Fall 2012 - Introduction

We have been back in Lyon since September 26th, and periodically David has asked me if I would be blogging this time.  Each time I've told him "no, I'm just on vacation."  He reminds me that I'm the one who sold him on blogging since it's a great way to let anyone who cares to know what we are up to.  Each time I've resisted-until now, over a month after our arrival.  Needless, to say, we've got some catching up to do.  So, hang on to your chairs; here we go!


Starting at the beginning...our travel to Lyon from Seattle was loooooong, but uneventful. And, we are happily back in the same apartment in Lyon.   

Those are our windows on the left on the 5th floor (4th French-style).

The day after we arrived, we attended a Del Cano lunch.  (This is, as some of you may remember from previous blogs, a group primarily of retired Brits who meet monthly for lunch and a speaker.  I'm pretty sure we are the token "colonials.")  I really enjoy these lunches because even in the speaker is slightly less than stellar, the person sitting next to me will be very interesting and a great conversationalist.  Our speaker this time was an interesting woman who has written a book (fiction), Dodging Joe, using some of her own exploits as material.  She (pen name:  Saaskia Aark-Bennett) has certainly experienced adventures far beyond my comfort level.  (Which, as most of you know, includes only very tame, civilized activities.)  She has hacked her way through jungles, sleeping on a tarp, and subsisting on rice she has boiled - ALONE!!  Anyway, it's nice to know people like that exist; I enjoy hearing about their travels while I sit in a restaurant, munch on another yummy French lunch, and drink my French wine.

More catching up to come...

The Medieval Town of Viviers.

Viviers was one of the stops on the ‘Tour de France des Vieux Hommes’  that was completed in the first part of June.  As previously mentioned, David and the rest of the biking group loved the auberge in Viviers, so he made reservations there for a weekend with Anna.





Viviers is a small town in the Ardeche Department, on the banks of the Rhone, with a population of about 3800 people. The town dates from Roman times, and is the seat of the local catholic bishop.  As such, the town has a cathedral, the smallest in France, very well-preserved because the bishop at the time of the French Revolution quickly accepted the new government.  Several Gobelin tapestries hang on the interior walls of the cathedral, a gift of Napoleon III when he visited the town after the coup of 1848.

Outside of Cathedral showing Flying Butresses

Typical Street in the Old Town

Note Tapestries below Stained Glass in Cathedral

Looking out Through City Gate - St Michaels Tower on Right

Tower that is Remnant of old Fortifications - Cathedral to Left

The town’s name describes its status as a supply and victualing center for the Roman town of Alba-la-Romaine a few miles away.  The town served also as a fortified city with a walled castle, since destroyed,  built on top of a cliff that dominates the town.  About a quarter mile from the auberge, a 3^rd-century stone Roman bridge, still in use, spans the small Viviers River.   [See earlier posting about Anna's BIG birthday.]

We spent parts of two days exploring the town and its monuments, including the spectacular view from the site of the old fortifications.

Quite the View!

Both days we had lunch in this square.

Square in the Lower part of Town

Fête Nationale - Parade

The last time we were in France during the Fête Nationale (July 14th known in the US as Bastille Day) we saw the fireworks but somehow missed the parade and ceremonies.  So this time we made sure we saw the parade.  The parade route was on Cours Franklin Roosevelt, a lovely wide avenue lined with trees, and there were flags hanging across the street along the length of the parade.  Quite a lovely, festive sight!

The parade route before the parade.

The parade itself consisted of various military, police,and fire units.  There were no marching bands, but there was a large band stationed near the grandstand, and their music was projected via speakers along the parade route.  The band played a wide variety of music, even including selections from Phantom of the Opera, but, curiously, no Marseillaise.

The legendary French Foreign Legion - They marched in slow march time; very impressive!

Firefighters - those are axes they are carrying.  Also, note the police officer on the left.  Officers were stationed along the route for crowd control;"ours" was quite pleasant and answered questions, etc.

Here's the Army. (Apologies to all you Navy fans - my picture of the Navy is blury.)

Police motorcycle unit waiting its turn to get into the parade.

And, no parade would be complete with Fire and Rescue vehicles!

The spectators were enthusiastic, applauding at the appropiate times and taking lots of pictures, as you can see on the phone on the bottom left of the picture above.  In fact it was a lot like parades in the US.  It even started a bit late - the French woman next to us. said that was "so like the French!" and smiled.

