Quel bel endroit

Today we made our second attempt to visit Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez. The last time we tried it was closed off because of a car rally. But today we succeeded and it was worth the wait.

It was a hilltop monastery belonging to the Carthusians founded in 1280 until the French Revolution brought an end to that.

Here, a monk contemplates his impending end

With people living in the former monks’ cells

And the moules frites weren’t bad either

Pendant ce temps à Londres

Who’s that watching on as the Duchess of Cambridge does her thing at Wimbledon?

Hang on – another potential home

While our dossier was being perused by a prospective landlord in Cours Franklin Roosevelt, we went for a walk around Limonest. While there we spotted another potential home.

I’ll ring the agents on Monday and get them on the case. It feels weird knowing someone is pouring over our payslips, tax returns and work contracts to decide whether we get to rent his flat. On verra.

Ski nautique sur le Rhône

One thing I wasn’t expecting to see on my cycle to and from work was people waterskiing on the Rhône. But that seems to be a thing in the summer.

I certainly didn’t see that on the Thames.

Flat-hunting begins

And so, with le dossier completed and an agent on the case, this week we started looking around potential flats to rent. There were three up first. Two in the sixieme arrondisement, one in le deuxieme

We started in Cours Franklin Roosevelt.

It was really nice – no balcony or garage but still really nice. Six other people were interested and had submitted their dossiers already. We had til the next day to decide whether to thrown our hats into the ring. It was also just à côte d’un magasin ou j‘ai acheté une chemise et une paire de chaussures en Mars.

Next stop Quai Gailleton – a really busy road next to the Rhône.

It was a big flat but on a very busy road and it was a bit of a mess. That one was a no.

We finished the next day with a two-bed flat just round the corner from our current home.

It had a balcony (two actually) a double garage and was very modern.

But it was just a bit too small. So in the end, we threw our dossier in with the other six contenders for the Cours Franklin Roosevelt flat. We find out on Monday. Fingers crossed.

Une piscine merveilleuse

I have yet to have a proper swim in Lyon but I have definitely found the place to do it.

50m outdoor pool on the side of the Saône

The Centre Nautique Tony Bertrand looks amazing – although I cycle past it everyday I have never looked in from above – until now.

As well as lanes there is a fun area too

Will have to book a session there soon.

Pourquoi y-a-t-il un chien au travail?

Today at lunchtime this gorgeous little chien came to work.

He had a job to do. And that job was sniffing out bugs. There had been a report of an infestation so this chien – qui peut renifle la présence des punaises – was brought in.

When I got an email about le chien – I had to Google chien because I couldn’t believe a dog was coming in to try to detect an infestation of bugs. But a chien it was.