We woke early this morning and ate our final eggs benedict at St. Regis.  We arrived there at 7:30am and were shocked to hear that the egg chef didn’t start til 8:00am.  They promised to cook our breakfast first up as soon as he arrived, so we drank extra coffee and people watched until our breakfast was cooked.  It was delicious as usual and well worth waiting for.  Not sure what it is about Parisian hollandaise, it is far, far superior to any I have had elsewhere in the world – must be that divine French butter.

 We check out of our hotel and caught a cab to Gare de Lyon for the TGV to Lyon.  The journey was around two hours and very comfortable, as are most on European trains.  We arrived at the Lyon TGV station and caught another cab to our hotel in the Presquile – Mercure Beaux Artes.

 All our hotels have been reviewed separately.  My review of the Mercure Beaux Artes can be found here:  https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g187265-d219782-r466415627-Mercure_Lyon_Centre_Beaux_Arts-Lyon_Rhone_Auvergne_Rhone_Alpes.html

This one disappointed me.  Its location was excellent, but we are Accor Plus members which means an upgrade at any Accor hotel, usually to a much better room.  This hotel emailed me a day or so earlier asking my room preferences – I told them we like high floors, a view if possible and a walk-in shower and don’t care about a bath.  We got low floor, no view and a shower over the bath.  Not the way to convince me to stay again.   The hotel was also very overheated, as are many in Europe in the winter.  Sadly, although they advertised air conditioning, it was turned off for the winter.  Luckily the reception staff lent us a fan.

 As mentioned, our location was perfect.  We were on the Presquile, pretty much on a peninsula between the Saone and Rhone Rivers.  We were surrounded by excellent shopping and lots and lots of restaurants.  It was around a ten-minute walk to the Old Town in one direction and about the same to the other river which is where we headed first to check out the market – Les Halles Paul Bocuse.  This market sold an amazing array of foods.  It was getting late and we weren’t overly hungry, but we enjoyed delicious baguettes with ham and cheese washed down with a glass of wine.  G also used the opportunity to try Sea Urchin, definitely not something I would be up for.

 After lunch, it was back to the hotel for unpacking and settling in while G did some shopping.  Dinner that night was at Brasserie Nord, one of the Paul Bocuse stable, where we tried the famous Bresse Chicken.  Have to say we weren’t very impressed.  G got a breast, which was small but reasonable tasty, whereas I was served a tiny thigh, that was stringy and chewy.  We finished with our favourite Crème Brulee before a slow walk through Lyon, looking at the beautiful lights on the way back to the hotel.