After it ended we found a little bistro on a side street and enjoyed a pleasant rosé as we watched parents taking their very excited, tired, hungry children home for dinner.

A BIG Birthday...

Birthdays don't normally bother me.  In fact, I can't remember a birthday or age that's given me the slightest concern.  Until THIS one, that is.  July 1st was one of those milestone birthdays that carries a lot of weight.  At least it seems like it to me.

But, David came to the rescue!  He and his bicycle buddies had discovered a nice little auberge just outside of Viviers (a village about 2 hours drive south  of Lyon - by car, that is).  And, he made reservations for my birthday weekend before he and the guys pedalled on.

So off we went on the 29th.  The weather was great, and the drive was quite pleasant.  The scene was set for a lovely weekend.

The auberge definnitely lived up to all the wonderful things David said about it.  Blue pots with colorful plants graced the entrance along with large, charming trees.

Entrance to the Auberge.

Here's the tree-lined driveway leading to our room.

Our room was actually a separate cottage by the pool.  We had our own little patio with a great view of the pool and spacious grounds.  Quite the setting!

Our patio and door to our room.

View of side yard from our room.

David by the side of the pool.  Next time we'll bring swimsuits!

Our hostess was fun, entertaining and informative.  We enjoyed our many conversations with her.  She also took very good care of us at breakfast and dinner.  We had our own table reserved in the dining area outside under an arbor.  And, the food was fantastic!  Breakfasts included  assortments of freshly-made breads and rolls with home-made preserves.  Dinner was excellent!  Our  evening meals were preceeded by more delicious breads, including an olive bread that I just couldn't resist, and various toppings and pâtés.  We ordered a la carte since out appetites aren't up to the full meals (although they were VERY tempting!).  Desserts were wonderful, too.  In short, the food and the wines were amazing.

So, if you are in the area and would like to be pampered and enjoy a quiet retreat, I highly recommend Le Relais Du Vivarais.  It makes even a BIG birthday fun.

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We did some sightseeing during the days we were there - there will be another posting on that.

Guests of a Chef

France continues to present us with surprises, and today was definitely one of them.

We met Bernadette last year at Vitenature, our favorite boulangerie.  She is actually a neighbor and lives in a building at the end of our block so we see her often in the neighborhood and have treated each other to coffee at the boulangerie.  So we weren't totally surprised when she invited us to join her family in their apartment on a Sunday along with Phillipe, Angeline,(owners of Vitenature) and their boys.  Certainly a very nice gesture!  (NEVER believe those books that tell Americans that the French are very private people and will never invite you into their homes.  Who comes up with that stuff anyway?!)

So today we went to their apartment and were welcomed by her and her daughter, whom we had met before, as well as her husband, Claude, and Bernadette's sister.  Claude has an amazing collection of small models of cars, ships, motorcycles, etc., etc. (The boys were fascinated!)  In mentioning us to Claude, Bernadette had told him, among other things, that we enjoy French cuisine and that David had been in the Navy.  Claude had also served in his country's Navy and insisted on giving David one of his old Navy hats.  He also proudly presented us with an envelope.

Now, Bernadette had mentioned in passing that Claude is a retired chef, but we thought no more of it.  Until we opened the envelope, that is.  Claude had actually worked for years with Paul Bocuse, the reknowned 3 Star (Michelin) chef.  The envelope contained, among other things, a card and a small pamphlet personally inscribed: "Pour Anna et David Aubry - Amities gourmandes, Paul Bocuse" and "Pour Anna et David avec mes compliments.  Paul Bocuse."  Claude also gave us a picture of him and the team he coached to win a European culinary championship.  And, of course he had prepared a special gateau for us all te eat, along with the champagne that flowed.

Notes  Claude had Paul Bocuse inscribe to us.

A picture of Claude surrounded by his championship team.

What a generous man, what a lovely visit with his family, and what a pleasant surprise!

David's Thoughts on the French Elections - II

In two rounds in June the French went to the polls and reversed the makeup of Parliament, giving the new Socialist President a Socialist majority.  This election seemed much more sweeping than the presidential one, which was closer than predicted. 

Because of the multiplicity of parties, the socialists, with less than 50% of the total vote nationwide, won a majority of the seats.  Seats, similarly to the US, are voted upon by population districts.  The candidate, who in the runoffs gets a majority in the voting district, is elected.

