Part three. Getting back.

  We did not know in advance exactly how far we would get. As it turned 

out, we ran out of time in Saugues in the Auvergne. Public transport in 

this part of the world is almost non-existent, but there are a number of 

taxi companies. We phoned one the day before who took us back to Le 

Puy-en-Velay, and from there took a train back to Lyon. In Lyon we had 

booked a hotel in Place Carnot - next to the wrong station (Perrache), 

but the location was good, with lots bars and restaurants nearby, much 

better than the sterile office environment round Part Dieu station.  We 

had a whole 24 hours left before our flight home, so we decided to rent 

some city bikes. Lyon is one of many European cities where you can rent 

bikes and return them at one of the many stations. Even switching the 

machine to English we had problems figuring out the system, but another 

bike rider helped to explain it. Basically you have two transactions, 

one to buy a ticket for a certain number of credits, then in a second 

transaction you use the ticket to actually get a bicycle. It's a little 

like topping up your credits on a pay-as-you-go mobile phone.

   The confusing part was the payment - after putting in all the data on 

a touch screen, then when you put the credit card in, the further 

instructions appear in a little LCD window next to the credit card slot. 

We were still staring at the touch screen not understanding what the 

heck was going on.

    So finally we managed to get some bikes. We adjusted the saddles and 

tested if we could lock them - it worked - with a great deal of strength 

and conviction you can get the key in and out of the lock. The girl at 

the hotel desk had suggested riding up the Rhone to a park called la 

Tete d'Or - very much like Central Park, with a big lake and thousands 

of joggers. In fact not just thousands of joggers, it just so happened 

that there was a marathon event on in town. We enjoyed lunch on the main 

square watching all the runners come in on the finishing line.

     So that was it - except just to note that on the tram back to the 

airport, the conductor asked us how the trip had been. He had been 

conductor on the tram when we had arrived.  I was totally impressed that 

he recognized us two weeks later, and I'd like to say that it typified 

the very friendly and cordial manner that we encountered everywhere.