got me to the TGV with about 15 minutes to spare. A quick 2 hour ride and arrived in Lyon. My hotel was a charming old building that the proprietor had restored from a bad state. I cleaned up and went for a good solid walk around. The hotel is on Presqu’il, or “almost island,” a peninsula between the confluence of the Soane and Rhone rivers. Lyon was the capital of the Roman Gaules, Haile Caesar and all of that. After a nap, I walked over to Vieux Lyon and found a place for dinner. Had a nice saddle of lamb and a couple glasses of local wines. Then back to the hotel to call it a night. Unfortunately, no AC and lots of street noise. First night sleep when massively jet lagged is never that much fun. Currently at Lyon Part Dieu station waiting for friends Mai and Fabien to arrive. We will go find lunch and then take the train to Annecy.

Roman coliseum and the early design for Airline seats.

Place Bellecour

Saone River

Sunday, Sept. 2nd, 2018

I’m at San Francisco International airport, waiting for a 3:00pm flight to Paris. Aircraft will be an A380, one of those double decker behemoths you see on occasion at international airports. According to Wikipedia, the Air France variant is designed to seat 516 passengers! Wow! More as things go on. I’m hoping for an on time flight, as I have about an hour to make it to the TGV for a train to Lyon. Photos etc. to come!Wine selection at Air France lounge SFO.

A380, note double decks.