As we extended our stay in Barcelona we had to change our plans a little bit. At first, we thought we could stay somewhere on the cote azur for the night, but as we had to be in Milan the next day, Lyon still seemed to be the best place to stop.
In Lyon centre it started to rain a bit (not too bad). We walked up the mountain a bit, for a good overall view and passed by some nice squares and fountains. But it was a bit of speed-sightseeing, as we only had two hours before we needed to go to the campsite. Although I think that Lyon was not very special and rather dead. No people on the street. My travel "bible" said Lyon was the city with the highest number of restaurants per inhabitant, which we can confirm. There were loads them. Still we had a problem to find cheap food. Rather an issue for Mr.-always-hungry-Hobbelman than for me ;-).
Back to the luggage, back into the metro to go to the bus station (from where the bus to the campsite was supposed to leave). I was VERY tired by then. And when Tim immediately started talking to some guys with a tent and backpacks I was almost hacked off that he always sees a like-minded backpacker in everybody. But it turned out that Tim's active mouth can be a lifesaver, because the guys (who were not backpacking, but just bought their equipment) told us that it was pretty far to the campsite and that the busses probably are not running late in the evening. While the letters FUCKING HELL formed in our heads and left us clueless about how to get there, a long-haired guy turned around and said "If the bus is not going there anymore, I can take you there with my car". A bit stunned we asked "Really? Is that on your way home?" And he said "Yes, no problem". INCREDIBLE!
We had booked our train for the next day for 9am and as the bus took 30 min (and not 10, which my book had said) we would have to leave at around 8. But the guy told us that the reception does not open before 8:30 and we were not able to pay now, as he did not have any access to the cash box. FUCKING HELL! Clueless again, Florian offered to leave his own ID here and come back the next day to pay for us. . . . . . . . . . we were speechless and couldn't stop smiling stupidly for the rest of the day. We gave them the money plus some euros extra for petrol. The only thing we really regretted was not having the time to meet them the next day to go for a drink together.
The never ending train ride brought us first to Cebere where everybody got out and had to wait 
at the ticket counter (because of the inability of Spain to book foreign trains again). A nice and competent French woman then told us in the queue that we could go to Montpellier and get a train to Lyon from there. Which we actually did. In Montpellier we had the amaaaazing and unique experience not to have any queue at all. We could just go to the counter. AND....Surprise!....the man was nice, spoke English and could really book a train for us to Lyon. How nice! I called the campsite in Lyon, where I was told they had a free space and were open until 11pm.
We arrived in Lyon at around 8 pm and decided to store our luggage and walk through the town for a while before going to the campsite. We just made the mistake to store the luggage before informing us where we were. Because we were very far outside the centre so we needed 10 tickets to get to town, get back to the luggage, get to the bus station, get to the campsite and back (or a least that was the plan). FUCKING HELL. At least metro tickets are cheap in France.
at the ticket counter (because of the inability of Spain to book foreign trains again). A nice and competent French woman then told us in the queue that we could go to Montpellier and get a train to Lyon from there. Which we actually did. In Montpellier we had the amaaaazing and unique experience not to have any queue at all. We could just go to the counter. AND....Surprise!....the man was nice, spoke English and could really book a train for us to Lyon. How nice! I called the campsite in Lyon, where I was told they had a free space and were open until 11pm.We arrived in Lyon at around 8 pm and decided to store our luggage and walk through the town for a while before going to the campsite. We just made the mistake to store the luggage before informing us where we were. Because we were very far outside the centre so we needed 10 tickets to get to town, get back to the luggage, get to the bus station, get to the campsite and back (or a least that was the plan). FUCKING HELL. At least metro tickets are cheap in France.
First nice surprise in Lyon was then that somebody gave us a metro ticket for free. Second surprise was that Lyon metro stations play nice music. Third suprise was that Lyon metro drives without driver....GHOST TRAIN! Was a bit scary, but also very cool as you have big windows in the front and back and it feels like you are in a video game flying through a tube =). Loved it!
In Lyon centre it started to rain a bit (not too bad). We walked up the mountain a bit, for a good overall view and passed by some nice squares and fountains. But it was a bit of speed-sightseeing, as we only had two hours before we needed to go to the campsite. Although I think that Lyon was not very special and rather dead. No people on the street. My travel "bible" said Lyon was the city with the highest number of restaurants per inhabitant, which we can confirm. There were loads them. Still we had a problem to find cheap food. Rather an issue for Mr.-always-hungry-Hobbelman than for me ;-).
Back to the luggage, back into the metro to go to the bus station (from where the bus to the campsite was supposed to leave). I was VERY tired by then. And when Tim immediately started talking to some guys with a tent and backpacks I was almost hacked off that he always sees a like-minded backpacker in everybody. But it turned out that Tim's active mouth can be a lifesaver, because the guys (who were not backpacking, but just bought their equipment) told us that it was pretty far to the campsite and that the busses probably are not running late in the evening. While the letters FUCKING HELL formed in our heads and left us clueless about how to get there, a long-haired guy turned around and said "If the bus is not going there anymore, I can take you there with my car". A bit stunned we asked "Really? Is that on your way home?" And he said "Yes, no problem". INCREDIBLE!At the busstop we found out, that the last one left at 8 pm. It was already 10:10pm. So the guy (I think his name was Florian, not too sure anymore) and his girlfriend Marion took us to their apartment- by foot, because that was around the corner of the busstop. So it was not on the way to the campsite. They still wanted to drive us there. UNBELIEVABLY NICE! We went upstairs to look up the address in the Internet. I took the elevator, which was so narrow that after I walked in with the backpack, I could neither move nor press the button and had to wait for somebody upstairs to open the door so I could walk out backwards. That was SCARY!
Florian was a heavy metal fan who played in a band and they had both been to WACKEN (Europes biggest metal festival, which is very close to where I live, for all who don't know that). The world can be so small! He drove a white big car with enough space for music instruments - and for two big backpacks! The way to the campsite took about 15 min. and when we got there about quarter to 11pm everything at the reception was dark. Second of shock! But then the lights got on and we were let in.
We had booked our train for the next day for 9am and as the bus took 30 min (and not 10, which my book had said) we would have to leave at around 8. But the guy told us that the reception does not open before 8:30 and we were not able to pay now, as he did not have any access to the cash box. FUCKING HELL! Clueless again, Florian offered to leave his own ID here and come back the next day to pay for us. . . . . . . . . . we were speechless and couldn't stop smiling stupidly for the rest of the day. We gave them the money plus some euros extra for petrol. The only thing we really regretted was not having the time to meet them the next day to go for a drink together.Having set up the tent in the rain - in the territory of slugs, as we were told by the dutch guy, (I had one in my shoe....aaaahhh)- I had a look at the bus timetable to see which one to take. And then I noticed it was Sunday the next day....which meant "NO busses before 8:15". Calculating the time from 8:15 to 9:04 again and again we concluded we would never make that in time. So we slept one hour more and went to the station without hurry. We had two spare metro tickets now, which we gave as a present to somebody else. We made a new reservation for 11:04 (again 10€- FUCK), got food - finally- and took the train to Geneve.
Lyon itself wasn't very special and sooo many things went wrong, but meeting those two generous, altruistic and nice people made the whole thing an unforgettable experience. The world is not lost as long as there are people like Florian and Marion. THANK YOU!!!!
Franzey & Timmey
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