Francois Hollande and the Parti Socialiste will now have control of the levers of power, and the ability to make decisions without the need to cater to coalition partners or other parties that they would have needed to make up a majority in parliament.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out, as economic constraints with the Euro and with France’s budget will, like many places in the world, constrain the government’s ability to initiate new programs.  There is little or no ability to increase deficit spending, and little or no ability to significantly increase taxes to pay for more spending.   Unlike in the US, countries cannot simply print more money as we have been doing [“Quantitative Easing”] to finance job creation and other economic activity.

It does seem that both on the street and in the press that there are few unrealistic expectations, which should help the government.  Problems typically occur when peoples’ expectations exceed what the system can or will deliver.  The elephant in the room right now for western governments worldwide is the possibility [some would even say certainty] of Greek default and the breakup of the Euro zone.  This has the potential to produce results that will be devastating for Europeans, and will require a good deal of skill and statesmanship from many heads of state.

The Euro Symbol outside the European Central Bank in Frankfort, Germany

A Visit to the Medieval Village of Crest

Michelin has published a book called Les 100 "Plus Beaux Detours" de France (The 100 Most Beautiful Detours in France).  It's a great book; each of the 100 villages has its own page with picture, short explanation of why it's in the book, and basic information such as where the tourist office is, facilities available,etc. as well as a small map of the village.  Perfect for people like us who enjoy daytrips.  Crest is one of those 100 villages and is only about 1hour and 45 minutes  away using the autoroute.  So off we went!



Showing part of the village with Anna in the foreground.

The village of Crest is very picturesque with lots of narrow "streets" and many medieval and renaissance houses. The Tourist Office actually has written information about self-guided tours. (So many things to do - so little time!) There is also evidence of a settlement going back to Neolithic times. And, of course, the Romans were there. In fact workers discovered evidence of a Gallo-Roman Inn (3rd century) when they were working on the TGV (fast train) line near here.

David took these two panoramic views of Crest and the countryside.


However, Crest's main claim to fame is its tower.  It is actually a castle keep and all that remains of a grand medieval fortress.  It is also the tallest castle tower in France at 52 meters (around 159 feet).  The fortress was built around 1145, and the castle and village were claimed by both Bishop of Die and the Count of Valentinois (part of the Poitier family).The Count's family prevailed, and the last Count in the line gave city and castle to the King of France in the 15th century.  Various Kings actually "gave" them to other families like the Grimaldis (Prince of Monaco) from time to time.  Finally, Louis XIII (in the 17th century) became nervous about the fortress and had all but the tower destroyed.  The tower was turned into a prison and remained one until the 20th century.

View of tower from the village below.

David took this near the top of the tower.

And, like so many of these lovely, old villages, Crest remains a vibrant town with over 8000 inhabitants, and plenty of shops and restaurants.  We enjoyed a delightful, leisurely lunch under an arbor near the center of the village.  As usual, we seemed to be the only Americans around.


Lunch al fresco.

 A pleasant day exploring another lovely village.

Bike Trip Day 5

Day 5 – Fri June 8.

Headed out of town early [before 8] to get ahead of possible winds and heat, following the maps and signage, as there was no marked path.  Tended to stay on main roads as we wanted to get to Arles by nightfall.  We were on the bike route for a while, from about Sauveterre to the town of Villeneuve-les-Avignon, on the other side of the island of Barthelesse and the river and canal from Avignon itself.  We stopped there for coffee and juice, and spoke to a local gentleman who wanted to know what we were up to.  He advised a different route from the one on the map; the mapped route went up through town and would be difficult to navigate on our bikes.  We pondered this while we had our drinks, looked at the maps and road signs outside, and decided to take a third route – the small highway along the river.  It turned out be a good choice as traffic was not too bad, we had a marked shoulder part of the time, and made good time.  We stopped in the village of Beaucaire for lunch and made it to the Trinquetaille district, across the river from the center of Arles, in about another hour and a quarter.

We checked into a fairly nice hotel that Anna and I had stayed in last year, cleaned up, changed, and went into Arles for a bit of sight-seeing .  Over drinks, Roger mentioned that he thought maybe we should end our trip in Arles, as getting to the actual Mediterranean, while not far, [about 40km], would have a difficult return ride against the wind, and we would need to stay overnight before starting back to Arles to catch the train.  He had thought of just going 10-15 more km to a salt-water pond, but that would not actually be the Mediterranean.  After some discussion, we decided to return to Lyon the next day.  Roger had a plane to catch Monday.  But first – a stop at a small bar for the celebratory drinks.  Two glasses of Champagne for me, beers for Roger – hydrating.  The bar was on a nice small square with people and families coming and going, probably mostly home after work and school.

