Watching the World Cup on French television means I am learning some new words in French like le corner.

But seriously, here are some new words – some of which my French teacher put my way.

• Le hors jeu – offside

• Le but – goal

• L’entraîneur – the manager

• Le coup franc – free kick

• La lucarne – top bins

I remember from my Formation Civique training that there are 101 departments in France. But how to remember them all.

Well how about this? A nice little magnetic map of all of them. With helpful pictures.

Lyon is represented by the puppet Guignol – the symbol of Lyon’s traditional Bouchon restaurants – such as Chez Paul.

Today was International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Cath came across this moving tribute by the town hall in the centre of Lyon. 121 pairs of shoes marking the 121 victims in 2022.

I spotted this bumper sticker in the car park today. I guess there must be someone from the Savoyard region at work who loves their potato-based dishes.

My son Matthew insisted we go to a pub to watch the start of the Qatar World Cup and so here we are at Bros watching Qatar get a bit of a pasting by Ecuador.

France play on Tuesday but today we awoke to the news that local lad Benzema is out with a thigh injury.

Maybe call up Claudius?

Today we united the French and British branches of our families in Montélimar.

We chose the location because it was halfway between our respective homes in Lyon and Marseille.

It was great to catch up with Sally, Hanna and Lauren – and of course Alma – who charmed Matthew and Nathan.

We also bought some nougat obviously.

Cette semaine nos fils sont arrivés à Lyon pour leur premiere visite.

It was lovely to see them. They were only here for a few days but we’ve missed them.

We took in a few sites – the main challenge was finding places for a vegan to eat in meat-mad Lyon. But we managed. We’ll see them in a few weeks for Christmas in London.

If you are squeamish please look away now.

I think the Lyonnais with the most dangerous lives are the rats who live along the banks of the river Rhône.

Here’s why. Almost every day on my cycle to work I see a dead rat that has been squished by a passing bike. There is a bike lane all along the tow path and bikes whizz along at quite a lick.

Today I saw two such fatalities on one commute for the first time. As a dedicated blogger, I took some pictures to illustrate these dangers.

CLICK AWAY NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THE EVIDENCE.

Je me suis rendu compte qu’il y a un an Cath et moi sommes venus a Lyon pour la premiere fois.

Le 15 Novembre l’année derniere était le jour que nous sommes venus a Lyon pour voir si nous pouvions demanager ici.

Apres des entretiens et un petit sejour à Vieux Lyon, on a decidé que Lyon était une poste ou on peut vivre et alors, un an plus tard, nous voici,

Et ça veut dire que je ecris ce blog depuis un an. Je vous en prie mes 615 visiteurs.