Lyon, Day 1. Rail terminal at Lyon airport

Our flight to Lyon was at 1.00 pm, and we got to the airport around 11.30. It was remarkably quiet, with hardly any queue at the checkin desks (maybe because more people check in on line these days?), and even the dreaded security line wasn't too long. Actually getting through security would have been better if there'd been more than only two positions open.

We went up to the bar we usually like to use for a quiet pre-flight bevvie, but it was a disaster, with ridiculously slow service, no large bottles of the original Bulmers cider, no Guinness available on tap (!) and only one lager on offer (and even that ran out as Carl decided to go for it). We looked at one another as we stood there waiting for the bar person to come back from changing the kg, felt sorry for the people who came to the bar after us, gave up, and went in search of an alternative.

To be fair, parts of Dublin Airport are actually all right, especially the shiny new section where a new range of shops are available. There's a new area upstairs here too, with a decent bar in it which had both large bottles of the original Bulmers and Guinness on tap. That cheered us up a bit.

We were a bit late boarding, but we caught up time in the air and arrived in Lyon on schedule. Our apartment owners had given us directions, and recommended taking the the Rhone Express in to town and then changing to a city tram. (If only Dublin's Metro North had gone ahead during the good times, perhaps we too would have a decent transport service from the airport. Meanwhile we'll just have to envy places like Lyon.) Mind you, one thing Dublin has in its favour is the closeness of the airport to the city. We landed just after 4.00 pm in Lyon, and it was almost 6.00 by the time we got off the tram and met Steve, our landlord for these next three nights. If and when Metro North actually becomes a reality, I doubt, though, that the airport station will be as dramatic and exciting as the one in Lyon, which is what today's blip is.

After the usual meet and greet routine of familiarisation with the apartment and the surroundings, off we went to Old Lyon in search of a restaurant. It takes us a while to make up our minds about where to eat, and tonight was no different. Eventually we plumped for a likely looking little pace near the cathedral which turned out to be okay. We'd thought of stopping for a nightcap afterwards, but our pub of choice was spoiled by the fact that it was too chilly to sit outside, and inside was ruined for us by large-screen coverage of some football match. So we made our way home, and called it a day.