Day 31 Lyon to Nice

We had a nice peaceful breakfast this morning as there weren't many other guests at the hotel.

We then checked out, left our bags at reception & caught the metro

 

 to Parc de la Tete d'Or, which was a massive park area.

The park included some large glasshouses, botanic gardens, a zoo, a large lake & family entertainment like mini golf, miniature train, bumper boats etc. Being winter the gardens were sleeping & unimpressive & the park was virtually deserted, apart from obsessive joggers & the odd pram.  The park covers many acres so we had a good stroll around most of it. We started in the glasshouses which were heated to tropical temperatures & as we walked into each room it coincided with a fine spray of water from above.

The outdoor gardens were well set out & starting to bud, so would likely be incredible in a couple of months time.

We enjoyed the zoo area- there is something nice about a free zoo in a large park, being less commercial & today crowd-free. We watched a big dark bear circling his pen for a while

...seemed a bit bored & then moved on to some pelicans

& gorgeous pink flamingos.

There were also some limas sleeping in a tree

who woke later & created quite a fracas.  Around the corner was the giraffe enclosure with at least half a dozen giraffe , but they were difficult to see though dirty glass & we were about to move on when they let one out.

We stood entertained by this for ages...have never been so close to a giraffe & he was really active...walking gracefully & then galloping awkwardly...very funny to watch.

Reminded us how hard it is to run when you have long legs (that's our excuse anyway). Then on to zebra,

crocodiles,

some "what-do-you-call-its"...no idea but they had big horns!

Red panda,

lots of monkeys,

& finally the lions (who really just wanted to lie in the sun).  Managed to squeeze in some obligatory squirrel watching too!

We left the zoo area & walked around the lake...quiet with plenty of lovely picnic spots & seats to enjoy the view. 

Time was getting on now so we found a set of gates to exit the park & Nick used an app he had on his phone to find somewhere nearby to eat, that was well rated. It was only 5 minutes walk from the park & we would never have spotted it ourselves. It was only a small local cafe but we got a table ok. The lady in there was lovely & talked to Nick a lot, & he found out she had been in NZ about 10 years ago...at the Chateau on Ruapehu.

Thankfully we didn't have to have 3 courses & the menu was relatively small making it easier to decide.

I ordered a salad (again not as healthy as it sounds) which had a base of lentils with chorizo & a few salad leaves & tiny quails eggs on top - it was delish!

Cam ordered goulash & Nick had a rack of pork with braised chicory.

We then shared just 2 desserts today - chocolate mousse in mango coulis (incredible!) & pannacotta with caramelised apple & chestnuts - yum!

Another good choice- seems we can't go wrong with food in Lyon.

Strangely we then went in search of a boulingerie to buy some food for our train ride to Nice. It was hard to choose when we had just eaten, but there was a much better selection here than near the station.  We selected some fougasse & also got some sweet pastry to try which is a specialty of Lyon.

Then back to the hotel to collect our bags & on to our train - leaving at 4pm & over 4 hours journey to Nice.  Found our seats easily, as we are now experts....at least with French trains.

The train stopped at various towns along the way, so we sort of saw a bit of Avignon, Provence, Marseille, etc....though hardly typical from a train.

Nick seems to have inherited the ability (from his grandfathers?) to fall asleep as soon as he sits down.  The train had barely left Lyon & he was asleep, but we had to wake him up when he started drooling! He retaliated by complaining that Cam & I kept him awake last night with our snoring.

The scenery on this journey was far more interesting, with some small old villages along the way, & after 2 hours we were on the coastline with the sun setting. However once it got dark we had nothing to look at but our own reflections & we had some annoyingly loud Chinese students sitting near us. It seemed a long journey.

We finally made it to Nice & Nick led the way to our hotel. It always seems a long way when we arrive. Our room is very spacious & we have 3 separate beds....hooray!

The building is very old & decor is a bit dated, but don't expect we will spend too much time in our room. It would have been nice to have somewhere to stay a bit more special for Nick's big birthday, but I couldn't find anywhere to sleep 3...and that allowed check in after 8 pm.

We are all looking forward to discovering Nice in the morning.