So I woke up a bit better off than I went to bed. After our early morning croissants we headed out to find a pharmacy for Immodium or Pepto. I think France is full of hypocondriacs because pharmacies are everywhere. Actually a pharmacy there is more like a drug store is here where you can get your contact solution, tyllanol and perscription drugs in one place. We search the first pharmacy and find an empty shelf where the immodium should have been and a sign that says diarrhea which lets me know what to look for in the future. The next three pharmacies were closed and the fourth a hole in the wall had it behind the counter. The Pharmacy tech was able to speak a few words of English and tell me not to take more than 6 and with that we were off.

Wanting to put something in my stomach that was known (no more raw beef please) we bit the bullet and ate at McDonalds, that fine Irish establishment we have at home. I'm not sure why I thought food that makes me hurl when I'm healthy would do anything less when I'm sick but out of some sort of miracle I kept it down and the fading reasons of avoiding McDonalds came forth in my mind and became clear once again - it basically sucks.

We've been reeling over the exchange rate here for the last few days. A fish sandwich at McDonalds costs $8 US. That's right, that little sandwich costs as much as going to Red Robin or Appleby's. A Big Mac is about $9 and a can of soda is $3. This isn't special French soda that I'm referring to but Coke. A 12oz can of coke is $3. Tourism is down in France this year, even the French aren't going anywhere.

So after we scarfed down the crappiest food on the planet we waited to see what the results of our actions would be. While waiting word from the nether regions we decided to ride the giant ferris wheel at Place Bellecour which gave us a great view of the city. Not hearing anything back from Mother nature we decided to wander in the general direction of the Roman ruins. Also on the same hill is a building that looks strangly like an upturned elephant crossed by whitewashed castle. We were to learn later that it was in fact a church and was quite striking up close. Although it never stopped reminding me of an elephant recieving service from one of the Olsen twins.

At the base of the hill and the entrance to the Funicular there is a very nice tree lined street where we spent about an hour watching people wander by and wonder what it would be like to live here. Piper and Jade ventured into the local fruit market and managed to buy the best oranges I've ever had without speaking any French beyond combiene (how much?). They also came back with some oranges that weren't so great, a couple of pumellos and a plum.

Refreshed by fruit we rode the funicular up the hill and then wandered for about half an hour looking bewildered because none of the signs made any sense. I think if you just followed the arrows you'd go in circles and never make it down which may be the secret plot in case the Germans ever invade again. In the middle there's probably a huge abyse stacked full of bones from smarter, more obedient tourists that us. We decided to venture off toward anything that looked broken down and ended up at a Roman amphitheater. It seems the Romans were afflicted by the same disease as Seattleites because they built not one, but two amphiteaters next to each other. Amphitheaters are built in such a way as to amplify sound created within and as my kids embarasingly found out later as I lie asleep this includes snoring. The Museum of Gallo Roman Stuff (may not be the official name) was also good and it housed in 5 subteranean floors. The mosaics were awesome but most of the other stuff we'd seen in other Museums of Gallo Roman Stuff in other cities. Or maybe we'd seen it in the Asterix comics, I'm not sure which. I'm not entirely sure why the Romans built their city on the top of a hill instead of next to the water but I'm thinking it had to do with a newly aquired unlimited supply of free labor in the for of the local Vercingeterix faithfuls. If the Romans had to haul all of their Chaises and wine cabinets up those hills I think they would have reconsidered. There was a large building above the amphitheaters that was labeled "large building of unknown use". I believe it to be a breeding chamber for captured Gauls and Visigoths. If I can prove this then we can finally shed some light on the time endured question as to where the French came from - the Romans created them by forcing Gauls and Visigoths into compromising positions with each other several millinea ago. No doubt the Romans quickly realized that the best results were found by applying one male to each female or vice versa and that any other combination no matter how interesting bore little to no fruit.

After viewing the said upturned elephant church which in fact is very pretty we turned toward the center of the earth and started our expedition to find food. Halfway down the hill there was a rose garden of sorts but we were too hungry to bother for more than a few seconds. Our intention was to go back to Paul Bocuse' Le Nord restaurant and experience the creations of the master but the noise from the the screaming of our gastronomical tract overpowered any voice of planning and we stopped at one of the many Bouchon Lyonaisse resaurants along the way. The menu looked fantastic so we decided to stay. Lyon is the culinary capital of France and France is the culinary capital of the World so that makes, well you know, the foods great here. There are fancy resauarants but then there are the Bouchon Lyonaisse resaurants that serve great local food in an unpretentious environment - follow the link for more info. Wanting to a experience this very special Lyon treat we found one of the Bouchon's that had great menus with duck and escargot on it but the owner approached us and explained that the oven is broken so we moved on down the street to our second pick which turned out very good. I had a salad with toasted bread and chevre (very good). Duck ala orange which was decent the gateau maison or house cake which was good. Natalya had escargot and the salmon. The escargot was excellent and all 12 were gone in about 60 seconds. Jade and Piper chose the kids menus which included steak (hot dog) and fries.

Bellies full we waddled our way home in the dark and marveled at the Lyonaisse waterfront at night. It reminded me very much of Budapest in a good way.

It's Nice to be able to eat.