May Day in France!

May Day in France is quite different from May Day in the US.  No little kids leaving small bouquets by front doors, ringing doorbells, and running away here. (Do they still do that in the US?)

In France, May 1^st is Labor Day, La Fête du Travail, a serious national holiday!  It is the only day of the year when employees are legally obliged to be given leave (except for some professions that cannot be interrupted, like in hospitals for example). And, if May 1^st falls on a Thursday, as it does this year, most workers are also expected to take the following day, Friday, May 2^nd, off to "faire le pont" (“create a bridge” to include the following day to make a long weekend).

In France, May 1st is also linked to muguets, Lillies of the Valley. Offering a little muguet in spring was actually common way back in medieval times, but it became official May 1st, 1561, when King Charles IX, having received a sprig himself, decided to return the gesture and offer the flower to every lady in his court. 

It’s a tradition that really caught on!  In preparation for May Day, Muguets are for sale everywhere, in grocery stores, farmers’ markets, on street corners – everywhere. (Although, we have not seen as many street vendors in Lyon as in the past.) According to Le Figaro, over 60 million brins or sprigs of muguets are sold in France every year, representing an official market of around €24 million, and if you take into account the many street vendors, the unofficial figure is likely four times as high.

We have always made it a point to get muguets when we are in Lyon.  At first we would just buy sprigs and put them into a vase, but lately we've purchased small plants since we like to enjoy them longer.  Afterall, they bring good luck!  This year Anna bought hers from her favorite “plant and flower lady” in our local farmers’ Marché.

Our 2025 Muguets 

Lunches in Lyon

 One of the many fun things to do in Lyon is to share a meal with friends.  There are many, many restaurants in Lyon, the gourmet capital of France. Restaurants here come in all sizes and styles from “mom and pops” to larger and more formal.  Add some of the remarkable friends we have made in France, and you have a delightful recipe for great conversations on a variety of topics served with wonderful meals.

Here are some examples:

Estelle and our daughter, Jill, met when they were 15 and 16 and involved in an exchange program. Jill spent a month in Lyon with Estelle and her family, and Estelle flew back to the US with Jill and spent a month with us.  And, it was magic - we’ve been “family” ever since then.  Estelle refers to us as her American parents, and she is our French daughter.  Through the years our French family has grown to include Estelle’s husband, Laurent, their sons, her mother, and extended family.  So it’s not surprising that spending time with our French family is high on our list of priorities when we are in Lyon.

Here’s a photo of Estelle, Laurent, and us having lunch soon after we returned to Lyon this year.

When we first arrived in Lyon in 2010, we became members of AVF (Accueil des villes françaises).  This organization was initiated by and continues to be partially supported by the French government to assist both returning French and expats living in France integrate into modern French society.  Through AVF we have met folks from all over the world, and have learned about, toured, and experienced France in wonderful ways.  Recently, David attended a monthly Men’s Lunch, an event started by our good friend Roger Micallef.  

That’s David - second from the right.

Also, shortly after we first arrived in Lyon, our friends, Roger and Dominique, invited us to attend a Del Cano lunch with them.  Del Cano was started as an organization of ex-RAF folks.  Juan Sebastián Elcano (del Cano) was the Spanish navigator who completed Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe after Magellan was killed in the Philippines.  He was the unsung hero who got the job done.  Naturally, this is primarily a group of British people, although they have generously included a few of us “colonials” in their lunches.  Another group of very interesting folks from a different part of the world!  Anna went to lunch with them this week at a small restaurant in historic Vieux Lyon.  The topics of conversation varied widely and even included an invitation to the upcoming celebration of the King’s birthday.

That’s Anna on the right between the lady in pink
and the lady in blue.

Good food, interesting conversations - doesn't get much better than that!

  

ANNA’S WINDOW BOXES

Years ago, back when our good friends, Roger and Dominique, were our landlords, Roger gave Anna two planter boxes for our living room windows.  It had started when Anna was admiring all the lovely plants on Roger and Dominique’s terrace and made a comment about missing the flowers in our garden at home.   Soon Roger generously delivered some “spares” - two window boxes complete with potting soil, trays and hangers for the railing. Voila!  Anna had her very own “garden”! 