Small Square in Arles



David at the Bar in Arles

Roger overlooking the Rhone in Arles 



David likewise

We then did a bit more sightseeing before finding a very nice restaurant, Le QG, for dinner.  I had a brochette with alternating chunks of duck and beef, with yet another great sauce, along with vegetables and potatoes dauphinoise.  We also had a celebratory bottle of Chateuneuf-du-Pape, a renowned local red wine.

Distance by map: about 70km.

The next morning, we went into Arles for a breakfast of juice, coffee, bread, and croissants, and headed for the train station to buy tickets back to Lyon.  That done, we headed for the same bar on the small square for another celebratory drink, before going back to the hotel to finish packing, load the bikes, check out and head for the train station.  The train back to Lyon, including hooks on the train coach for our bikes, cost all of 27 Euros each!  It also covered the distance that took us five days in less than three hours, with nine stops along the way.  Modern travel certainly has its advantages in terms of speed and comfort. 

Just to prove we actually got there, note the 'Arles' sign above us in these shots at the train station.

David looking tan and fit [or worn out?]

Roger likewise

Dominique was out of town, but Anna met us at the Part-Dieu Station in Lyon.  We headed for Roger's appartment to drop off the bikes and have a celebratory bottle of sparkling wine that just happened to be in his refrigerator.

At Part Dieu Station Upon our Return

Total distance ridden in five days: about 313 km.

Gospel Concert - French Style

Roger, our landlord, friend, and David's bike buddy, is a member of the Lions Club of Lyon, and his club was sponsoring a Gospel Concert to benefit the Alzheimer Association.  So, of course we bought tickets and anticipated hearing some good old gospel singing.  Well, not so fast, this IS France, after all!

The vocal group was actually started in 1997 by a local high school music teacher with a group of high school singers and musicians.   His inspriation was gospel choirs in the US, such as the Crenshaw Gospel Choir in LA and the Golden Gate Quartet. A brilliant way to recruit students for music classes and infuse them with an enthusiam for music, rhythm and performing!  He was very, very successful!  The group, Entre Ciel et Tierre (Between Heaven and Earth), now tours throughout the region and presents well-choreographed, enthusiastic performances.   But, they really don't perform what we would consider American gospel music.

There can be no doubt about the talent of many of the musicians and singers; several even stepped forward to  take a solo.  At one point they did stray from their home-grown version of gospel songs to sing "Proud Mary" (the Ike and Tina Turner version, minus the Ikettes) and nearly brought down the house!

Another uniquely French experience!

Bike Ride Day 4

Day 4 – Thurs June 7.

Tony had determined he needed to catch a late-morning train from the village of Pierrelatte, about 2-3 hours away.  So after a breakfast of coffee, fresh orange juice, home-made preserves, bread, and croissants of various types, we headed out.  We picked up the route near the bridge into town and had a peaceful ride down country roads, between fields and vineyards, across small bridges, and into Pierrelatte in plenty of time for Tony’s train.  After seeing him off, Roger and I headed south and west out of town to intersect again with our planned route.   There was no actual bike trail in this area, but the roads were very rural and peaceful.  Unfortunately, they also tended to be somewhat indirect, so we often covered three sides of a rectangle in order to get to a point where the fourth side would have been.  We were on a large rural island for this segment, between the actual Rhone and a barge canal.

David and Tony at the Pierrelatte Station

The plaque behind David and Tony memorializes an attack by allied aircraft during WWII on a German train known as the 'Phantom Train' that was carrying men and women to imprisonment at Dachau.  A local doctor assisted the wounded and succeed in helping one man escape recapture.  The planes of course did not know who was on the train.

We had lunch in Pont-Saint-Espirit, where we watched as classes of junior-high age kids went by, remarking on the almost total absence of very over-weight kids.

After lunch, the road went along the river past power plants, with not many trees or scenery, some small hills, and much sun with a warm head wind blowing.  Probably the most difficult section so far.  At one point, I stopped at the top of a rise, under a tree, looked around, and no Roger.  After a few minutes, he appeared, having stopped to ask to fill his water bottle, which he generously shared with me.

