Spymon

Part 1: Introduction and Ramble

It's everyone's birthday but mine, but why should they have all the fun? My thoughts exactly. Unfortunately there were some serious hours to put in before any fun could be had at all. One part of my job involves travelling around London teaching people to count, or making sure they are counting properly, no funny stuff, no balancing out or mysterious finds and so forth. This week was a particularly busy week for counting and cramming a week's work into a few days was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

Sadly the morning got off to a poor start. Everyone loves a good retail park, you have Costa, Subway, McDonalds and some random clothing and furniture stores. Someone knew how much I love a good retail park, so much so that they were rather late for their counting lesson. They also had the psychic ability to know that standing outside in the rain laden with luggage and looking like a total idiot was about my favourite thing in the world. So much so they let me enjoy it for a good half an hour before ending my fun.

Anyway, after a productive morning it was time to move on to my next endeavour (excluding another half a day spent angry that people still couldn’t count), buying cakes and bubbles. Thankfully I was in Victoria, so between Poilane, Dominique Ansel and Jeroboams the day was saved. I was forgiven for being late with my delivery of goodies to the post and pre birthday girls. After a quick chill in the freezer our bubbles were opened and happiness filled the room. It was accompanied by a few sprinklings of M&S finest pitta chips and the addictive artificial notes of a hot and tasty Dolmio pasta bake bubbling away in the oven. Dinner demolished it was time to devour our dessert. Unfortunately the chocolate peanut liquid caramel thing had gone from work of art to delicious diarrhoea with just the golden nut intact on top. Thankful his two friends survived better than me after being lectured over my poor choice of dessert. More bubbles were required. The cakes were served and the delicious salted caramel, peanut & chocolate mess was divided, enjoyed and I was forgiven. We talked ourselves off to a happy sleep for tomorrow we had an epic day of eating ahead. Apologies for the lack of photos in the intro, they made it to Snapchat, now they are gone...

Part 2: London Eats and Arts

La Dame de Pic

The day began with fresh coffee (which was now extra good since we successfully converted our friend to Union coffee. In my opinion Union roast some of the best value coffee on sale in the UK) and warm Poilanie pain au chocolats. I also got to try my Molton Brown Tobacco Absolute which was as successful as the breakfast.

We left a little after 11:00 to ensure we were on time for our lunch reservation. As we were a little early we took in the grand and somewhat imposing building that is now The Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square by taking a short walk around the park in front of the hotel.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/T4DJtc]DSC03936 Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Around 12:00 we made our entrance and were warmly welcomed inside the hotel. The doorman walked us clockwise round the impressive domed lobby bar till we found La Dame De Pic on our left. The dining room had a lovely art deco charm with brass finishes and rusty, brass mirror panels. We had a nice table near the windows that was in close proximity to the wine cart. Menus soon arrived and choices were made.

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The meal started off with a palate cleansing broth with fried Jerusalem Artichoke leaves that mimicked the Four Seasons logo.

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Then after a reasonable pause warm sourdough bread with some quite outstanding coffee infused butter arrived.

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We each ordered a different starter and main. As I get older I'm trying to be less of a fusspot with my food. In my early 20s I ate a rotation of stir fry with stir in sauce, pasta with stir in sauce, pizza and jacket potatoes , oh and the occasional vegetable curry. Unfortunately my vegetarian diet was not compatible with French eating and slowly but surely I expanded by culinary range. I'm currently attempting sea food, not sure if I'll make it to insects or rodents, we shall see, perhaps someone can enlighten me on the next move. Anyway, my red snapper and foie gras starter hits the spot though I felt a little bit depressed to dig in and spoil the work of art in front of me.

DSC03942 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

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We were then blessed to be in the company of chef Pic herself who hails from the same town that Ms. Spymon comes from. She was speaking to all the guests and was kind enough to pose for a very quick photo.

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Next up were the mains and again we each chose a different option. My chicken was cooked perfectly with just the right degree of salty and sour from the Japanese inspired turnip and umeboshi. Yet again three clean plates were given back and three happy faces followed.

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For dessert we wereall rather boring and chose the matcha opera cake. These came out with an appropriately understated chocolate happy birthday both on the plate and from the team. The cake was delicious with intense little hits of chocolate and hazelnut all around the plate.

