Monday, April 2, 2018

Lyon to Caen - Jet Lag Ends Eventually, Right?

I thought that the jet lag was bad for the first two days, but really it wasn't.  I had lots of adrenaline and a desire to see everything in Lyon, which kept me excited in spite of the overwhelming urge to fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon.

My jet lag really kicked in during my five-hour train ride from Lyon to Caen today.  Oh my goodness, it felt like I was post-overnight call for the first time in five years.  No amount of reading or internetting or listening to good music could keep me from dozing off and leaning precariously into the middle aisle of the train.  (Over and over.  I think my neck is going to be sore from snapping backwards every time I dozed off.)

I almost didn't make it to Caen.  I left myself lots of time to get to my first train*, but I hadn't realized that the receipt I had printed out was not an actual ticket, so at the last minute I was scrambling to download an e-ticket on my phone.  And then I had an hour to switch trains in Paris, which would have been fine except that I had to take the metro between stations, which got me to the second station less than 30 minutes before my train.  And then I couldn't download my next e-ticket.  So I stood in a very long ticket line, watching the time until my train departed disappear and panicking, until I got so nervous that I asked the person in front of me if I could cut ahead**.  Unfortunately, seemingly everyone was trying to get on the same train, so no, I couldn't cut ahead of anyone. Thankfully, about 5 minutes before the train, my phone suddenly cooperated, and I was able to access my ticket.  If it hadn't, I might still be in Paris trying to get a later train out.

But anyway....after a lot of head bobbing and drooling on my fleece, I arrived in Caen, where pretty much everything is closed for Easter Monday.  I really didn't want to eat more cheese and bread for supper***, so I was quite happy to discover an open Vietnamese restaurant around the corner from my B and B.  Not what I was expecting to have for supper on my third day in France, but it was surprisingly tasty.

So that was my day....I didn't blog about yesterday, as I got home from supper very late, but here are some photos to hopefully make up for it.

The meeting place for my morning walking tour (walking tour #2 and pain au chocolat #2):


One of the two open-air markets we saw on the tour:


A view of the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière, as well as part of the city: 

 
The Hotel de Ville (City Hall) on the walking tour, complete with participants in the race that was run roughly along the route of our walking tour.


After the walking tour, I visited some Roman ruins.  But no photos of them for you, as my B and B has no internet (how is this a thing?), and my phone internet can only handle uploading so many photos.

After the ruins, I took a long walk up the hill to the Basilica.  A view from the outside:


(The views from the inside are also being held captive on my computer.)

I ended my day at the Museum of the Resistance and Deportation.  A photo of WWII refugees from Paris, who had been relocated to Lyon:


Hmmm....maybe I'm actually tired because I'm trying to do so much every day?  I'm sure I'll do better tomorrow.  During my one day in Caen.  Cause there isn't much to do here...

*I also had lots of time to eat anglais abricots, a pastry that I might like better than pain au chocolat...I'll let you know after a few more comparisons.

 **This is unusual for me, as I don't generally like talking to strangers, and I find it extra hard to do in French.

***Yes, I have already reached the point of my trip at which I'm whining about having to eat the same thing two meals in a row.  I blame the jet lag.

10 comments:

  1. I always plan rest days every 3-4 days or so. Traveling is tiring!

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    1. That is very smart! I have two long days ahead of me (trip to Honfleur and trip to the D-day beaches, assuming I can work with the trains), followed by a day of train travel to Dijon...so yeah. Not doing great with the rest days. But hope to have a low-key day the day before my conference, if nothing else.

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  2. I think you should try different pastries every day until you are certain which ones you like best. I'll expect a detailed report. :) As OMDG says, take a rest day once in a while.

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    1. Will do! Tried a quiche today and a brioche au chocolat. The abricot anglais is still my favourite.

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  3. Jet lag lasted for me, at least, 2 days and in Korea for the Winter Olympics, it lasted for about 4 going and 2 coming back (odd as going east used to be worse for me than west).

    As always, love your stories and pics (blog is public again because I was asked)...

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    1. You got to go to the Olympics??? I am so jealous! Although I would probably hate them, as I don't like crowds or really like sports...but I love the idea of them.

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  4. Navigating train stations in other languages can definitely be intimidating. I'm glad you didn't get stuck in Paris.

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  5. Me too! Some of the trains are on strike today though, so we'll see if I make it to Dijon as planned...

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  6. Two words... FRENCH. PASTRIES. Le sigh! :swoons:
    And yeah, jet lag can be an absolute bear. But I'm gladly willing to pay that price to be able to travel more. Eat an extra abricot anglais for us! :-)

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  7. This is a great place organize an event; they have great staff and great events put on here! I had nothing but great times and great conversations at event space Atlanta here. They served slider and shrimp cakes as appetizers with chicken skewers, and eggrolls that had veggies on the inside and some kind of creamy fruit sauce on top.

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