Of course the ironclad rules regarding “bonjour” and “merci” apply everywhere. But here are a few more things we learned.

Surprise terrain

Lyon is flat except where it is absurdly hilly. Our first journey into the neighborhood Croix Rousse was a simple bus ride…and then a climb of at least 200 stair steps. We deduced that taking the bus into this neighborhood could be risky. Nothing in the google directions had a word about stairs or elevation climb (some do, some don’t) and it was not entirely pleasant. Every time we thought the climbing was about over we turned a corner and there were more stairs. The metro is much safer in this regard. There will almost always be an escalator up.

Lunch and dinner reservations

Do not hesitate to walk into a bouchon or other lunch or dinner restaurant without a reservation. We were welcomed every time…it is safest to arrive close to opening which works well for Americans who eat earlier than Europeans. We have found using online reservations (often in the google maps entry) very easy and reliable, and no scary phone conversations required!

Breakfast

In busy times finding a place for morning coffee and a croissant can be challenging and frustrating. If you ID a restaurant that is open early they likely have a petit dejeuner formule…a hot drink, a croissant, fresh juice and a tartine (slice of bread or baguette with butter and jam) for a low price, e.g, €13.50. This is a fine alternative if you have been checking boulangeries and viennoiseries that have no coffee and/or no sitting area, critical information which one must glean by searching the listing photos. The quality of coffee also varies…try cafe creme if you have been disappointed in the cappuccinos, which were delicious in Paris and crummy in Lyon.

When is this store open?

Google maps shows if a place is open at the moment but rarely shows hours and days. Look across the entry for “website” and even if you are not facile in French you will be able to find hours and days open (“horaire” is often the label on the website for this info). Write down the days of the week in French on your phone so you can decipher the horaires; Monday through Saturday may be displayed as l- s, for example, and where in the US it would say “closed Mondays” here it will more often say the days open, mardi – dimanche, Tuesday through Sunday. The days a store or museum is open vary a lot, as do the ways the days open are expressed.

Bus directions

Google maps is good to excellent for finding your way, but making sure you are at a stop going in the right direction is not always clear. Go to the bus stop and read the list of stops. If your stop is there you are on the right side of the street to catch your bus.

Dialing phone numbers

We felt pretty happy we bought the Verizon international plan which allows calls within France and to US numbers. However, the instructions from Verizon are incomplete and we figured it out ourselves after trial and error. Yes, you must start in-country calls with +33. However, when phone numbers are displayed here (e.g. when you select “call” from a google maps entry) they almost always start with zero. 04 36 78 78…etc. You must dial +33 4367878…no leading zero. (For the +, hold down the zero for 1-2 seconds.). Note this requires writing down the displayed number somewhere so you can dial it correctly from the phone dial pad after you add the +33 and drop the leading zero.

Intercity trains

Watch ahead for your stop and prepare for a fast exit! Unless your destination is the end of the line, you will have barely enough time to gather your baggage and get off. Do not wait for the train to stop…get your stuff and get to the door.