DSC03952 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC03953 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

I have to say this was a truly excellent meal, all the plates looked beautiful, all the dishes tasted great and all went well together. I also enjoyed my wine pairings, the white Burgundy with my main was quite unique, too bad I have forgotten what it was called. Service was decent though at times felt a little forced but more because everyone was overly keen we were having a good time. The only let down with two sub standard cappuccinos that the girls should have sent back. My double espresso was spot on. Certainly with time and money allowing we'd love to return.

DSC03954 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

With a heavy heart and an appropriately full stomachs we left the comfort of The Four Seasons and headed to Tate Modern for a spot of art appreciation.

Tate Modern

We decided to see the Rauschenberg exhibition and I was sad to say that we all agreed that most of it didn’t work. His art seemed uninspiring when not moving, making noise or being touched, experienced and otherwise played with. The three noisy rooms with the movement of machines, bubbles of mud and click clack of the projector were my favourite. The saddest site was a piece featuring a box supposedly full of objects and three covered clipboards. The intent was that one could swap the objects in the box and attach your own art to the covered clipboards. Unsurprisingly the work was roped off…

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Honey and Smoke

That evening we had another birthday to catch up on meeting our friends C and Z who had recently returned from a trip to India. We were keen to find out how their experiences matched ours. Thankfully they had a great time.

Anyway, on to the food. How can you top one of the most beautiful meals you've had in a long time? The best way is not to try and experience the rewards from a very different way of cooking. Whilst the décor may be simplistic the flavours from this Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurant are certainly not.

DSC03985 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

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We started with a few items from the meze selection. Our baba ganoush certainly held up well, as we moved on to the mains.

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My short rib was quite excellent but the burnt potatoes that came with it were exceptional thanks to a basil and olive oil dressing. The flavour was big and happy and good I could eat them again right now.

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To finish off we went for dessert. Yes I was already too full but with chocolate pecan mud pie on the menu I was finding room. Interestingly it was not the mud pie that stole my heart, but the exquisite chocolate and orange flavour ice cream. I think it was the nicest ice cream I have ever eaten and we ate some fine gelato in Italy last year.

DSC03996 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

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Service was as warm and friendly as the food. The birthday girls got a little candle and birthday wishes after their dessert.

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Again this is another place I'd be keen to revisit but on an emptier stomach to attempt the Ł35 set menu.

We took the bus back to Camden and headed back for coffee. Tomorrow would be another exciting day.

offerendum

They are really pushing La Dame de Pic! Will be interesting to see the development if she isn´t present any more.

ps. something went wrong with you pictuires....

DFW_CK

Amazing; I LOVE London and it's food scene. So refined and yet so diverse and accessible. My favorite city in the world.

roadwarrier

Great start, those foodies pics are awesome!!

Also, what is up with the repeated pic of the forest between the other pics?

Spymon

Seems Flickr has added the extra images as part of my signature. No idea why this is as it was not doing it when I previewed the post. Will fix in due course with part 2.

Spymon

Indeed, though the other two Pic restaurants seem to be doing pretty well. Hopefully one day someone will treat us to the full menu at the one in Valence (especially as Ms. Spymon's family live down the road!)

Very true canuckshark, unfortunately I don't get to try out as much as I would like. Most of my daily eating out is of the fast variety.

Thanks roadwarrier, more coming up.

Spymon

We left S's place around 9:30 to miss rush hour and got the tube to LHR. For once the Piccadilly line was behaving and we made it to Heathrow in around an hour and a bit.

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We enjoyed the walk to the check in area which has improved considerably since our last visit. For one the walk is shorter, two there are more Club desks and finally the escalator up to security is right by the check in exit dropping you right outside Fast Track. The whole thing felt seamless.

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We were through in next to no time and cut across the main concourse heading straight for the Cathay Lounge.

Cathay Business Lounge

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The entrance to the lounge is quite subtle with just the two lifts heading up and the simple Cathay logo on a brown background. You'd either need to be very brave, very lost or very stupid to try it on here. It might also explain why the place was so quiet during our visit. Even with a nice gentleman making a phone call loud enough for 2-3 guests the lounge was calm. I don't think I counted more than 4-5 people with us the whole time we were there.

Personally I loved the décor and the various zones of the lounge. To enter the lounge you walk along the corridor as per the old arrangements and turn right. The first thing you see on entering is the noodle bar.

