The gate agent had been angry with Yamaoka. He wasn't used to being scolded by airline employees. In Japan, his request to have his tickets and checked luggage switched to another flight heading to a completely different destination, only 30 minutes before departure, would have resulted in bows and apologies. Here in France, he was yelled at for being inconsiderate, but the job got done, and two hours later Kurita, Yamaoka and their bags were on a flight to Lyon instead of to Tokyo. In hindsight, Yamaoka appreciated the honest expression of feelings by the gate agent. He had probably caused a delay for an entire 747 with several hundred people flying to Japan. Finding his bags somewhere in the belly of the giant aircraft had probably not been as easy as it looked.
Yamaoka had decided to spend the next three days in Lyon. He wanted to discover the heart of classic French cooking. By nine in the evening, he was finally seated in a bistro in the heart of old Lyon, about to enjoy his first real French dinner. He sat for three hours with Kurita. By the end of the evening, the two had finished numerous dishes including Coq au vin and Lyonnaise potatoes. They had downed several bottles of wine, and while enjoying cheese and aperitifs, they noticed they could barley even get up from their chairs to use the washroom.
The time spent in Lyon was magical for Yamaoka and Kurita. One afternoon, they rented a car and drove through the countryside. They took long walks to burn off some of the excess calories they were consuming, but three times a day, they devoured enormous quantities of dishes they had hardly known before. Late at night, the city was magical, very much different from Paris, but just as spectacular. Neither Yamoka, nor Kurita cared at this point, whether they won the contest against Kaibara. They had both experienced a corner of food heaven and were enormously content.
On the fourth night in Lyon, after three full days of pure joy, Yamaoka reluctantly dialed Tokyo and got through to Ohara. The contest was to be held at the Renaissance Hotel Groslot in Orleans that Suturday, beginning at noon. The meal was to last five hours. The early starting time was to provide the maximum number of Japanese TV viewers the opportunity to watch the event live. Japan lay eight hours ahead of France, so the event would start at 8 pm there and last until 1 am. Yamaoka was to spare no expense in finding the best chef to accompany him to the event. He had only one day to find someone and prepare.