Trafalgar Hotel: Park and Suites (Lyon)

The Park and Suites hotel in Lyon was located in a business center and was about twenty minutes away from the Lyon Part Deux train station. While there was a large mall and fast food eateries near the train station, there wasn't really much to see or do or eat near the hotel itself. Even the hotel restaurant was closed for dinner during Misterpiggy's stay in Lyon.

The hotel room had a kitchenette and a sofa bed that could be used for additional sleeping.

A nice desk area. Wifi was supposed to work but didn't for Misterpiggy.

The room was very large and had another bed in a separate sleeping area.

The bathroom was good sized and modern.

The hotel was right next door to an office building hence the yucky view.  Also the window was broken and could not be closed.  Someone else on the tour also mentioned that their window was broken too.   Misterpiggy had to compensate by turning up the heat at night and closing the hanging doors that separated the sleeping area.  Misterpiggy hopes the hotel can fix all their broken windows.

Even though the hotel restaurant was closed for dinner, it was re-opened the following morning for a decent breakfast.

Misterpiggy's rating:

Size: 1
Comfort and storage: 0.5
Bathroom: 1
Roomsafe: 1
Breakfast: 1
Convenience and access: 0
Cleanliness: 1
View: 0
Quiet: 0
Free Internet/Wifi: 0

Score: 5.5 out of 10.   Misterpiggy thinks he might stay at a different hotel than this one if he revisits Lyon in future.

Day 9: Lyon to Paris

It was a very long day for misterpiggy on Saturday.  He had to catch the TGV from Lyon back to Paris and the train station in Lyon Gare Part Deux was bustling.  His train left promptly at 9:04 am and arrived in Paris at around 11 am.

Don't worry, he didn't jump off the platform.

Misterpiggy travelled in coach #8 which Marie had reserved for the trafalgar group.

The TGV upon arrival at Gare Lyon in Paris.

Marc was driving the tour bus back all the way from Lyon, so the tour group was met at the Paris train station by a different bus that did some sightseeing along the right bank on the way to the Louvre.

Some of the tour group were taking the optional Trafalgar Louvre tour but misterpiggy decided to explore the grounds on his own instead. One day he will return to Paris and see the Louvre museum in it's entirety.

With so little time, misterpiggy had a quick lunch at McDonalds before strolling along the river Seine and admiring the many bridges and beautiful french architecture.  He couldn't resist taking a boat ride so he boarded one at St. Germaine Du Pres and did a half loop around, getting back off at the Louvre.

Before meeting the tour bus for the trip back to the Hilton La Defense,  Misterpiggy very much enjoyed listening to the the string orchestra that was performing near the Comedie Francaise.

Misterpiggy would have preferred to stay all day at the Louvre area, except he had to return to the Hilton hotel in La Defense to check in for his last two nights of this trip. Luckily his boat ticket was good all day long, so misterpiggy took the Metro back into town in the evening and resumed his boat ride.

Misterpiggy Bato-bus arrived at the tour d'Eiffel just as the lights were coming on.  He made his way across the river to get a better vantage point. Afterwards he managed to get on the very last boat departing the Eiffel tower at 9:20 pm and returned to the original departure point.

The Metro from Palais Royale was only 9 metro stops back to La Defense so misterpiggy was snugly in bed by 11 pm.

Day 8: Chateauneuf du Pape, Lyon

Misterpiggy went on a winery tour in Chateauneuf du Pape, on the outskirts of Avignon.

He was surprised to find that the vineyards were almost as small as he was.  Apparently they cut them back very short to allow for a more bountiful harvest of grapes.

Marie had chosen a surprise visit to the Dulac patissier in the town of Montelimar, just north of Chateauneuf du Pape.  Here in his store, the owner hand made chocolate, nougat and other baked items.  He put out lots and lots of samples for everyone to try!

Back on the road to Lyon, Misterpiggy saw many power plants and wind mills.  He learned from Marie that the country of France had 58 nuclear power plants operational and that it was #2 behind the USA which has 104 and ahead of Japan which has 55. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_country


This complex is located on the Rhone river nestled right in the wine region.

By late afternoon, misterpiggy arrived at the Park and Suites Residence hotel in Lyon.  It was about ten minutes walk from the Lyon Part Deux train station.  The hotel was in a business district and there weren't many restaurants around open for dinner.  Not even the one in the hotel.

Here's misterpiggy's review of the Park and Suites hotel in Lyon.

Luckily, after much searching misterpiggy found the Luna ristorante nearby.  It served up great pizza and pasta at reasonable prices!  Highly recommended.

Here's some pics in and around the Lyon train station.