Since then each stay in “our apartment” has started with the removal of last year’s dead plants and the planting of lovely, new plants.  Finding a place to buy plants close to where we live in the city has presented difficulties in the past. However, we have “discovered” a wonderful local marché just a short walk away. This marché has many, many great products: fresh vegetables, cheese, honey, meats, cut flowers, plants, etc., etc.  

 The Marché

One of Anna's favorite booths belongs to a lady who carries a wide variety of cut flowers, and herb, veggie, and flower plants.  On her recent visit to the marché, Anna was very pleased to find the lady happily surrounded by lots of flowers and plants of all sorts.

So here is a photo of this year’s baskets complete with geranium and lithodora plants.  Both plants are happy in full sun and should do well in the baskets.  (Those sticks are there to discourage pigeons from moving in and nesting.)

And, we have found that the lithodora plants are particularly popular with local bees. That was a bit of a surprise since our apartment is on the 4^th floor (French)/5^th floor (US). How do they know there’s good stuff for them here to begin with?  And, how amazing that it’s worth the effort to fly way up here!  Just a surprise bonus, I guess.

Two Favorites in Lyon: Pastry and People

I wrote about changes in the last post, so I’ll write about some things that, thankfully, haven’t changed.  Namely – people and pastry.

Our day often starts with a breakfast of some fresh pastries from one of the boulangeries nearby.  In fact, I often just walk across the street and get a croissant for David and a chausson aux pommes for me.  

That's the boulangerie on the corner. 
Photo taken from our living room window.

We became very spoiled when we first came to our apartment in Lyon and got to know Philippe and Angeline who used to own that boulangerie.  They gave us a very warm welcome and soon became good friends.  The folks who work in the boulangerie now are unfailingly pleasant, patient, and even remember my usual order, but we do miss Philippe and Angeline.

I have come to love chaussons aux pommes which can probably best be described as French apple turnovers – think warm, flaky, buttery pastry loaded with apple pie filling.  Delicious! 

We now have a favorite boulangerie just a couple of blocks away.  We enjoy sitting at a table there while we drink our café-crèmes, eat a pain au raisin (for David) and a chausson aux pommes (for me) and chat with the folks behind the counter.  We typically also get a baguette and often desserts.  They have a lot of delicious offerings! And, in case you are wondering, I think these folks make the very best chaussons aux pommes around.  

Friendly folks at our favorite Boulangerie.

These folks also remember us from year to year and always greet us warmly. In fact, when we returned to Lyon after a couple of years absence, thanks to Covid, they greeted us with big smiles.  And, after the usual bonjours, the lady behind the counter greeted us with “comme d'habitude”?  (The usual?)  

Then, as we were leaving Lyon last year, we walked by the boulangerie on our way to the train station.  The gentleman in the photo rushed out and gave David a bag with a pain au raisin and a  chausson aux pommes in it and said “pour la route” (for the road).

So when you started reading this posting, you may have wondered why I linked pastry and people.  Now you know!  Two Lyon favorites that haven't changed.

BACK IN LYON!

Yes, we have returned to Lyon and "our" apartment!  It's fun to sort of take inventory of things that have changed while we were gone and what other things remain, quite pleasantly, the same.  So, let's start with our apartment building which dates back to the 1880s.  (You may remember that David chose this apartment for its appearance and ambience.  No modern high-rise need apply.)

As we left Lyon last year, the entry and hallway of the apartment building were getting quite the face lift.  All of the wood surfaces got new varnish, and all of the walls were in the process of getting painted.  It's the painted part that had us worried. The building has lots of decorative touches that help give it that 1880s feel.  What if they were to just slap fresh, institutional, beige paint on the walls and cover up all those lovely touches?  Needless to say, we were very relieved to see samples of "new" paint colors on the walls that very closely matched the existing colors.  But, what about the special Art Nouveau touches? Well, you may remember the last few posts last year re our apartment building update featured two very talented ladies who actually restore buildings like this one.  They did an amazing job! Here are some before and after photos:  

AVANT

APRES

AVANT

APRES

AVANT

APRES

As you can see our artists did a beautiful job matching those antique colors and replicating every detail.  The end result, along with the refinished woodwork and stair railings, is very impressive!

What a nice welcome back to our "second home"!

