It is time for the furniture to arrive. Not ideal given it’s the morning after the Queen’s death but I thought I could work from home at the start of the day.
Now remember the removal firm has not reserved any parking outside the building and there are no places.
So the first question the lovely removal man asks me is whether I can move my cars. I tell him; “I don’t have a car.”
They then ask me about my washing machine and drier – which we haven’t brought with us – so I begin to worry it isn‘t our load. But when I see my bike it obviously is.
The first few things come up the stairs while we wait for la grue – the lift that will bring most of it through the windows.
Amazingly we get a stroke of luck when a car moves and la grue grabs its spot.
The driver extends the crane up to our window but there is one small issue – that is not our window!
A discussion ensues and the man with la grue says that is the only window he can bring it through because of the trees. So can I knock on my neighbour’s door – who I have never met – and ask her if we can bring all our worldly possessions through her living room window?
Fortunately Patrizia is in and even more fortunately she says yes. It helps that the Queen died yesterday and she feels it is her duty to help an Englishman in distress.
After about three hours it is all in. As I go outside to get the last boxes for le cave the police turn up. They ask if we have a permit for the lift. I explain that I asked the removal firm three times to sort it out but they didn’t.
The female officer is angry and talks about a €1500 fine. Her colleague in the back asks me where I am from. Angleterre. “Ah toutes mes condoleances,” – he says. Once again, in the words of Paul Burrell, the Queen has come through for me.
Patrizia – who describes herself as une super voisine- invites us round for nibbles and drinks at 7pm. She laid on quite a spread. We are very lucky to have her.
Thrown to (the) Lyon 
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