Welcome to Lyon

 We've made it to Lyon where the temperature at 5:30pm is a balmy 98F degrees.  We're sitting in the hotel bar sipping wine while we wait for things to cool down.  Tonight there should be a great display of Bastille Day fireworks.  The trip here this morning was easy as we took an AMA provided bus from the ship to central Lyon and got dropped off at our hotel.  Things got even better when we were told that our room was ready when we arrived at 10:30am.  We spent the first part of today walking around Lyon.  I'll get to that but let's cover the end of the river cruise first.

When I last posted, we were sailing to Chalon-sur-Saone.  

After dinner, we took a walk.  The city was busy with activity along the river in preparation for Bastille Day - many people out and a band playing.  As the sun went down and the moon rose, it made for a wonderful evening.

We started the next day with a walking tour of Chalon.  It was a brisk tour that hit the highlights - park, church and market!  Chalon was the home of Nicephore Niepce who is credited with inventing photography.  

In the afternoon we did the last of the excursions -  a trip to taste some Chalonaise wine.  The winery we went to was owned and operated by 2 women - it was one of the better winery tours that we've had and the wine was organic and good.

Now, on to Lyon.  Our hotel is in the area called Presqu'ile which is a peninsula between the Saone and Rhone Rivers.  After dropping our stuff in our room we took off hoping to beat the worst of the heat.  Our walk took us up to the Place Bellecour where we discovered that we had missed the Bastille Day military parade - they apparently wanted to beat the heat also!  But sitting in the park under a tree was pleasant.

We then worked our way over the Saone to Vieux Lyon - the old town.  Prior to walking further, we stopped for the favorite French lunch - baguette sandwiches.

That was capped off with some great ice cream from a shop we noticed on our first visit here last week.

By the time we finished our ice cream, the temperature had risen and it was time to take a nap in our air conditioned hotel room.

Now for a quick wrap up of our impressions of the cruise.  As usual, the time spent with the Arizona wine makers and the tastings on board were great.  In the past, Linda and I have been big fans of AmaWaterways.  However, this time we both came away very disappointed.  The ship was old and in need of some care.  The food was uninspired and the ship's wine that was served at lunches and dinners was fair at best.  Then there is the river cruise concept where you are frequently in a city with included excursions which compels you to take advantage of them so it's go, go, go.  I just prefer to go off on our own.  And, finally, I fear that Oceania Cruises has spoiled us.  We get treated so royally on Oceania whereas on Ama that wasn't the case despite our 13 cruises with them.  Oh well - we'll get over it.

We anticipate having a good time exploring Lyon and working around the heat.  It's now 6:30pm and the temperature is now 99 degrees!  It is supposed to cool down to the lower 90's for the next 2 days.  We hope!

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry