David buys an Electric-Assist Bicycle

 

David has enjoyed biking around Lyon alone or with friends, and, since 2012, going on week-long bike trips in various regions of France.  It is a great way to see and experience the various parts of France, and to enjoy the cuisine and wines of the different areas.

As we have aged [how did that happen?], the Lyonnaise members of the biking groups have mostly graduated to electric-assisted bicycles.  These bikes are remarkable feats of engineering, allowing one to go a bit faster for the same amount of effort, and to handle uphill climbs more comfortably. During our last week-long trip, in 2019, David spent about 300 euros to rent an electric-assist bike for a week.  The bike was a revelation – easy to learn to use, with or without the assist feature.  So, he researched electric bikes with the assistance of the internet, Roger Micallef, and Laurent Neveu, Estelle’s husband and a biking enthusiast.  After much research and input, David decided to buy a basic electric bike from Decathlon, a French chain of sporting-goods stores.  Laurent had a contact in the bicycle department, and volunteered to manage the process.  

Laurent obtained the bike last fall, along with fenders and a luggage rack, assembling everything in his garage workshop over the winter. Total cost, a bit over 1100euros – a pretty good deal when you can easily spend several thousand.  David has since added a rear-view mirror, a water-bottle holder, and a small pouch for a pump and tire-sealant. 

 The New Electric Bike in our Apartment

Anna and David visited the Neveus at their home in St Genis Laval shortly after our arrival in Lyon, and spent a pleasant afternoon hearing all the latest Neveu family news, before David rode the bike back to our apartment.  Since then, David has ridden around Lyon and the surrounding area several times, familiarizing himself with the bike and its features.  These features include three assist-levels and the ability to easily ride with no electrical assistance.

L'atelier de Laurent [Laurent's Workshop]

Unfortunately, Roger recently had some surgery, from which he is convalescing, but which has resulted in the cancelling of our projected week-long bike trip this year with our usual group of four.  So, David will have to be content with local excursions, including at Parc Tête D’Or, below.

David in the park

"Our" Marché

There are a wide variety of marchés, or open air markets, throughout Lyon.  In fact there is a list of all of them online with information about their locations, days and times they are open, and the type of merchandise that is their specialty. 

We have a great marché not far away from our apartment. It specializes in food, flowers, and plants.  And, by food I mean everything from fresh vegetables and fruit to a butcher with a large, well-stocked, refrigerator case to multiple cheese vendors to folks with a large variety of jams, jellies, and honey.  And, there are folks selling flowering plants, fresh-cut flowers, and a variety of herbs and decorative plants.  (I’m sure I must be missing something.)  Anyway, "our" marché is open Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

"Our" Marché

Today we purchased some lovely strawberries, a huge, very fresh, head of leaf lettuce, a jar of jam made with mixed red fruit, two jars of honey for David to try, and some peonies for me. 

The strawberries - you can almost smell them!

The jars of honey (miel) and jam.

The lovely peonies.

In the past we’ve purchased parsley and rosemary plants, potatoes, artichokes, and other vegetables, a jar of honey to take home as a gift, and a bouquet of roses.  (Again, I’m sure I’m missing something!)

But, there is another amazing thing about all these marchés.  After, the vendors close up, load all their remaining merchandise and tables and display paraphernalia into their vans and leave, a city cleanup crew arrives.  And, magically every single bit of leaf, paper, and any other debris vanishes, spills are cleaned up, and then the crew leaves!  You would never know that just a few minutes earlier there was a large marché with lots of things for sale and folks wandering around.  I remember the first time we witnessed this transformation on an earlier visit to Lyon.  We were fascinated and just stood there watching the cleanup ballet.  Our marché returns to its parking lot identity, other marchés become city squares, sidewalks, parts of streets, etc. until it’s marché time again.

MAY DAY IN FRANCE

May Day in France is different from May Day in the US.  Here, in France, it is also Labor Day.  And, Labor Day is taken very seriously here.  Everything is shut down/closed so that everyone with a job can actually enjoy the day.  “Everything” means all stores (including grocery stores, shopping centers, etc.), all public transportation, all restaurants, you name it – it’s closed.

Definitely a day for celebration!  And, we celebrated May Day at the home of our friends, Dominique and Roger.  We enjoyed another delicious lunch lasting a few hours, with lots of food and great conversation (we took Anna’s Pea Salad, a special favorite of Dominique’s). 

Since it was May Day, instead of hopping on our trusty #13 bus, we walked a couple of miles each way from our apartment to Roger and Dominique's.  The weather was quite pleasant for a walk.  On the way we passed a number of family groups enjoying the sunny May Day with picnics in parks.

But, another feature of May Day, is the purchasing and giving of Muguet flowers and Muguet Plants (Lily of the Valley).  When we first came to Lyon, there seemed to be folks selling Muguets on every street corner, in every Marche (street market), and in grocery stores.  Sadly, that very pleasant custom seems to be phasing out.  But, not for us!  We made sure to get ours and to get ours as a potted plant so that it would last a while. Our Muguet plant remains alive and well although the flowers are fading.

Our Muguet Plant

EASTER DINNER

 

The day before we left the US, our very good friend, Dominique, invited us over for Easter Dinner.  Now really, who can say no to seeing close friends after many months?  And, then, add in dinner with lamb from Ireland?  There's just no question!

Our contribution to dinner was David's choice of nice bottles of red wine and white wine.  So, on Easter, the day after we arrived in Lyon, we hopped on the #13 bus and were on our way to Roger and Dominique’s lovely home.  (We’re still a little amazed we managed to do that in our jet-lagged state!)

There were eight of us for the 12:30 dinner.  Quite a convivial group. Delicious food, great company, and fun bi-lingual conversations.  (Roger, our host, who usually speaks English, asked Anna at one point why she was speaking to him in French.  Excellent question! There must be a lot to be said for the effects of jet-lag and alcohol on foreign language fluency.  May be worth further study….)

That's Roger on the right, David on the left,
 and Dominique next to David.

After a very pleasant afternoon and a warm welcome to lovely Lyon, we headed off to catch the #13 for a ride back.  We managed to get back to our apartment, and pretty much crashed.  But, what a lovely way to begin our 2022 stay in Lyon!

Joyeuses Pâques!

RETURN TO LYON

 It’s great to be back in Lyon again!

Our flight over was uneventful and as pleasant as almost 10 hours confined in a plane and wearing masks can be (thank you, Delta!).  We caught our train at the CDG airport (more masks!) and were in Lyon in 2 hours with just a short walk remaining to our home-away-from-home.

154 rue Moncey

our apartment is the set of windows on the left 

on the 4th floor above the wooden door

The checker and security guard at our local MonoPrix remembered us and welcomed us back when we went in to buy some basics.  And, even the geraniums in Anna’s  window boxes seemed to be happy to see us after they had survived the summer and winter without her feeding them, grooming them, and speaking kind words to them.

One of Anna's happy geraniums in bloom.

Now all we needed to do was unpack our suitcases, bring up our boxes in the cave or basement (this is one of David's least favorite chores especially after a long travel day!), put our feet up, and relax.  Ahh!  Feels good!

Lots more to come!