Lyon, France

Lyon was my choice to fly in from Istanbul on my way to Céret, France. It has a large train station with easy connections to the south of France. I stayed one night in the Bellecour area and quickly realized I should have booked several days to roam and see the architecture alone.

The historic part of the city lies between two rivers, the Rhône and the Saône. It is known as the gastronomic city of France, and the first evening I learned why. One block from my hotel began an area of restaurants in tiny, twisty streets that spanned for blocks. Each restaurant posted its menu close to the street, making it easy to determine if it should be my choice for the evening.

With outdoor (and indoor) seating, each restaurant was bustling with business, even on a weeknight. The food was well worth putting up with the hotel where I stayed. Used to tourists and their questions, it was a happy place to have dinner. I would be very interested in seeing the other areas of the city outside of the tourist area.

I learned a lesson in this city. Reading Google reviews can be misleading when booking a hotel for a night. In a new town, if you are unfamiliar with the hotel or the hotel chain, realize the photos may be inaccurate, and the reviews, especially when written by travelers from other countries with very different expectations, may mislead you.

While I was not looking for something spectacular, I was expecting at least the basics. This is especially true given the amount I was charged for one night. I paid a hotel price for a hostel room. I had a single bed shoved against the wall, with two feet of walking space on one side and nowhere to put my suitcase other than the bed. The bathroom was small but acceptable, but running out of hot water in the middle of my shower was not. Exhausted, I decided to deal with it the next day. That was a mistake.

The next day, the receptionist and her manager's fake disbelief made me realize I should have stepped out of the shower, dripping wet and called them the evening before. Am I an entitled American because I expect hot water? I hope not. I was polite, chalking it up to a lesson learned.

I expect to be misled by Airbnb apartments. Having owned three rental units for almost ten years, I have seen virtually everything possible regarding misleading marketing, especially with photos. When a guest left a review, I think the ones I appreciated the most contained a sentence about how accurate the photos were.

But hotels? Most hotel reviews lately are negative, and the hotels are usually better than those reviews represent. When this hotel had all glowing reviews, I was happy to discover that a room was available in such a well-recommended hotel.

Yeah, right. Lesson learned. There is always one bad apple, isn’t there?

The downtown area was architecturally interesting, and the shopping was diverse. There was limited vehicle traffic, and all the vehicles driving through the area were electric, making for a truly enjoyable experience. Only a few motorcycles here and there were not electric. I had to catch myself once when stepping off the curb when the car beside me was so quiet.

The train station in Lyon was similar to those I’d used in London. There is little seating to wait for the train unless you are inside a restaurant, and I only saw a few of those. I’m an early traveler. I try to get everywhere early, especially to the airports. I never know when I’m in the wrong place, the gate has changed, or my flight has a glitch. Yet I’ve learned it is useless to go to a European or UK train station early when the platforms are not posted until twenty minutes before the train arrives. You’ll have to stand there with fifty other folks until the platform location pops up on the board.

I can tell how organized and maintained a city is by examining its alleys. While graffiti is no longer an indicator of anything, the lack of garbage is. Lyon passes the alley test. The next time you’re in Manhattan, look at the alleys. Well, maybe you shouldn’t. They are, many times, disgusting. If you’re in Boston, you’ll see the difference immediately in the downtown area. The last time I was there, a garbage can in one alley was out of place, and there was a citation on it.

If you decide to get off the tourist fast track to Paris, try Lyon. Only give it a fair shake and stay there a few days. One night doesn’t do it justice.