Interrail Europe 2002

Day Seven (Sun 20th) - Un Maxi Suggestion

On the previous day we had spent ages debating where we could go for our day trip, we had established early-on that we would stay in Lyon for two days and use our full day to head out to the Alps but choosing which town to visit proved difficult. The main problem was the availability of trains, the alps are a buzzing hive of transportation when the skiing season starts but October is still a little too early and it was awkward to find somewhere we could (a) get to (b) get back and (c) catch a glimpse of at least one Alp; in the end we chose Grenoble.

Despite our tiredness from the previous night we managed to get up, showered and breakfasted by 06:45, a good job seeing as it took us quite a while to find the Metro – a problem caused in part by dodgy directions given to us by a passer-by. We eventually managed to get to Lyon Part-Dieu and on to Grenoble for midday, once again we were lucky with the weather and were greeted by clear blue skies. This time round we had studied the guidebook a little so we headed straight to the téléférique, a small cable-car system from the edge of town to the Fort de la Bastille. The view from the roof of the fort was magnificent, there really are no other words, Grenoble is one of the most beautifully situated towns I have ever been to – built on the river Isère and right on the edge of the Alps. Whilst the day was a little misty it was easy to make out the peak of Mont Blanc in the distance, a satisfying sight as my first ever foreign holiday took me to the Alps and onto the slopes of Mont Blanc.

It was difficult to follow the beautiful view of the alps from the fort and as it was a Sunday practically all of the town’s many shops and sights were shut. We wandered for a while, around a Science Fair in the main square and then headed back to the station via the amusingly named (well, I thought so) Place de Hubert Doubetdout. Whilst getting food at a ‘Quickie’ fast-food joint we missed our train and had another hour to wait, so we went back into town and had a drink at the Palais de Biere before heading back to Lyon on the 15:52 train where we saw our conductor from the previous day – Mr Funky-Hair.

Back in Lyon we had a mooch around the town but my energy-levels were going steadily downhill and I began to get a headache, we stayed-out anyway and searched for an early meal. We wound-up in a Mexican restaurant in central Lyon - I had quesadilla and Baz had a Maxi-Suggestion, essentially a mix of items from the menu but the name alone kept us amused for ages. Even after the meal I was feeling awful so we caught the funicular to the top of the hill and had a slow walk down before retiring at about 21:30.

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