The Vagabond Adventure Daily Journal
Where Are We Now?
Good to see you! Hope you’re enjoying the journey!
This journal provides you snapshots of our journey as we work our way around the world, never traveling by jet. It’s a chance to get a close-up view of the planet as we explore it the way people did 120 years ago.
Day 573 Onto Lausanne
The Lyon Port Dieu train station is a hive of activity. From our hotel window we watch a protest against raising the retirement age of railway workers. Soon they depart and the station’s trains return to slide in and out of the tracks like the slots of a Tetris game, disgorging, and then re-supplying its travelers, busy as frantic ants. Every announcement comes with the bing bang bong that heralds each train's arrival. Since the Romans built its famous roads, Lyon has long been an important intersection as goods passed from French ports to the heart of the empire. The trains today are a legacy, and remain a hub.
Day 571 - Lyon, France
In Lyon, at last! After strikes, fires, errant taxis and missed connections, we finally coughed our way through a strike protest out of the train station and found our hotel. We were looking forward to meeting with our friends, at long last, Perrine and Gaetan, who saved us when our car broke down in the middle of nowhere in Patagonia. We did and had a wonderful dinner. (I'll try to dig up the name and add it to our lengthening list of restaurant recommendations.) They are both enjoying life as they settle into new jobs in one of France's great food cities (the famous chef Paul Bocuse was born and made famous here).