Lyon, lunch and loos

We were fortunate to have a final trip abroad before the madness of 2020 kicked in, you’ll remember that we went for a few days in Lyon where I think we ate at least twice our body weight while we were there. I’m not kidding, the food was gorgeous and it was definitely a gastro trip, so much so that looking back it’s a surprise we could actually run through the airport. The incentive of potentially missing our flight must have helped.

When we’re away MOH always scours the area for good restaurants, and his searches rarely disappoint. One day we decided to head out for lunch instead of an evening meal, and the plan was to head for an authentic ‘bouchon lyonnais’. He settled on the Café Comptoir Abel and we set off on foot - well it was the least we could do, but in truth barely scratched the surface of any calories we were about to consume.

The red and white table cloths and traditional wooden furniture are typical of an authentic ‘bouchon lyonnais’ along with the typical dishes of Lyon. Once we arrived at our destination we knew exactly what the website meant. Even the walls in the corridors we were led through were red and white checked.

And it was a glorious setting. Just look at the top of that bar.

Unusually I even managed to remember to snap pictures of our food, or our starters at least. MOH opted for the salad lyonnaise, while I went for the saucisson chaud aux lentilles, which was lovely but huge - we could have shared it. I’m pretty sure chicken supreme followed, but usual service resumed and no photos exist.

But still, that bar - I got a closer look. Every time I look at these photos I see something new.

It’s only now that I’ve realised that an old cigarette machine has been repurposed as a miniatures cabinet. It’s a great use of a vintage piece, especially if everything else is lost.

On our way to our table I’d spotted these stairs, but it was only later that I learnt the loos were up them. And you know I wouldn’t miss a look at those.

They didn’t disappoint, though I’m not sure what face I’m pulling in the photo below.

And as you’d expect, it was so very French. It’s been a bit of a bathroom filled week. Our rearranged bathroom refresh took place this week, and it didn’t go quite to plan, but that’s for another post, another day.

A holiday cottage loo

Well, it seems only right that this is the first room I share from where we stayed in Norfolk last week. That’s another thing that 2020 has brought, or rather not brought, as there’s been distinctly less loos to share, if you know what I mean.

But this one is a stunner, though somehow I’ve managed to completely fail in having a picture of the high level cistern. I used to have one, though not as fancy, in my old house and there’s a definite knack to flushing first time.

I told you it was a stunner, didn’t I?

I quickly fell for the green, and the plumbing.

There were plants throughout the whole cottage, but these heart shaped succulents were my favourite, I think. Though the money plant brought back good memories of a much larger version, which lived on the doorstep in my old house. Well, it did until one day when it wasn’t there anymore - for a five foot plant to disappear into thin air was quite something.

The cottage had a fab looking shower, and bath - which we didn’t really get time to use. The one day we did, it was raining so much outside that spending more time in water, wasn’t top of our list.

It was the small touches, throughout the cottage that really made it work. Truly inspiring.

And thankfully, I still had the knack of a high-level cistern. I think it’s the prettiest I’ve seen for a while.

The loo we couldn't find at first

Once we found our hotel in Lyon - which was trickier than you might expect, as the entrance was low key to say the least, we learnt we’d had a room upgrade as we checked in. That doesn’t happen to us so often, so it was quite exciting. As we were shown our room we took it all in our stride as we were shown around, but as soon as she was gone, we were exploring for ourselves, looking out of the window for the view, checking the snacks on the dressing table, the wardrobes with its towelling robes, and the bathroom. It’s just that one thing was missing. And that was the loo.

Seriously.

A huge bath, luxurious toiletries, fluffy towels, a fancy sink. But no loo.

There had to be one. And then in clicked.

It had to be off the mirrored entrance-way…

And so it was, opposite the wardrobe. The brass door knob in the picture above was the only clue we had. And neither of us were quite ready for what was behind that door.

Yes, our very own OTT hand-painted chateau-scene. If It’d have told you beforehand, I’m not sure you would have believed me, and seeing was believing.

It was totally bonkers, and totally made for my Loo Series posts - did they know? And what were the other room’s loos like?

In truth, it was a bit like a caravan loo, just quite a fancy one. But still bonkers.

Only in Lyon. Or is it?