Lyon to Tournus

June 1, 2023

Today was easy, it was pleasant. Everything went according to plan. Yesterday, after an hour of trying to reserve two spots on the train for our bikes for today, Steven went to the train station to be told that for the short distance we were traveling, we didn’t need reservations for our bikes.

With more than a little trepidation we headed off to the station, well in advance this morning. Depending who we ask at the train station we get different answers to whether we need bike reservations and also whether we have to validate our tickets before getting on the train. Today we did neither and no one in the train even asked to see our tickets. So we still aren’t sure about having tickets validated or needing bicycle reservations.

We boarded at 11:20 and by 12:30 we were in Macon and cycling into the centre of town. It was bigger than we thought it would be, another lovely, preserved town and busy on the restaurant patios. We picked up bread from the bakery and some salad things to go with our hard boiled eggs and coasted down to the riverside to pick up the « Voie Bleue » beside the Soane. By 1pm we had found a bench to break out our lunch. That’s when Ann realized she’d left her water bottle on the train. Darn !

After lunch we cycled along this well laid out Blue Route which is signposted all the way along from Mâcon to Tournus. Virtually the whole of this stage is paved towpath beside the Saône. It was bucolic countryside. White cows in the fields and white swans on the river.

After the hills of Provence and the business of our days in Lyon, the quiet and serenity of this lovely path along the river was just what we needed and we loved every minute of it.

Interesting inner courtyard. Our apt in Lyon had the second balcony. On the ground, the kitchen from a Michelin star restaurant opened into the courtyard. We were surprised how many were working in the tiny kitchen.

A study in France’s iconic blue striped shirt.

Looking across the river one last time in the morning light.

After the day’s ride we find out that the former Café de la Marine on the banks of the Saône, was made famous by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of The Little Prince, who liked to go there to meet his friend Léon Werth. I wonder if this cute restaurant is it?

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Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 1,514 km (940 miles)

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Suzanne GibsonI believe you do have to validate your tickets. Otherwise they could be used twice. We have been fined for not validating our tickets. We thought buying tickets was enough-wrong! However some tickets have the dates on them when they are valid.
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10 months ago

Kirsten KaarsooWe have had ‘e tickets’ so no validation. My understanding is if they have a QR code no validation??? But I could be completely wrong. We had paper with QR code and no one asked for it to be validated.
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10 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonThat’s my understanding also. You don’t need to (and can’t, 8 don’t think) reserve bike space on regional trains, but you do need the ticket validated.
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10 months ago