At about three in the afternoon, we stopped in the small village of Codolet for a beer and lots of water.  As we did not know the hotel situation in the village we were headed for, we decided that we would check out the hotels in this town.  There appeared to be two; the only one with space available was a one-star establishment called La Petite Hutte.  Very small rooms with a sink, but clean, and W/C and shower down the hall.  No A/C of course, but we decided to take it.  It was a hot, muggy night, with thunderstorms, and a downpour in the middle of the night.  Not very restful, but it served the purpose.

Distance ridden by the maps: about 60km.

Bike Trip Day 3

Day 3 – Wed June 6

Fascinating day – down the right bank again.  Got a bit off track at Montelimar, a small city, when I turned left instead of right at a crossroads.  Had an unplanned tour of the town before finally getting back onto the island in the Rhone where we wanted to be.  We detoured slightly into the town of Le Teil for lunch where Tony checked in at the railroad station to find out where he could catch a train the next day, as he had an appointment in Lyon.  Another nice lunch for about 17 Euros each.  This time we had beer instead of wine in order to up our water consumption – the weather was warming up to about 80F during the day.

Path Section Along the Rhone

Back to the island in the Rhone.  This is, I think where I lost Roger and Tony for a bit.  I had been in the lead and as the route was clearly marked, had not looked back for a while.  After a sharp right turn on a country road, I looked right so I could see back along our route for a kilometer or so.  No Roger or Tony!!  I stopped and decided I would wait a few minutes and see whether they appeared.  Still no one, so I turned around and started to retrace my route.  After a few hundred yards, they appeared, coming towards me.  Seems the cherry trees we had passed awhile back, with a few ripe cherries still on them, had proved irresistible.  They had stopped to sample a few of the cherries that remained after the harvest and pronounced them ‘great’.

We had planned to stop for the night at a hotel in Chateauneuf-du-Rhone, but did not find a hotel in the center of the village.  Before turning towards the village on the left bank, we had noticed that the village across the river, Vivier, had a magnificent cathedral on the hill.  Tony used his cell phone to find a hotel in that town, but got only an answering machine when he called.  After finding nothing in Chateauneuf-du-Rhone, he tried the hotel in Vivier again and was rewarded with an answer and the news that they had rooms available.  And so we lucked into our most enjoyable stay of the trip, at the Relais de Vivarais.

Late 19th Century Photo of the Vivier Cathedral

Not only did we have new stand-alone rooms by the pool, away from the main road, but Madame was a delightful person, who laughed at our jokes, provided efficient, courteous service, and also was our guide when making menu and wine selections.  We had a bottle of local Rose by the pool while we waited for our rooms to be made up.  Roger and Tony went swimming and I sat with my legs in the water and sipped my wine.  That evening we had a wonderful dinner with a bottle of Clairette de Die, a local sparkling wine made from muscat grapes – very refreshing as we ate under the arbor and trees outside the old main building.  I had a wonderful white fish dish with a sort of sweet vegetable relish; Tony and Roger had pigeon with a great sauce.  For desert, we had a sort of red fruit dish with a half-bottle of local red wine, as I believe, a Cote-du-Rhone Villages.

David's Plat - Both the Presentation and the Taste were Fabulous

Distance ridden by the maps: about 55km.

Bike Trip Day 2

Day 2 – Tues June 5.

Interesting day – a variety of scenery and terrain, rural and urban.  We crossed and re-crossed the Rhone, sometimes on top of dams.  My front tire went almost flat during the day just outside a small toen north of Montelimar .  We had aerosol cans with sealant with us for such an occurrence and it worked well.  The tire continued to leak slowly, but there was enough left in my aerosol to manage the problem for the rest of the trip.  While the repair was going on, a young German man on a bike stopped to see if we needed help.  He spoke English and chatted with us for a while.  He was biking from Germany to Marseille, where his girlfriend would pick him up. 

Typical Finished Path Section

South of Tain L’Hermitage we found ourselves in a village on an island called la Roche de Glun.  Thanks to Tony, we did not settle for lunch at an ordinary brasserie, but looked around a bit and found an auberge called Pere Monet where we had a fabulous meal, with two [probably too many] carafes of an excellent local red, all eaten outside under the trees.  I believe we all had the shoulder of pork with a great sauce and accompanying potatoes, dessert, and coffee.  Total cost: 24 Euros each!

