Our first trip outside of Switzerland after having relocated was to the lovely city of Lyon. It was my first solo international car drive, Addie was a tender 9 months old and a rubbish sleeper to boot, and – in the most dreadful of crimes – we failed to eat nearly enough of the amazing local cuisine. A return trip was always on the cards and happily it occurred last weekend. We were meeting up with some friends who are on an enviable three month holiday around Europe, so last Friday we hit the highway. Once again I was behind the wheel, but this time we’d doubled the number of offspring (both of whom now happily sleep well) and had absolutely no intention of missing out on French delights.

Our last visit was in October. It was autumn and the weather, while not exactly unpleasant, was not prime outdoors material. We’re currently in the height of summer here – it’s been glorious for weeks now – and the city felt completely different. (That may also have had something to do with the two pint size travellers who are no longer happy to be simply pushed around as their parents sightsee and eat.)

It was a low key trip, the markets / traboules / walking tours of our previous visit not replicated. This time, we focused on food and local parks which kept all of us reasonably happy.  After a late arrival on Friday night we made the most of lost time and hit the old town for lunch. The two little charcuterie monsters were delighted.

As always, there was wandering to be done. On our last trip, we were belatedly told about an Australian themed barge on which one could partay (to be fair, it didn’t matter if it was belated or not as I doubt we would have gone to the inappropriate and inappropriately named ‘Ayres Rock’ anyway). Jen and I did, however, sneak away from our beloved families for a cheeky non-Aussie-barge rosé.

The main culinary event was saved for the evening: we visited a Michelin starred bouchon where three quarters of us ate beef and the other had major food envy. While there, I overheard a familiar accent and my already burning ears pricked up even more when she said the words ‘Wagga Wagga’. Turns out I was not the only Riverina lass dining in Lyon that evening (and she had also ordered the bloody beef). After a few games of ‘who do you know’ and ‘where are you going next’ we went our seperate ways only to run into each other again the following morning. For the third largest city in France, with a population of about seven times that of Wagga, it sure felt like a small town.

We left after a market run where we stocked up on meats, fish and baked goods (the former two largely ruined by the time we got home due to a reverse refrigeration accident), stopping in Geneva on the way home for a dip in the lake. Once again it feels that we perhaps didn’t capitalise on the fabulous city, but nonetheless we all had a great getaway. If we do make it back again, I’m curious to see the changes not only in the city but in our wee girl. The snap on the left was taken on our first trip and the one on the right last weekend. Although the latter looks like she is crawling, my girl is actually scaling the wall on the banks of the river. On second thoughts, maybe I’d rather we didn’t see the next Addie incarnation any time too soon.