The kindness of the French.......

This trip is a gift from our wives. An amazing chance to follow the Tour de France for four days. This is the 100th anniversary of Le Tour. My bro Tony McShane and I have been ardent fans for years and now have a chance to experience the spectacle, up close and personal.

I have heard some say "yeah, it's great but too bad it's in France", a reference to the common belief that the French are, at best, inhospitable, and, at worst, down right rude. On several previous trips I have never found that to be true, particularly outside of Paris. After being one the ground in Lyon for less than 12 hours, we have been smothered with kindness.

We travelled all night, waited at Charles DeGaulle for four hours and then flew on to Lyon. Once checked in to a very comfortable airport hotel (our Tour pick up point) at about 3 pm, the urge to crash and rest up for tomorrow was strong. But then I pulled out the iPad and started reading about Lyon, in particular the food. I quickly learned that Lyon is considered by many to be the epicenter of French cooking. No less than Daniel Boulud says so.

So I shifted into high hear and started researching. I looked at blogs, zagat, Michellin and, of course Trip Advisor. I selected Archange. During this process Andre' at the hotel front desk could not have been more helpful. He embraced my mission and made it his own! He arranged for a "special cab" to take us there. Sure enough a young friendly Algerian named "Mous" (pronounced Moose) picked us up in his BMW 5-series. On the half-hour ride into Lyon city center we learned many things. First we learned that Mous had two boys with another on the way, he had been driving a cab for twelve years, that he plays poker and wants to play in Vegas and that he likes Americans, even disgraced Lance Armstrong. He found our restaurant even though he had never heard of the street - a good sign, it was a hidden gem. Mous told us to explore the Old City after dinner and stop for ice cream and coffee at a famous cafe. We obeyed. I had a banana sundae with an espresso with whipped cream. All I can say is: Damn! He then picked us up and offered to take us, off meter, to the gem of Lyon, the Basilique Notre Dame de foirviere'. Beautifully lit at night and perched high above the city with great panoramic views of all if Lyon. We had a great, free mini tour of Lyon from a cabbie that was proud of his city and liked Americans.

The French are great.