Sunday, July 26, 2015

Lyon, St. Briac, London - July 2015


Mixing in some time with Adrienne's family and a couple days in London. SFO-LHR on Virgin Atlantic with a BA LHR-LYS on our outbound.

Lyon

Arriving in Lyon at midnight had us a little hungry, so we started at La Gratineé  a "member club" open from 23:00 to 7:00 each night. Membership costs €2 per person, so not a real impediment. They do have an apparent rule that everyone must order a main, and if you're sitting in the back as opposed to in front of the bar, look at the menu and decide what you want on your way in. Very simple menu with four steaks, three sauces to choose from, and a couple kinds of potatoes. Cannot recommend enough for late-night dining.

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High temperature was around 38C/101F for our two days. We made the hike to the basilica on the first day and wandered around the heights of the old city which was nice. The second day was very hot and we tried to stay out of the heat as much as possible. Nice walk through a market along the Sôane in the morning and dinner at Le Passage which was very good, but a note that locals eat outside so they can smoke, leaving the inside full of tourists. Good food and fantastic service nonetheless.

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Saint Malo

UntitledLeft Lyon on a train to St. Malo, transferring at Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy, otherwise known as EuroDisney. You don't have to leave the station to transfer, so the mouse is not pushed on you :) No issues on the way to St. Malo and a quick cab ride to St. Briac. Had a great stay at Le Vieux Logis which has 4 or 5 rooms and fantastic breakfasts served by an excellent hostess.







A couple very nice days with Adrienne's extended family and a little bit of beach time on an actually warm day. This was followed by a windy, cloudy day just to make sure we got the full experience. Had a very nice hike along the Gulf de Dinard despite the conditions and saw a WWII German bunker that was interesting. Good dinner at Les deux sardines where I had very good sardines and fish. I think I ordered poorly at Cotes et Broches, with the pulpo being a bit tough and the fish not great while Adrienne's lamb was fantastic. A quick uneventful flight from Dinard to Standted (DNR-STN) on Ryanair, with the only highlight being the surprisingly great pub on the second level of the Dinard airport. Really a nice place.

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London

Two nice dinners with Adrienne's friends at Fifteen (would probably not return based on very slow service) and Ffiona's (great sea bream). Good visit at the Tate Modern including tea and scones on the 6th floor overlooking the Thames. All around an excellent museum stop. A lot of construction in London with a ton of cranes all over the city. Was tough to find a simple pub to watch the Wimbledon's mens semifinals but after trying a couple places (including the Sports Bar & Grill Farringdon which was pretty meh) I ended up at the Kings Stores by Liverpool Stn. Great service and good beer/cocktail list. Food menu was interesting but we had dinner plans.

Completely uneventful return flight to SFO and actually got a bit of sleep to help with the time adjustment.


$1.09 = € and $1.53 = £1 - More Photos

Restaurant Links:

La Gratineé
Le Passage
Les deux sardines