Annual Bike Ride - Day 5, Part 3

 I waited outside the Gare in Lons-le-Saunier with the bikes while Roger and John went in to purchase their tickets.  [I had already bought mine before we left Lyon.]  It took a while as Saturday travel was apparently popular this weekend - little did we know How Popular!

We rode about a mile to our accommodations in a decrepit-looking building.  Roger called the proprietor who gave him the combination for the key-safe so we could enter the unit.  It turned out to be a spacious ultra-modern apartment with all the bells and whistles.  

Our Building - Went through the Tunnel to Access the Unit

Living Area of our Apartment

We secured the bikes by carrying them up to the landing outside our door and locking the bikes to the railing.  As I am now an experienced carrier of bicycles on apartment stairways, I assisted in the process.

Friday night was to be the national Fête de la Musique where every venue imaginable has live music.  The street our building was on was closed to motor vehicles, but we were 75 yards or so from the nearest venue, so the night should not be too noisy.

We headed down the street to scout venues for refreshments and food.  We soon found a likely location and ordered beers.  Because of the expected crowds the menu was very limited.  We had selected a table to the side, so we had cover from the sun and less exposure to potentially really LOUD music.  While refreshing ourselves, we checked our meal choices, ordered, and watched people, including whole families fill up the tables in the street in front of the building.

Roger and John at our Table

Front of the Bar-our Table Area to the Left and Back, Vocalist in Blue Hat Right

The entertainment consisted of a talented female vocalist with accompaniment, who sang very well.  Some of her singing consisted of American R&B songs sung in English!

Poster for the Fête

After eating and having another beer, we headed back to our apartment as there was to be a Eurocup Soccer match on TV, with France and the Netherlands.  [Wound up a 0-0 tie.  Editor's note - soccer needs reform so scoring can occur.  Shoot-outs should not determine important matches.]  John and Roger watched a good bit of the match.  John had kindly purchased some wine and beer, so we had refreshments after we returned to the apartment.

John and Roger Watching the Match

Roger Preparing to Unwind

The next morning, we headed for the Gare.  Our train arrived and it was pretty full and got 'fuller' as we made additional stops.  We stood all the way back to Lyon.  

In Lyon, we unloaded the bikes and headed home.  At least there was no rain.

Another successful biking expedition!

Annual Bike Ride - Day 5, Part 2

After lunch, we began to encounter the first of many tunnels along the route.  One of the tunnels is a half-mile in length, but fluorescent lighting above made it fairly easy to navigate. 

We were in much different terrain now, with straight sections between tunnels, but not so much obvious flat farming activity - much more mountainous.  The slope still trended generally downward, so riding was very easy for the most part.

Entering One of Our First Tunnels

At one point, Roger who was in front, stopped quickly and warned the rest of us to stop.  He had come abruptly upon some stairs leading steeply down.  We carefully maneuvered ourselves down the stairs – at least they provided a steep bike ramp next to the stairs.  It would have been nice to have had some signage before coming upon the stairs.  We could just see someone who was not paying much attention shooting out into space.

Negotiating the Infamous Stairs

Once we got to the bottom, the reason for the stairs became obvious – there was a closed tunnel end right there, so we had been riding over the top of the tunnel.  Maybe the tunnel cannot be made safe because a cave-in has occurred?

Looking Back at the Closed Tunnel - Stairs are to Right

Note that all the literature on the circuit we rode this week has riders going clockwise - we went counter-clockwise.  If we had gone as recommended, we would have gone up the stairs.  Our choice did produce such an enjoyable, mostly down-hill day that David preferred how we actually did the circuit.

We then were riding along a right-of-way that had been carved out of the cliff.  It provided several good photo opportunities.

Looking Down on a Village from the PLM Route.

Lons-le-Saunier in the Distance from the PLM Route

We then came to the end of the PLM part of the route, where the old Conliege Gare has been made into a house.  There is also some interpretive signage explaining the history of the route and the old Gare.  Apparently, the cost to take the train round-trip Champagnole to Conliege way back when had been 2 Francs 50 centimes.

Conliege Gare - now a Home

Interpretive Plaque at the Conliege Gare

Detail on the Plaque

We then descended into Lons-le-Saunier through suburbs on neighborhood streets.  The decision was made to first head for the Lons Gare so Roger and John could purchase tickets for tomorrow’s train back to Lyon.  Then we would find our accommodations.