The day after saying goodbye to Jim and Vince, I have the United Nations of friends arrive: Elena from Paris, Nick from London and Ivan from Lisbon. They all arrive at different times and via different transport, but of course the first thing we do is have a nice lunch.

This is Ayla, a Lebanese restaurant a short walk from my apartment. The restaurant is run by husband and wife Najem and Corinne.

The food is fresh and inventive and packed with flavor. Najem explains everything in great detail and is so accommodating when we decide to switch to a different table. Ottolenghi watch out!

After lunch, Ivan is intent on swimming, so we all go over to the Centre Nautique Tony Bertrand. Built on the occasion of Lyon’s candidacy for the 1968 Olympics, this public pool, built along side the Rhône river, is huge and gorgeous. It only costs 8 euros for admission and they are strict about bathing costumes. Ivan had to buy a regulation suit from a machine.

Elena and I enjoy walking along the river and meeting the owners of a nearby restaurant, Jules and Tim, who try valiantly to convince us to join a wine festival dinner they are hosting that night.

Swimming accomplished, we walk back to my neighborhood in the sun.

After changing into our dinner clothes, we start the evening with a wine and cheese party at my apartment.

Dinner tonight is at Brasserie Roseaux. You may remember when I was last there, I was envious of the table with the steak tartare. Well, I am able to get over that now.

Elie, our great server, does the honors tableside.

Some of us even have room for dessert.

The next morning, it is time for breakfast at my place. I provide the coffee, but Elena goes out early and selects one of everything in the pastry department.

No time like the present to have entry number 3 in the best croissant of Lyon contest. This one is from Copain. This bakery is in my building and I smell bread baking every morning when I wake up.

The nearby Parc Tete d’or is calling to us on this sunny day so we head off to explore.

The zoo, the botanical garden, miles of trails…..this park is a treasure for Lyon. Ivan is heading to swim again, so Nick and I watch out my window for Elena to come walk with us to lunch. Because I am on the street, we have a system where I just leave the window open and whoever is coming shouts up to us. I am sure the neighbors love this.

It’s a gorgeous day so we walk into Croix-Rousse so I can take them to Nafas, my Syrian refugee restuarnt for lunch. Over the river and through the winding streets we go.

We arrive and the family is happy to see that I have brought more people to their restaurant. There are no outside tables, but they find two blue tables and chairs and within minutes we are ordering.

We are entertained during lunch by watching three girls about four years old set up a make-shift hospital on a bench outside. They take turns being the doctor, nurse and patient. I’ve never seen kids that age act so fairly with each other!

After lunch we make our way to Les Bateaux Lyonnais boat launch. Ivan jumps out of uber last minute and joins us. It’s a stunningly beautiful day and we happily cruise the Saône River.

We are very thirsty after being in the water. Aperol Spritz anyone?

Tonight’s dinner ends up being delicious, just not at the restaurant we reserved. After a long uber ride to the top of Croix-Rousse, we find out the restaurant wants to seat us outside in the chilly night air at tables that look like they have never been used for dining. No thanks. I do get a good shot of the Ferris wheel before pivoting to Le Rive Gauche, a great fun restaurant back on my block.

After a lazy Sunday morning, we meet for lunch on a boathouse before splitting into two groups.

Nick and I have tickets for the Lyon Film Festival and Elena and Ivan choose to give up their tickets to go to the Beaux Art museum. We are seeing the Stanley Kubrick movie, Barry Lyndon. This is an epic 3 hour long historical drama made in 1975 starring a very young Ryan O’Neal.

It’s an adaption of the 1844 novel “The luck of Barry Lyndon”. Barry Lyndon won four Oscars at the 48th Academy Awards and in a 2022 poll of directors and film critics, Barry Lyndon won 12th in the directors’ poll and 45th in the critics’ poll. I have to be honest with you. I never heard of the movie. I just want to go because it is a Stanley Kubrick film and it was part of the film festival. Others are big fans of the movie, which we find out when Nick offers our extra tickets to a French couple standing in a long line hoping to get last minute tickets. Their thanks are genuine and profuse.

The theatre is filled. No one gets any refreshments. Not a popcorn bag in sight. This is an intense movie going crowd! Geraldine, an extremely nice staff member we had met the day before when we got the tickets, talks for 15 minutes before the movie starts. People seemed to enjoy her comments. I couldn’t tell you since it was rapid-fire French.

We emerge three hours later and need time to process all that we have seen. The movie presents like a novel capturing many chapters in Barry Lyndon’s life. Ryan O’Neal does a surprisingly good job.

We make our way over to Café Terroir where Elena and Ivan meet us. Café Terroir is a unique French traditional gastronomical Michelin restaurant offering a selection of local products found in all four corners of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. We are told Cold Play ate there last year. Now people can talk about the four of us eating there.

It’s our last dinner in Lyon together so of course we start with a bottle of bubbles. Things proceed from there! I believe there was one bottle (or two?) of a delicious French red too. It was a fantastic meal.

We decide to walk along the river home. It’s so beautiful out.

After breakfast Monday morning, we take the funicular up to Basilica Fourvieux. No matter how many times I see it, it still impresses me.

There is a restaurant next to the Basilica called Bulles with panoramic views of Lyon. We head there for a delicious lunch.

Elena sadly must leave us to catch her train back to Paris. I hope to see her again very soon. She is a wonderful new friend.

The three of us decide to visit the nearby Roman ruins and walk down the hill.

We can’t seem to make it down the hill without dessert.

With that, Ivan and Nick head off to fly back to Lisbon.

A wonderful visit with great friends!

Tuesday, I must make do again on my own. I decide to try the Michelin restaurant Flair for lunch. Chef Motonori, born in Japan, expatriated first to Lyon to cook alongside famous chef Christian Tetedoie before becoming the chef of Flair.

Like most restaurants in Lyon, Flair offers a three course lunch with 2 choices for each course. The lunch is 27 euros. This just amazes me that restaurants of this caliber can do this, but this is very typical of my meals in Lyon.

I add a 2 euro coffee and leave after paying my 29 euros.

I’m off to the Musée des Confluences. This is a science and anthropology musem opened in 2014. It is positioned at the confluence of the Saône and Rhoen Rivers. It is said to resemble a floating crystal cloud of stainless steel and glass.

This is a striking building. It’s quite busy with many children. On one floor there is a special exhibit: Zombis!

I think about going, but the line is long and zombies just are not at the top of my list.

The floor above is the permanent collection. There are four major exhibits: Origins, Species, Societies and Eternities. The first deals with the Big Bang theory of the universe. The second explores the link between humans and animals. The third is about how societies build communities and the last deals with the Meaning of Life. I went to all the exhibits, but I am sure it surprises no one that I like the last one the best.

I went up on the roof of the building to get a shot of the confluence and also to clear my head. Going to this museum is like getting a PhD in one afternoon.

When I leave, I decide to metro up the river to check out two vintage shops I have read about.

Later I decide I need a “light” bite so I go on my block to 900 degrees, a casual Italian restaurant.

Tomorrow I am meeting a new Lyonnaise couple, courtesy of a friend’s introduction. I also still have three candidates to sample for the croissant contest and tickets in a few days to a candlelight concert. Stay tuned and thanks for following along!