We had a busy start to the morning as we had to get ready to catch our train back to Paris. In the meantime, Jan and Dave were going through the same routine in Avignon.

We’d been in touch and they were enjoying their time there. We’d be meeting back up with them in Paris later in the day to compare notes on our days apart.

Back in Beaune, I dropped Sue and the luggage off at the train station and then drove the car back to the Hertz office. Since the weather wasn’t bad, the half hour walk back to the train station wouldn’t be a big deal. It would leave us a little time before departing to relax.

Well… surprise, surprise. The woman at the Hertz office felt bad for me for the gas station confusion. She said we could have used any diesel fuel, not just the specific one the sign indicated. Between that and bringing the car back early, she gave me a little discount. More importantly, she offered to drive me back to the train station. It was extremely nice of her.

So now we could relax a bit before our train arrived. We actually could have taken an earlier train, but opted to just keep to the itinerary.

We had to take two trains to get to Paris. The first went from Beaune to Lyon, then we switched to the TGV for the faster train back to Paris. We arrived at the Gare de Lyon around 3:00 pm after a comfortable ride. Then, after maneuvering through the massive and busy Gare de Lyon, we took a taxi to our hotel. All in all, it wasn’t too bad of a travel day although it did take up most of the day time wise.

For these last three days, we stayed at the Hotel Des Deux Continents, which just so happens to be two doors down from our first hotel. It was very convenient and we were familiar with the area, so it was a good choice.

The hotel is a series of three buildings that are interconnected. The rooms weren’t huge, but they were clean and comfortable. The staff was also delightful – very friendly and helpful.

By now we were hungry. Instead of waiting for normal dinner time, which was still two and a half hours away, we walked around looking for a Brasserie that served all day. We ended up at Brasserie Lipp on Boulevard Sainte Germain des Pres.

It is another of the well established places that serve traditional French dishes. The food was delicious and the prices were reasonable – even for a decent bottle of wine. I started with an order of smoked salmon that I thought we would share, but Sue bailed out on me. We then both ordered the duck confit with roasted potatoes. They had a reasonably priced 2020 Marsannay that paired nicely that I couldn’t resist. For dessert, we both had a mille-feuille (called a napolean in the U.S.) that was very tasty. Overall, it wasn’t a bad meal for scrounging something up.

When we returned to the hotel, we met up with Jan And Dave for happy hour drinks. It was good to see them again, but we were getting tired and wanted to get a good night’s rest. They were heading to Giverny in the morning and we were going to the Army Museum at the Hotel des Invalides.