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This area looked like it could turn into a buzzing restaurant in the evening and with the right photography you could easily pretend you were somewhere far, far away. However, at 11am it was completely deserted. We continued through the empty space to the more loungey part of the lounge with its big reclining chairs facing the window and a bar at the back. This area was lighter and more relaxing. We found a decent spot by the windows and began to settle in.

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It soon became evident that Ms. Spymon was unhappy with her surroundings. "I preferred the old lounge, can't we go to BA there's nothing here." She complained. What she meant was that she wanted a pick me up of breakfast pastries and being 11am they were not available, instead she could have had cookies, brownies or muffins. However, these were not breakfast pastries. Unfortunately the dim sum, noodles, ice cream, curries, full bar etc. were not good enough. She was also not a fan of the furniture either. I told her I was staying here and she was welcome to go to the BA lounge. We got coffees and she forced down some brownies and a bread roll. After recafinating myself I thought it was time to head to the bar.

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The choice was excellent and the bar tender friendly. In the end as it was still early I decided to play it safe and stick with the champagne. Nothing too hard before lunchtime.

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A cold flute later of Moet and it was time for lunch. Ms. Spymon had warmed to her surroundings at this point. I think her kir royale helped. We moved to the noodle bar and I placed my order for some pork buns, spring rolls and the chicken noodle soup. Buzzer in hand I returned to the table.

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Ms. Spymon placed her order and I went to the bar in search of a top up. Unfortunately Mr. Bartender was not present and other than climbing over or reaching over there was no way to grab a proper drink. The bar was not re-staffed for the remainder of our time in the lounge which I thought was pretty poor.

Anyway, our buzzers buzzed and we collected our food. Portions were a good size for a pre-flight light meal but you'd certainly need to raid the buffet area if you wanted a more substantial dinner. The tableware was lovely and photographed really well under the table lamps. The food was decent but the soup broth certainly needed topping up with condiments. I have to confess I overdid the fried garlic and was quite glad that we were flying Club today. That extra space between us would definitely come in handy!

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We couldn’t leave without dessert so I ordered 2 portions of custard buns and two portions of Haagen Dazs Cookies and Cream. Unfortunately as the food arrived Ms. Spymon realised she'd forgotten her scarf somewhere so instead of a healthy space between hot custard buns and ice cold ice cream my teeth took on a sensory overload which removed the pleasure from both. From now on no trip to the airport will be complete without a serving of custard buns!

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Flight: BA0358 LHR T3 to LYS
Aircraft: Airbus A320-200
Depart: 13:20
Arrive: 16:00
Seats: 1D and 1F (Club Europe, Business)

Thankfully the flight was boarding from the gate adjacent to the lounge and security was but a few minutes walk away as well. We retraced our steps and thankfully the scarf was found at security.

We headed back to the gate and within a few minutes boarding was called. Despite 9 rows of club today (which we have never seen on an LYS flight) we had snagged 1D and 1F. We quickly settled in after being welcomed aboard. The flight itself was pretty uneventful. It will be interesting to see how the catering changes that started today affect this flight going forward. I assume the meal we had was lunch.

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Service was friendly, the chicken caesar salad a touch bland but edible, the Castelnau a definite improvement from the old bluetop Monopole, the coffee still as dishwatery as ever. Now if only they had a Nespresso machine, that would be such a welcome improvement.

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Our seats did have a few crumbs but nothing to make you go yuck. Before we knew it 20 minutes to landing was called, seat belt signs were on and we touched down to find a warm and sunny day at LYS awaiting us.

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DSC04055 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

For non-status passengers CE even on a short hop definitely feels worth the extra avios and Ł15 each, especially when departing LHR T3. The priority check in, fast track, 3 (soon to be 4) decent lounges to get a good meal and relax, priority boarding that seemed to work for us, more space onboard, a decent enough food and drink offering to help the flight fly by. Maybe we are easily pleased but this is definitely one of the most fun ways to spend our avios.

The Long Wait

Somehow being quickly off the plane never seems to be a good thing. Our last few flights in to LYS suffered from painfully slow baggage handling, on at least one occasion the wait was over an hour. Today it was the turn of passport control. We had arrived just after another flight, most likely from North Africa judging from the Tunis Air and Royal Air Maroc aircraft parked at their gates. The queue was not too bad in the EU line, however the man in his little booth was not too happy. We initially thought that it was perhaps due to people not being in the correct line, or a particularly tough customer. Unfortunately he seemed to have a computer issue not suffered by his colleagues in the at this point rather large non-EU queue (please no Brexit jokes about me being in the wrong line...) anyway, we finally make it through in reasonable time considering the computer issues and for once our baggage makes it out not long afterwards.

