Back in Lyon

A scene in lovely Lyon

Arriving at “our” apartment on rue Moncey feels like “coming home” in many ways.  We have been staying in this same apartment since we came to Lyon in 2010 to stay for a year.  The place always looks pretty much as it always has to us with very few changes (two new chairs in the living room and some new pots and pans in the kitchen this year).  We have boxes of wine and other things stored in the basement, and Anna’s planter boxes outside the living room windows await this year’s batch of red geraniums.  Having a comfortable base like this is a bonus in a place with a different language and customs!

154 rue Moncey
Our windows are on the 5th
(US style) floor on the left

So we jumped right into our life in Lyon. In our first week, we had lunch with Estelle, our French daughter (and former exchange student), David went to the monthly AVF* Men’s Lunch, we both attended a Del Cano** lunch, David went on a weekly bike ride with several folks living in and about Lyon, we hosted our new landlords, Nathalie and Stephane, and their delightful daughters for dinner at the apartment, and we went to lunch at Roger and Dominique’s, our former landlords.  Guess you could say we hit the ground running!
In reviewing the previous paragraph, it became pretty obvious that dining is an important part of being in Lyon.  It IS the culinary capital of France, after all.  And, dining here is definitely not a rushed affair.  Everyone expects lunch to take two hours, for instance.  That allows one time to not only savor the food but also engage in real conversations with others at the table.  Very civilized and very enjoyable!  No wonder we find ourselves acclimating very quickly to the Lyon way of life!

 

* AVF - Accueil des Villes Françaises, an organization we belong to that was created to help returning French and expats get acclimated into current French life.

**DelCano – named for Juan Sebastian del Cano, unsung hero who actually completed the first circumnavigation of the earth after Magellan died in the Philippines, and a social group that has monthly lunch meetings and is comprised mostly of former RAF folks who have graciously adopted us “colonials”