Roughing it with Roger and David at Lunch

After lunch we continued down the island, crossed to the left bank north of Valence, a good-sized small city.  Here we lost our way a bit and had an unplanned tour of the town.  We managed to get back on track and crossed the Rhone again, pedaling down the river to Charmes-sur-Rhone, where we found a very nice air-conditioned, up-to-date hotel called La Carre d’Altheius.  Our bikes were placed in a locked conference room for the night.  After cleaning up and changing clothes, we walked down to a campground by the river and had a carafe of red wine, before heading back to town to find a restaurant.  The hotel restaurant being booked, we had a pleasant dinner with some Crozes-Hermitage, in a small place on the main street.

Distance ridden by the maps – about 63 km.

Bike Trip Day 1

Back to the drawing board.  The trip was again rescheduled for Sunday, June 3 as Roger and Dominique were out of town for a week.   Rain is predicted for that day!

June 3 dawned with heavy clouds but no rain.  Anna and I trekked off to meet Roger and Dominique; as we approached their apartment building, rain began to fall.  As the rain began to fall heavily, we made a joint decision to postpone for one day. 

As mentioned before, the route we were to take is called the Via Rhona – a planned bike route from Lake Geneva down the Rhone River Valley to the Mediterranean.  It is completed in some places, non-existent in others, and in others just a marked path on a country road or along the shoulder of a secondary highway.  I had purchased a detailed map and description of the route which helped immensely in the areas where there were no markings or obvious route.

Because we were going down a river valley and because the route-makers had done a good job in most places, we rode mostly on flat ground.  The few hills were mostly manageable on the bike.

Unfortunately, we took few pictures on the trip.

Day 1 – June 4.

Monday broke cool and partly cloudy – good bike weather.  This time there were only three of us – Pascale was unable to take time off from work to join us.  Off we went, via essentially the same route as three weeks previously.  I had brought a box of macarons, a prized local confection, to bring to the hospital as a thank-you for patching me up.

David and Roger at His Apartment about to Leave to Meet Tony

Upon reaching the scene of my disaster, and after a quick stop at the Givors hospital to drop off my card and macarons, we stopped to see if an obvious cause for the fall could be seen.  Besides the rain that day, I did note that the rail line curved as it reached the right side of the road where I had encountered it.  This made the angle of crossing somewhat less than 45 degrees, and probably led to the wheel slipping into the track groove. 

About 200 yards south we reached the first section of the paved bike route.  This first section was beautiful, taking us through woods, farmland, along the river bank, through wildlife preserves and over old arched stone bridges.  We also crossed onto an island in the river, and then back to the right bank again.  We passed through small and not-so-small villages, such as St-Romain-en-Gal, site of an old Roman settlement.  We also passed through some of France’s most renowned vineyard areas such as Cote Rotie and Condrieu.  We stopped at a café for a nice lunch in this area.

After lunch we continued down the right bank for a while, then crossed to a rural island for a while before re-crossing to Serrieres, where we booked into the only hotel in town.  No air conditioning, but clean and comfortable.  They secured our bikes in a small storage room for us. The only restaurant available Monday night [many restaurants in France are closed Sunday and/or Monday] was a small storefront place run by a personable man who made a good hamburger [mine] and Tex-Mex plate [Roger].  I don’t recall what Tony had, but he did pronounce it good.

Tony at Dinner - note the sign behind him.

Based on the map numbers, we covered about 65km; Tony’s and Roger’s odometers showed considerably more.  We may have ridden a bit more due to occasional side trips and/or back tracking, but neither the hours ridden nor our apparent rate of travel would seem to support the odometer numbers.

David's Thoughts on French Elections 2012

The two rounds of the French Presidential election occurred in April, with the only surprise being the closeness of the vote in the second round.   In June France then votes in two rounds for members of Assembly. 

Contrary to popular opinion in the US, France is a conservative country.  In the last 60 years, France has seldom had a Socialist President or a socialist majority in Assembly.  However, like Americans, the French people are loath to give up any of their generous social benefits.  These have included retirement at age 60, a 35-hour workweek, and very low-cost medical care.  With budget problems and an ageing population however, changes are inevitable. Last year then-President Sarkozy pushed through an increase in the retirement age to 62, setting off protest demonstrations throughout the country.  One reason for the reaction was that the changes were to take place almost immediately, impacting people who had assumed that they would be retiring in a year or two.  When Social Security retirement ages were raised in the US many years ago, no one was impacted for almost 30 years, so there was no real controversy. 