Unfortunately nobody wanted to pick us up from the airport and the connecting trains we required were not friendly to our flight arrival time (coming between the afternoon and evening BA arrivals) so we had a few hours wait to look forward to. For anyone who has been to Lyon St Exupery you will know that both landside and airside it is blessed with little more than the minimum of shops and free Wi-Fi.

After walking a few loops between Terminal 1 and 2 we killed time as best as we could in a quiet corner with some bottled water. Flagging a little, I made the mistake of getting a Starbucks. The typical French espresso makes a perfect digestive but does not help idle away the time. Unluckily for me this was one of the not so good Starbucks in the world and that's not saying much as Starbucks' coffee rarely goes above average, even on a good day. This one smelt funny but was hot and helped pass an hour whilst I battled with the airport Wi-Fi on my laptop and uploaded a couple of documents I'd not had the chance to send over before we left.

Finally we decided to head towards that magnificent armadillo that is Lyon St Exupery TGV which looked absolutely magnificent with a beautiful night time blue light flooding through the armadillo's shell. Our train was soon called and we headed down to the platform.

DSC04059 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Train: TGV 6195
Depart: 19:41 Lyon St Exupery TGV (15 minutes late – definitely not the 5 claimed)
Arrive: 20:16 Valence Ville
Seats: Carriage 5 Seats 53 and 54 (Standard Class)


DSC04063 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04064 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

We eventually boarded the train and shuffled along to the far end of the carriage. Thankfully TGVs have a lot more luggage space than is immediately apparent, including for medium and large cases. Typically someone was in our seats (again – see previous reports for how often this happens – not foreign tourists who don't understand assigned seats either by the looks of it). For some reason despite the train pulling out late the carriage seemed to be in a state of permanent flux. Perhaps it was the delay and as everyone in Britain knows French trains are never late, perhaps it was the fact it was old and tired from being refurbished over and over again to look like new on the inside, but that can't be true as France doesn't do broken old trains like in the UK. It was probably just because we were near the restaurant car and people were hungry with it being dinner time. The journey was short an uneventful but for the seat shuffling. Another note to add this journey is also pretty pricey at 17 Euro each for barely a 30 minute journey. This was booked well in advance as well too.

Anyway, we arrive at the station with our lift waiting for us and have a short drive home for dinner. We needed a rest as we had a good few days of eating ahead of us. Thankfully my sis in law is a wonderful cook and we had some decent meals out planned as well.

Spymon

Sorry for the delay in finishing off this TR but between work and another weekend break and some internet issues I am now back on track. Let's continue...

First up was Ms. Spymon's special day. We had planned an afternoon of relaxing fondue followed by desserts and birthday cake and chocolates and heart attacks.

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Overall we kept it low key for we were planning the main event for my father in-law's birthday the next day. Faced with the challenge of planning a special birthday lunch on a Monday, that was reasonably priced, not too far away and could accommodate our little niece and my mother in law's mobility issues.

We started the morning early and made the drive out to Le Domaine du Colombier which is a recently starred restaurant not far from Montelimar (home of nougat – yum!). We were welcomed warmly and our little niece was accommodated. She was also pretty well behaved for a child of just 18 months with hardly a shriek or a cross word for the entire meal.

DSC04180 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Anyway, after the warm welcome service descended into stuffiness. For one I wasn't aware in this day and age that there were still places that gave the females on the table menus with no prices... The clientele were a mix of wealthy retired folks who looked upset at the younger workers enjoying their alcohol fuelled team building lunches (not quite the image you're thinking of).

Service was quite slow and that we declined a pre-dinner drink or taking the full menu seemed to upset them a little. The choice on the lunch menu was limited to the main course, the other options would only be altered if one had a food allergy or preference.

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DSC04163 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Before I get ahead of myself we were presented with a plate of 3 little amuse bouche; fois gras, chorizo and a cheese ball. The latter being warm. All were delicious and perfect at getting you ready for lunch. None would have been out of place at a good tapas restaurant.

DSC04160 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Whilst some may see being forced into a particular option as a food nightmare I am now starting to see it as a good excuse to try something you'd not normally have. In this case it was a tuna tataki starter. Anyone who knows me even a little will know that I hardly touch fish and tuna is the worst of all. So how was it?

