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

We've moved!

It's been nearly two weeks since I posted anything, and a lot has happened, namely, we successfully moved! It was quite a challenging experience which is still in the process. It all began with our first experience with a taxi strike. We had planned on using a taxi to transport our 6 large duffell bags along with all the rest of the stuff we had bought while staying in the hotel. We arrived in the hotel lobby only to find out that the taxi drivers decided to take the day off. We left our stuff at the hotel and ran to our apartment to meet our rental agent, arriving 45 minutes later than we intended. We spent the rest of the day figuring out how to get our stuff to the apartment. The delivery man from the second hand store where we bought the bedroom armoire agreed to help us out, and all our stuff made it by 7:30 that night. The next week was spent with setting up our aparment as much as possible while making room for the painters who had not quite finished (we agreed to move in while they were still working). I never thought that I would so willingly open up windows in the middle of winter, but the paint had to dry! It was quite cold. The painters finished, we're relatively stocked up on food, we finally have dishes and towels of our own, and in about another month we will have a couch and a coffee table (which we are purchasing from a kind lady who is moving back to the States). Whew! I bought a couple of chairs, so we have a place to sit down at least. Here's the tour:











We love our apartment. It's smaller than our place in Altadena, but it's smartly designed and in some ways is nicer than what we lived in before. Our favorite part is probably the view. We can see down through the trees to our 19th century neighborhood, where we know how to get to our favorite bakery, market, flower shop, laverie (to wash clothes), post office, brasserie, etc. It's only a 10 minute walk to a huge park (similiar to Central Park in NY, really), right across the street to the metro, and right in the middle of everything we wanted to experience in France. The only downside is that it is quite close to very busy train tracks (the old train station is right across the street, and is one of the most beautiful buildings anywhere). We see TGV trains, regular passenger trains, and cargo trains with all kinds of cargo. It makes dish washing more entertaining, as I can see them when I look out the window. When we close the windows, we barely notice the sound (thank goodness the windows are so effective at shutting out sound), but when we open the windows, we are reminded that we are now "city folk" by hearing all the cars, horns, and trains going by. We are very happy, though, and feel like this place was waiting here for us and that many happy things will happen while we are living here.

One thing is still missing, though (other than the couch, coffee table, rugs, pictures, telephone...uh, you know what I mean)...YOU!!! We already know that one of the best parts of all of this will be sharing it with you.

Ok...I am experimenting with making naan tonight along with veggie curry. I think the dough has risen to about double...gotta go...

Meet the members of Mark's lab!

We went out last Friday night with the members of Mark's lab to celebrate the completion of the new building. This is about half of the group. They are really great, fun, intelligent people, whose group we are very happy to be a part of. The restaurant was in a very old building with stone walls and an arched ceiling. We ordered a veggie sandwich, which looked exactly the same as the hamburgers except with no meat. At first we wondered if it was going to be any good, but it turned out to be great (the really really good bun and cheese made the difference I guess).

Tomorrow is moving day! We'll carry what we can (including the cats) to the apartment tomorrow to meet the rental agent and get the key. After that we will call a taxi for the rest of our stuff. We have our appliances and some furniture being delivered later on in the day. I can't believe moving will be over for awhile. I've just gotten so used to it as a way of life...

I went to IKEA yesterday to buy some necessities and had a very interesting experience. So we don't have a car, right? Well, I rode a tram for about 40 minutes to get there, and when I got off at the stop I was directed to, I was surrounded by a few buildings, and a lot of empty fieds. I had no idea I would be taking a trip into the country, and I couldn't see IKEA anywhere! So I just began walking back in the direction the tram had come. After about 10 minutes, I saw IKEA and walked another 10 minutes to get there (I guess I got off at the wrong tram stop). It was an interesting scene. I found lots of good stuff at IKEA, and after buying it (which I am also very nervous about since I don't speak the language), I had to walk all the way back to the tram with two huge bags of stuff on my shoulders. After another 40 minute ride, and changing to the subway, I got to the stop and had to walk another 1/4 of a mile to get to the hotel. It was quite a site and quite an experience! It changes shopping for me, knowing that I will have to carry everything I buy! It's a very good way to control the budget!