Deep down, I'll always be a foreigner...

As soon as we landed in Lyon, people started asking us for directions. It began on the shuttle from the airport, in fact, where two different Frenchman asked Mark, in French, for help finding the right stop. Yes, we blended in enough that we were as good a choice as any person to ask such a thing. We still blend in. People speak to us in French and never assume we're tourists. Until yesterday...

I bought the greatest trench coat when we were still living in CA, intending to save it for France. The cut and the style were great, it fit perfectly, and I loved the color. Once we arrived and I saw everybody else's coats: 95% black, 4% red, 1% other... Ok, that might be a little of an exaggeration, but I'm not that far off. I have been too timid to wear my beloved ORANGE trench coat for two months!

After an email exchange with various family members (you know who you are), I decided I could not let the French masses, as style savvy as they are, get in the way of my own expression of style. So, last Saturday I put on the coat.

We felt like consuming a delicious pastry, and when we went up to the cashier to purchase it, he spoke to us in English! The first time since Jan 9th! So, we proceeded to have a very nice day as tourists, sticking out, but beautiful! I already have plans to wear it again.

The perfect place at the perfect time...

We enjoyed several perfect moments this weekend while we explored some of our favorite parts of Lyon. We were standing on a bridge at the perfect moment to capture our shadows on the river, as pictured above, for example.

We entered Cathedral St. Jean at about 2:45 pm, the perfect moment to see the colors cast by the sun, reflected through the south stained glass windows of the cathedral. Inside, the northern walls were were painted with soft, colored light.




And we encountered this band of street musicians at the perfect moment in Place Bellecour. The moment was perfect because when we came back a short time later, many of them had removed their shirts, and the sight was a bit less appealing. The music, as well as the band's odd selection of hats, was great!

Swans can be jerks too...

While on a stroll in the park last weekend, Mark and I redefined our image of swanly grace. As we rounded the top edge of the lake in Parc de la Tet d'Or, we saw the lovely curve and delicate glide of a beautiful white swan. This was an especially beautiful image combined with the fact that it was Easter Sunday and also lightly snowing. So romantic...

Alas, our utopia was shattered all too quickly when we noticed that this swan, though graceful, looked more like a battleship cruiser than a bird. Then we heard the calls of a large goose swimming nearby. The swan was chasing the goose! The swan shaped its wings in a large arc over its back, and it sat deep in the water as it plowed its way toward the goose. Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them--you can see the swan in hot pursuit in much better detail.





The goose kept its lead on the swan for a couple of minutes, but eventually it could not keep up. With a loud squawk, it flew into the air and away from the swan. In response, the swan flapped its wings and stretched its neck high, letting out a loud, gleeful and victorious cry.

Immediately the swan swam across the lake to another group of geese and did it all over again.

Happy Equinox, Happy Spring!!

It's the first day of spring!

We have found that Lyon has the perfect climate to our tastes. Summers are promising to be not quite as hot as southern CA, and winter consists of plenty of sunny days in the 40's and 50's (farenheit) with rain and very rarely light snow. We strongly prefer this type of winter over what we experienced in CA--we feel like we can fully experience winter (knowing we are fully justified in wearing our wool coats, which were always too warm in CA) without the harsher elements of cold that much of the world endures. And so, spring is coming into bloom, and I am loving it, especially because it has been six years since I have fully seen it.

Here is how Lyon is changing seasons at the moment


The following photos I took while on a stroll in Park de la Tete d'Or last week...

Ahhh...just like the plains of Tanzania....well, maybe not... Zoos are just not the same after seeing these amazing creatures in their natural habitats.

These photos I took a couple of days later while strolling through Vieux Lyon and then up the hill to Fourviere Basilica.

If you click on this photo to enlarge it, then you will see tiny buds on the branches.

And also a few photos of the inside of the Basilica...
Wishing you all much happiness in this wonderful season...

Officially Civilized

We have now entered into the club of adults who enhance their lives with furniture.

Yea for us! It is a truly enjoyable, bring-a-smile-to-my-face-every-time-I-think-about-it type of experience to actually sit down on a soft cushiony surface in our living room. We recommend it!

Ok, so we actually have lots of furniture that we have owned for years, but we left it all back in the USA so we didn't have to lug it around here. We miss a lot of it, but we also feel incredibly lucky to have found the beautiful furniture that provides a happy napping place for our cats. We even have several pieces that we think are so beautiful that we will never part with them. (Thank you, Pam!!!!!!)

Here are a few photos of our civilized life...



I promise in the next posting I will have photos of France! There are wayyyyyy too few of those on this blog so far!

Variations on Nap Time

Since I am not away from our little abode for long hours of the day anymore, I get to see my cats in action... or, more accurately, all of their hours of long, relaxing inaction...

Of course, nap time is also some of their cutest time, and I would like to share a few moments I have captured recently, just as the kitties are waking from their long slumbers (or about to enter into the slumbering state).

The following phots were taken on laundry day last week. Instead of paying to use the rather expensive dryers at the laundromat ($1.50 for 10 minutes), we place our clothes on a drying rack. There was no room on the rack for the sheets, however, so I put a chair on our bed and draped the sheet over it to dry. This turned into first, a fort for exploration, and second, a perfect napping place.

This is probably the best picture I have ever taken of Freya. It is now my desktop wallpaper. It's a feast for the eyes for anybody who likes black, white, gray, and cats.

Dinner in France

Sorry to be MIA for so long--I am back at full force now and full of pictures!

Many people have asked us how the food is here in Lyon, the gastronomic capitol of France. Well, as you might have guessed, we have developed our stomachs to constantly crave yogurt and cheese (items we went through rather slowly back in CA). We have 5 different types of cheese in our fridge right now, and we go through 12 pots or more of yogurt every week! It's just better here! And yes, the bread.....oh, the bread... We have two bakeries in our neighborhood that we frequent, one for its varieties of banette (especially the olive) and the other for the amazing bread and especially the pastries (the home of our first orange-filled "pain au chocolate").

The best part of it all, though, is that I have had more time to cook--something I have been dreaming of for a good long while. Below are some of the items on last week's dinner menu we've enjoyed here in the comfort of our little French apartment in Lyon, thanks to my diving in and experimenting with a few new things (or old things with new ingredients)--having French ingredients on hand is a true pleasure!

Cabbage Soup

Roasted Veggie Pesto Sandwich (with some type of glorious French cheese) and
Orangey-anise Fruit Salad

Pile 'o Pasta

Potato Bean Tacos (with homemade corn tortillas)

Cheesey Broccoli Casserole (with a bunch of types of glorious French cheese)

Roasted Vegetable Calzones (I made the crust all by myself)
--the one on the top had issues, I know

Lentil, Cabbage, and Egg Casserole