The client has suddenly realized today that they are paying a relative fortune per day for my time and aren't really prepared to utilize my vast talents. The decision was made today that maybe they were a little premature in asking for two weeks of my time in that they weren't close to being ready. Net result is that I am out of here on Sunday instead of the Saturday a week later. Not without pain and some more dollars to Delta. If there are not any seats left of the fare you paid then you need to add dollars until you can buy one of the seats they have left. It is one of the perils of last minute travel. "Sorry all the 'cheap' cattle car tickets are sold but we do have some 'expensive' cattle car tickets." Same food, lousy seat just a couple of hundred dollars more precious. I am being snarky here as I actually will be flying business class which is one of the advantages of spending a large portion of your life on a plane. The almightly Platinum upgrade.
If you have to be in France on business or holiday then Lyon is probably as good as any place and most likely better than most. The people are very pleasant and the city is a snap to move around in. The metro is clean, efficient and cheap and can take you just about anywhere when coupled with the buses and tramways.
The food in Lyon is the best in Europe, bar none. This is the home of great cuisine in France. Paul Bocuse, Jacques Pepin, Paul Lacombe, etc. all sprang from the samll bouchon that are everywhere here. You can only get a bad meal here if you stay in your hotel and pay twice the price.
Tonight I walked a couple of blocks from the hotel and to the Bistrot du Palais. For an entree(that's an appetizer everywhere but in the U.S.) I had Filet de Margareau dans Vin Blanc. A lovely little dish of small fish filets(no idea what fish) poached in an aromatic white wine sauce over steamed potatoes and carrots in the cooking sauce served cold. For the main course I went with one of my favorites Braised Duck Leg with vegetables (Pot au Feu de Cuisse de Canard avec Legumes. Fall off the bone and gloriously fragrant with the aromatic veggies. Crusty french bread and a lovely Cote de Rhone Rouge. For a foodie like me it doesn't get much better. It would have been even better to share it with Madam Fallenmonk.
Finished up with a dish that is only found here in Lyon "Cervelles de Canut". The literal translation is "brains of the silk worker" but it is a wonderful after dinner treat. It is a very simple dish of creme fraiche blended with herbs, shallots and lots of garlic. It is a must have if you ever visit Lyon but you had better like garlic!
Going to get to sleep tonight without the threat of an alarm going off. It will be interesting to see if I can foil the internal clock and sleep past 530 am. I will try.
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