First of all the plate look beautiful and secondly when mixed with the small amount of soy sauce at the bottom was quite delicious. The pickled veg was tasty as was the yuzu sauce. All in all for something I'd never order it was pretty good. If the thing I was dreading to eat was this tasty then my expectations were suitably raised for what was to follow.

DSC04165 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Next up was the main. Most of us chose the pork belly. It was an excellent choice. I think it was both the best looking and best tasting pork belly I'd ever eaten. The glaze on the top was excellent and the sauce rich and tasty enough to wipe the plate clean with bread. Unfortunately like many pleasurable things this pork belly was over too soon. I could have eaten it twice over. Not forgetting the simple pleasure of the pomme puree and the sweetness of the grilled leek. At this point the stuffiness of the surroundings were forgotten and the desire to tell even my non-pork eating friends how good it was became overwhelming.

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Apparently the fish wasn't bad either.

After a longer than anticipated pause our desserts came out. Originally we were supposed to have a passion fruit version of the dessert but it was changed to lime for all of us. This was good as Ms. Spymon has a mild allergy to passion fruit. The pulled sugar was lime flavoured, there was a lime mousse inside the little yellow ball and quite delicious white chocolate ice cream (on any other trip I'd be raving about the ice cream but after the chocolate orange affair at Honey and Smoke it was going to have to be a prize winning gelato to get me excited, a very good ice cream will just not cut it anymore). The citrus flavour was quite strong but for me that made it an ideal palate cleanser and a perfectly refreshing end to the meal.

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Ok, that's a lie, the end of the meal was coffee with some quite delicious petit fours. I could get used to living this way. Not sure if my heart or waistline could though.

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DSC04175 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

We settled up and whilst originally we intended to go for a walk in the grounds we had to head back early. All in all the quality of this meal for the price paid was excellent. The taste, quality and style of the food was first rate. However, the level of personalised service was very poor. Unlike our other two excellent meals there was no hint at building rapport with the guests that we could hear, just the same lines said to each guest over and again.

Additionally it was the only place not to recognise it was our father in law's birthday despite mentioning it at booking and on confirmation. I'm not sure if they were unhappy we didn't spend more or bought a young child with us but it was not the level of service we had gotten used to. From a service perspective once the suits and formality were removed there was not a lot left (would still probably give it 5/5 on TripAdvisor for the quality of food vs. price paid...)

DSC04178 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

We made sure later that night our Father in Law got a decent birthday cake, presents and wishes. What he didn't know is that we also had a surprise waiting for him later that week.

Hopefully will get another part up this weekend.

Spymon

The night before we had revealed our plan. A surprise trip to Chamonix. Not for some skiing, snowboarding or other such activity but to give our father in law a well-deserved rest and to take him somewhere he would have hopefully had a lot of good memories of. The same was true for Ms. Spymon. She has been telling me for years that we must visit Chamonix in the summer and enjoy the mountain air the beautiful landscapes. So in the end it wasn't quite the summer but we were very lucky with the weather.

First off we had a three hour drive ahead of us through mountain valleys (and the most expensive Euro/KM toll road in France). As I wasn't the one driving it was a wonderful relaxing journey (other than a few near misses and a deep held miss-trust of the GPS, until it was needed). Sometimes experience and intuition win, sometimes technology wins and in my option a healthy mix of the two makes for the safest option. For example me miss-reading google maps got us lost at the end but saved us time the majority of the way.

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Thanks to my trusting of technology over common sense we eventually found our place and unpacked. We had made ourselves a very nice lunch that we enjoyed before heading out for a walk, retracing the ancient steps of the Spymon-in-laws. After a week of pent up anger of being stuck in doors, experiencing the great outdoors was a sight to behold and behold it we did.

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After a good healthy afternoon walk through the golf course (not in use at this time of year) it was time to do a little shopping for a nice relaxing dinner. Tonight we were in for a treat. Nothing says mountain food like hot cheese and warm potatoes, alas it was not a tartiflette but instead a lovely ripe Mont d'or was places in the oven with a helping hand of some white wine and onions and so special ardechoise potatoes boiled away on the stove. Simple pleasures, fun times. A couple of drinks later and the food was ready for consumption, with just a few salad leaves to soak up the fat.

