LYON

LYON

On the road, pardon, the train, to Lyon.  The good thing about eurail pass is that it is nearly always first class.  The seats are better than the ones on the plane!!  It is such a genteel way to travel.

We sit in our seats, having arrived with plenty of time to spare, and watch everyone hurry, hurry, to get on the train.

Some stay on the platform till the last moment in order to enjoy the last cigarette for 2 whole hours.  Smoking is almost a national sport in France.

Some eat their baguettes whilst on the phone, presumably with last minute business deals or perhaps explaining just why they didn't walk the dog before they left this morning.

The guard stands by, ready to blow his whistle, encouraging the latecomers to hurry.

Paris slips past,

the beautiful

the ordinary


The whole experience is more relaxed.

They come round and ask you if you'd like to make a reservation for lunch.

Very civilized.

The scenery is lovely.

Green, undulating, delightful.

 In a short two hours we arrive at Lyon, Part Dieu Railway station.

Ready to explore this ancient place.

Au Revoir
Jo

MONDAY

The first meal I had on french soil had to be croissants.  after arriving at the apartment about 8am, via taxi  due to work being done on the rail system, breakfast was the next order of the day. so... of course croissants. With a cup of tea.

These were just the first tasty pastry morsels of the next week.  Luckily lots of walking is involved in between.

Later that day after a few hours spent comatose, me that is not Leonie, we went to Sacre Couer which was packed with people, despite the dullness of the afternoon, maybe due to the fact that it was the last weekend of school holidays. The view was still amazing.

Monday was the most perfect autumn day so off to the Jardin de Tuilieries to meander down those paths lined with trees trying to decide how fast to lose their leaves.  They fell as we walked which was delightful but very difficult to catch the precise moment with the camera.

 Takeaway coffee and more pastries provided the perfect morning tea picnic amongst the changing leaves.

OLD COBBLESTONES

INTERESTING METRO ENTRANCE

NOT REAL SURE??

GIRL RELAXING!!

It was actually the 8th November  but more will be coming now that I can actually upload photos!

Au Revoir
Jo

LYON MARKETS SATURDAY MORNING

These markets are in the old part of Lyon. They have every possible thing you could  think of and then some.  It was extremely frustrating for me not to buy one of everything and take it home, chop it up and put on the biggest pot you could find to make soup.  It was certainly the weather for it.

I think I may have given the hare a miss though!

 Friday had been beautifully mild, Saturday was grey and became quite bitter.

I would have like to take one of each of the abundance of flowers as well but definitely wasted when staying only a few nights.

cabbage

artichokes

salami

oh!!!!!!!!!!!  the cheese

chestnuts



and the olives

deciding which to have for our dinner



lucky one of us knows what we are doing



and we have success!!

l

 This couple were very interested in the fact that we came from Australia and had a disagreement about how to pronounce it!

cheese also

and some apples

We enjoyed our lunch of baguette, chicken and cheese from the markets and our dinner of pork and cabbage.

Jo

BONJOUR PARIS!!!!!!!!!

PARIS!!!!!!!!

Is there another word in any language that is as enticing, romantic or seductive?

Perhaps not.

The very sight or sound of it conjures up images of bodies draped in exquisite apparel, feet shod in divine creations, commonly known as ‘shoes’, a word which does no justice whatsoever to their importance  in the lives of women.

They stride around the city, mobile phones often pressed to their ears, laptop bags gripped in the other, on their way to places of work or just going about their daily lives, all the while seemingly oblivious to the fact that they are walking past the ancient. 

        Big cities are the same all over whatever the language.   People of all shapes and sizes.  Yes, despite the ‘French women don’t get fat’ fallacy.  The traffic pushes the boundaries although they are much better behaved about stopping at amber lights than the Australians.  Just as well as the green walking man is displayed at almost the same time and Parisians surge over the road, rarely giving way to those coming in the opposite direction, sometimes with a ‘pardon’
       
The sound of sirens abounds as in any city but these have that same noise you hear in the movies that are set in Europe.  Why does that make it different?

The workmen who are replacing the guttering on the old building of the apartment where I am staying, cheerily wish you ‘bonjour madame’  or ‘bon appetit’  if they see you at a meal and proceed to saw, hammer and sing.  I’m sure they are just asking their workmates to pass the wrench but in French, it sounds so much more interesting.  At least when you don’t understand it that is.    

Perilously high heels are worn by women of all ages whether appropriate or not and they do it with panache.

  Of course. 

 Everyone seems to have a mobile phone in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

        Despite being November the weather has been extraordinarily mild but they still wear scarves, heavy coats and sometimes gloves.  The shops are so hot that you need to peel off the outer layers as soon as you walk into them.  I leave mine off!

Autumn blessed us with two perect days but the rest has been overcast and drizzly.  Yesterday it appeared winter had set in as the air turned bitter and today continues to drizzle.  Common in November according to the information I've read, with a usual top of 10 degrees.

Accessing the internet has been nigh impossible in the apartment, probably because it is free, so I am at the Macdonalds down the road, also free but more reliable although I've already lost one post when it cut out! 

It won't allow me to put any photos in either so that will have to wait.  In the meantime I also will wander past the ancient, admiring the buildings and their wrought iron balconies while also including the shops so they don't feel left out.

Au revoir
Jo

VIOLA!