Nicolas Sarkozy

This change in the retirement age plus President Sarkozy’s mercurial, somewhat abrasive personality, undoubtedly contributed to his defeat at the polls in April.  The current financial uncertainty also led some to look to new leadership.  Note that these are some of the same factors that contributed to Barack Obama’s win in 2008.

The official picture of President François Hollande

The new Socialist President Hollande promised while campaigning to roll back the retirement age to 60 for ‘qualified workers’  This proved to affect very few – only those who had started work at 18 and worked the required number of quarters.  He has ordered an audit of France’s finances, with results to be ready AFTER the Assembly elections.  It is widely expected that he will announce that he is ‘shocked, shocked’ at France’s financial state and that therefore, changes that he wanted to make to improve services will, quel dommage, have to be put on hold while France’s financial house is put in order.   Like in the US, the financial situation will have to be addressed in order to put the country on more of a ‘pay-as-you-go basis’; an ageing population with fewer workers and more demand for services is accelerating the crunch between income and outgo.   In spite of fears on the right and in the business community of what a Socialist government might do, I believe that they will for the most part act responsibly, if for no other reason in that they have few options.

A Visitor From Kirkland

As we mentioned in our first blog for this trip, we were hopeful of a visit from our Kirkland friend, David.  (He is one of the several Davids we know - a very popular name!  See the Dr Seuss story "Too Many Daves" for reference.)  David and his wife, Sarah, are our Bridge buddies.  We get together to eat good food, drink good wine, converse, and play some bridge.

We had enjoyed a visit from their elder daughter, Leighanna and her roommate, Gillian, last year and were pleased to hear that David could squeeze some time with us into a business trip.  He had instructions from Leighanna to be sure to see the "dead elephant"* and the Roman amphitheater.  We made sure he saw those sites and many more in the short time he was here.  We did a LOT of walking!  (He told us he slept well that night.)

The weather was nice enough to enjoy lunch on the banks of the

Rhône

It was great fun to act as tour guides in our "second home" - we look forward to showing it off to Sarah, too, next time.


*Anyone who has seen Fourvière Basilica from a distance will see that it does, indeed, look like a dead elephant will all four feet sticking up in the air.

 That's Fourvière on the hill, in the distance.

THE BICYCLE TRIP, continued

The saga continues...

"The Lads" rescheduled their adventure for the morning of Saturday, May 12th.   All four were more than ready to go.  (And, their wives had plans for the week, too.  For instance, Anna and Estelle, our French "daughter," were going to meet at 3 PM for coffee, shopping, or whatever.)  Anyway, we  all met at Place Carnot for the big send off, and they were, at last, on their way.


"The Lads" from the left: Tony, David, Pascal, and Roger.

The weather wasn't the best.  In fact, they had to take refuge from a torrential downpour under an autoroute bridge along with an older lady who turned out to be a great conversationalist.  A nice way to wait out a storm!
The weather cleared and they were off again.  They found a pleasant route and were quite enjoying the trip.  When, about 25 km (15-16 miles) south of Lyon, David's front tire somehow got wedged between a railroad track and the pavement.  The bike stopped, but he didn't.  (A body in motion tends to remain in motion - remember that from Physics?)  The next thing they knew, David was kneeling on the ground, holding his face, and, as Tony, says, "there was blood everywhere!"

As fortune would have it, a man in a near-by house was just on his porch, saying good-bye to his brother-in-law and saw the whole thing.  He called an aid car and hurried over to help.  (This gentleman and wife were wonderful to everyone!)  Soon David was off to the Emergency Room in an aid car accompanied by Pascal.

Even after being cleaned up at the hospital, David was a sight. Multiple scrapes and bruises on his face, along with bandages on his chin and upper lip and ten stitches above his left eye; scrapes and bandages on his arms and hands; torn pants and a scraped knee, and a lovely bruise on his thigh. Quite the visage! But, thankfully, it's nothing that can't heal.

Back on the homefront, Anna recieved a call from Dominique (Roger's wife) telling her that David was injured and Catherine, Tony's wife, would be happy to drive her down to join the riders and collect David to bring him home.  Soon they were off and arrived just as David was getting out of the hospital.

David is healing quite nicely and will get his stitches out at the end of this week.  Here's a picture Laurent, Estelle's husband, took of him a week after "the event."

Definitely on the mend!

So what about the bike ride?!  It's been rescheduled for June 3rd.  Stay tuned!