Unfortunately that night lead to a terrible restless cheese filled dreams, the likes of which are not to be repeated in public. Thankfully I awoke to the smell of hot coffee many hours later with a yummy chocolate brownie from last night's expedition waiting for me at my spot at the table.

We had planned to have a walk along the river and stop off in Chamonix town centre for lunch. The sun was out, a few clouds in the sky and a light breeze to keep things fresh. Temperatures in the mid teens. Seriously, what a perfect day for a walk even with a naughty dog and an inquisitive toddler for company. As good as yesterday was, looking through the town centre at the stunning mountain range behind was truly something to behold.

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We stopped at a quick tourist trap for lunch but sensibly skipped dessert as I had found a rather good looking cake shop on the way in to town. Our pizzas and pastas were decent for the money but I'm not sure how on earth they got away with charging over 20 Euro for a just about McDonalds quality burger, especially when there was a perfectly good set of golden arches just a few minutes stroll away.

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Our next plan was to take the cable car up the mountain to take in the scenery and if the snow had melted enough a quick walk. Tickets in hand the 5 adults, one pushchair and a hesitant hound herded ourselves into our telecabine. 7 minutes, 2 pairs of hands tightly gripped, one set of eager little eyes and a spectacular mountain vista we clumsily bundled our way out of rocking cage and out into the snow. Unfortunately the weather made for great skiing conditions which meant our time at the top was spent drinking an over-priced and watery coffee. The people watching was just as good as the views of the natural world. From a bunch of over-excited boozy brits, to a polite German family wanting their picture taken and I think some Italians who I hoped had no intention of going anywhere near the slopes if that shiny trial of Jaeger dominoes was anything to go by.

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After enjoying the photo opportunities we took our cable car back down to the bottom with a little less apprehension and enjoyed the views (well, some of us anyway) of Chamonix below us. After all that relaxing there was no choice but to go for cakes. Over the last 15 years or so of doing these trips I loved to pick up some local bargains but with the exchange rate where it is there are less and less. However, in my opinion the last true bargain to be found is patisserie. We ordered some truly luxurious little cakes to take away with us. The most expensive cake in the collection was about Ł4. I can't imagine finding cakes of this quality in the UK for anything less that Ł6.

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My little wonder was coated in chocolate with a coffee cake base, hazelnut mousse inside with a passion fruit filled core and meringue on top. A true work of art and tasty as heck. The other cakes were equally as good and consumed rather quickly. Apparently this place was expensive for France, you could pay more for a doughnut in some of the hipster bakeries in Central London (ok, I make an expectation for a couple of the Crosstown concoctions, but that's it).

DSC04389 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/spymon/, on Flickr

We walked back to our cars and prepared for the three hour sunset filled drive back home. The only thing more spectacular than the scenery was the blazing row that brewed as somebody forgot to fill up the car before we went on the motorway, someone else trusted experience of technology when it came to the road number and despite me showing the map over and over again proving how wrong someone was they still would not listen. Anyway, half way home me finally made our pitstop, changed drivers, swapped between cars and enjoyed the last of the light for the final leg home. It had been an amazing couple of days and Ms. Spymon was right, I loved Chamonix and we really must go in the summer. Besides I have now seen the little mountain train and on seeing the Mont Blanc express I must ride it.

We made an excellent meal out of the scraps left in the house and called it a night. The good memories from this trip will last a lifetime.

Spymon

We said our good-byes and Ms. Spymon's sister drove us to the station. We had an early start due to the rotten train times into Lyon. There were no direct trains to the airport at all and we even had to change on to the overpriced Rhone Express at Lyon Part-Dieu.

DSC04396 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04397 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04398 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

For once our TGV was on time and nobody was in our seats. As per usual the TGV even in standard class is comfy with basic recline, power points and plenty of space.

DSC04399 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04400 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Thirty minutes or so later we pulled in to the ever busy Lyon Part-Dieu and of course headed for our new favourite lunch spot for some quality fresh made yakitori.

Someone must have felt pity on us as despite the place being absolutely rammed and us both having our bags with us as we were given a spot near the grill.

DSC04401 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Quite a few people that came in afterwards were turned away. One of the magical things about the restaurant was how the man taking the orders never seemed to speak to the guy manning the grill, let alone hand him a ticket. However, the whole time we were there he didn't miss a single skewer.

DSC04402 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04403 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04404 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04406 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04407 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04408 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04409 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Once again an absolutely delicious meal, though next time I have promised myself that we go to eat somewhere in Les Halles.

