Where We Sadly Leave Paris Though Looking Forward To Lyon, And We Begin The Non-cruising Cruising Part Of The Adventure.
With Much Confusion, As Is Tradition
The bus taking us to the Gare de Lyon train station was scheduled to depart at 8:00 a.m. Our bags had to be out in the hallway at 6:30 a.m. So we had to be up at 5:00 a.m. to take showers and pack up the stuff we couldn’t pack the night before.
5:00 a.m. Blech. I thought I retired to get away from 5:00 a.m. alarm clocks,
But we did it. Janet and Susie came down to the lobby around 7:30. We loaded up the bus a little before 8:00.
And then the real confusion began – totally understanding that Viking has been doing their best to figure out a solution to the mess we’re in with all the strikes AND in a very short time frame, we could see some little details were falling through the cracks and some things just weren’t going to work. Arnaud transitioned his leadership to Karina, who would accompany us to the train. It was not clear if she would be ON the train with us.
Before heading to the Gare de Lyon (seemingly pronounced “gahrdlyon” in one giant word and barely two syllables), we stopped by another hotel to pick up more Viking people – who were a bit surprised to see us all.
Once at the train station, Karina handed out tickets – in a rather bizarre fashion. Understanding that Viking bought seats that were available, wherever they were on the train, no effort was put into assigning the seats by groups. Karina handed out sets of two to a few couples. Susie asked for a set of 4, so we could at least be in the same car. Karina said she didn’t have a set of 4, so we’d have to do 2 and 2. Susie and Janet are now in coach 2, and Andy and I are in coach 3. And then Karina handed out a batch of 4 – to someone else. Karina said we could swap seats with anyone willing to do so. What?
The seat issue unresolved, we toddled our way to the center of the lobby. We had a bit of time to roam around before we needed to head to the gate. Of course, my goal was to find a bathroom before getting on the train. There was one bathroom and it was padlocked. No idea why. No one to ask. No sign on the door. Nothing.
So far we’ve noticed this is the typical way problems are dealt with, at least in Paris. If a particular elevator is broken (the middle elevator at our Paris hotel would sit at the lobby floor with its doors opening and closing, opening and closing, opening and closing…and not allowing the other two elevators to work normally), then use the elevator around the corner. If there’s something wrong with the one and only public bathroom in a train station, padlock it and oh well.
When it was time to head to the gate, there were multiple people looking for a bathroom. Good news! Our train was already waiting for us 20 minutes early and we could check in – and use the bathroom on the train!
The train itself is a sleek, high speed machine – a double decker, and of course Andy and I are on the upper level after a flight of stairs. Technically we are sitting “together” in that our seats are consecutive, but I’m sitting in front of Andy, not next to him. Whatever.
The seat was very comfortable and I was even able to sleep a bit – the headrest was actually near my head level, which is highly unusual.
It was not clear if Karina came on the train with us. I don’t think so? But she did come through the gate to make sure we were all on the train. She made sure to mention to get off at the SECOND Lyon stop, not the first.
Once we arrived in Lyon at the correct Lyon stop, we were greeted by Elizabeth in her classic red Viking jacket. The bus was running late, so we stepped off to the side to find a seat.
Once on the bus, almost immediately the confusion intensified. Elizabeth casually mentioned that the group on the bus would be split between TWO hotels, and then proceeded to read an even more confusing list of names of people who would be in certain “cabin” numbers. Cabin numbers? Are we camping or something?
Even worse, groups of people were being split up. One person from a group of 7 – an elderly father/grandfather – was in one hotel, and the rest of his family in another. Susie and Janet were in one hotel, and Andy and I were in another. When everybody pushed back on this craziness, Elizabeth did not respond well: “The hotels are far apart, but you can walk the 45 minutes between them!”. WHAT?!? Then she realized she had made a mess, and said she’d call the program director to figure it out.
Ok, so now with most people on the bus kinda upset, and all of us completely confused, we arrived at the first hotel. Our program director, Lisette, hopped on board and immediately calmed everybody down by saying that she would review all the room assignments and make sure no groups would be split up.
As for the 4 of us – Elisabeth had simply been wrong. We were all at the same hotel – the one where we were parked. Whew, ok, that problem solved.
Lisette also announced that for sure we would be staying at these hotels for two nights. She apologized in advance for the disruption (that was completely out of Viking’s control), and acknowledged that whatever had been planned for the next week is completely up in the air – that they were working on making sure we would see as much of the original itinerary as possible, but for sure there would be more bus rides and less cruising than originally planned. She confirmed that the ship is still in Avignon because of the lock workers’ strike, with no idea when the strike would be over. She said that Thursday, March 23 was going to be a day full of strikes, but that they were going to somehow work around it. For sure on Tuesday, we would be transported to the ship, wherever it might be – could be Avignon, could be someplace else on the river, all depending on the lock workers.
We then could enter the hotel, where we were guided to lunch, while we were waiting for our rooms to be ready and our luggage to arrive from Paris.
After lunch we picked up our room keys – and our luggage had arrived! We went up to our rooms agreeing to meet in a bit to take the shuttle into Lyon to the Place Bellecour.
Which we did. Though because it had been raining and was still overcast, there were few people about. All the stores were closed because it was Sunday. We wandered around the plaza a bit to get a good look at Louis XIV and his horse.
But then we could feel the rain starting again. We headed towards a store front with an overhang to hide. Just in time for the skies to open. And we were stuck. At least we could say we left the hotel and went into the town, even though it was only for a short while. And then we called an Uber and went back to the hotel.
As the car arrived, a spectacular double rainbow appeared in the sky. We all took a bunch of photos, but none of them do it justice. The colors were brilliant – and we could even see the indigo, which never happens.
Back at the hotel we received our program for tomorrow – basically what had been originally planned: Included city tour in the morning, with lunch <somewhere>, then back to the hotel in time for those people who elected to go on an additional excursion. Andy, Susie, and Janet will be going on that excursion, but I will stay back and do <something I dunno probably write a blog>.
It’s late, so I’m going to wrap this up. We need to be at breakfast by 8:00ish to be ready for the bus at 9:00.
Tomorrow: Lyon city tour, and maybe we’ll find out where the boat is docked.
Maryland Meshugas 