We headed back to the station and got our tickets for the overpriced tram masquerading as the Rhone Express.

DSC04411 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04413 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Half an hour later we arrived at LYS and walked over two Terminal Two. We were a little early so we took a seat close to the check in desks. A short while later they opened and we settled in to second place in the queue behind a gentleman that looked considerably the worse for wear as he seemed to be accompanied by his own medical team tending to his injured leg. Hopefully he is now recovered.

DSC04415 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

We were soon checked in and for once, dodging the chaotic flights to North Africa which meant we sped fairly quickly through security and passport control.

The Salon Hegoya lounge was a short walk away and it had been a while since we were last there as we normal travel back in Y.

DSC04416 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

In fact we had been missing out. Whilst the portions may have been small and the alcohol selection limited they had a fridge full of fresh macarons and a bean to cup espresso machine. Heaven on a plate.

DSC04417 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04418 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04419 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Whilst the surroundings are not the most luxurious and are in fact a little cramped it was a nice place to spend an hour or so catching up writing the previous part of this trip report.

It was soon time to board and we settled in to 3D and 3F only for one of my old clients to be sat in front of me. To be honest I am surprised it took so long to bump in to one but for now I had stayed safely incognito. The usual steaming hot lemon rags did the rounds before take off and we were soon on our way.

DSC04422 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04423 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04424 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04426 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04431 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Being a flight shortly before the now well documented changes to Club Europe catering we were treated to afternoon tea. Whilst normally I enjoy the sandwiches, on this flight were unusually poor, with the egg one tasting strange enough for me not to finish it.

DSC04435 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04437 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

On the upside the scones were there usual excellent selves though I only do jam as cream and I don't get on too well. The scones will definitely be missed going forward. As is nearly always the case service from the crew was fantastic and it was noticeable that extra effort seemed to be made towards those nice people with the shiny tags on their bags. Drinks were kept topped up the entire time and I'm pretty sure I stuck to champagne the entire way.

DSC04446 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04450 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Before we knew it we were coming in to land and as we pulled up to the gate I was no longer incognito and I wished my former customer the best of luck with his business ventures and left him to continue his Brexit conversation with his buddy in 2F. Definitely not getting involved in that one...

DSC04453 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

We had a nice long stretch to passport control and I have found out that the e-gates really don’t like my new passport despite the picture looking a lot like me rather than not like me at all.

There was a bit of a wait for the bags before we headed off to catch the HEX into town. Yes, it's a bit over priced but preferable to peak time Piccadilly Line, though for Kings Cross probably not a lot faster.

DSC04454 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04455 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

DSC04456 by Simon Halsey, on Flickr

Other than a brief bit of overcrowding on the tube between Paddington and Baker Street it was a straightforward journey. Ms. Spymon was not pleased at the lack of lifts at St Pancras due to refurbishment.

We were soon on the high speed train and speeding home for a well earned rest. I for one certainly needed it!

Spymon

Thank you all for reading, next up when I get the time will be a weekend in Prague.

If you enjoyed this you might enjoy some of my others from the links below:

High Speed Trains and Slow Food - Italy and France by Train and Plane (2016)
What Better Way to Celebrate than a T3 Lounge Crawl (BA J/Y) (2015)
BA to Budapest - A Last Minute Weekend Away (2015)
Three Birthdays Featuring BA vs Easyjet, Lots of Food and Amazing Mountain Landscapes(2015)
Eurostar, TGV, Canoe and a Puppy (2014)
The Adventures of Rebecca Blanton - LHR to CLE on UA (Y) AKA another LHR T2 Trial (2014)
South India: Featuring BA F, 9W, 6E, SG and the Indian Railways (and lots of food!) (2014)
Coffee in Catalonia: Featuring BA, RENFE, SNCF and some good food (2013)
Planes, Trains, Automobiles and a Boat (2013)
For Family, Football and First Class by Train (2013)
Experiencing BA Club Europe (LHR-LYS-LHR) As Family Matters (2012)
A West Coast Adventure: San Francisco, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon with VX and BA (2012)
Three Ways From A to B a Statusless Persons Guide: BA vs. Eurostar vs. Easyjet (2012)
Voyage To India: Delhi, Agra, Orchha, Khajuraho, Varanasi (EK, SG, IT and Indian Railways, 2010)