After 14 months at Euronews I decided it was time to have a proper holiday.

Holiday entitlement works a year in advance in France so I don’t have any to take until 31 May. But as we couldn’t celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary last year because of this rule, we have taken some in advance and jetted off to Guadeloupe – in the French West Indies.

I’m aware this blog is about life in Lyon but Guadeloupe is strangely still France so I’ll publish some updates and if you don’t want to see them – come back on 24 April where normal service will be resumed.

There is still rubbish on the streets of Paris!

But le jardin des plantes looks lovely.

Today was the 11th day of pensions protests in France and also the day the demonstrations reached Chez Nous.

We went out for an evening walk to see the aftermath. It wasn’t pretty.

We even saw a Macron ordure sign.

Who is this that I spotted in the Rhône this morning? Un castor? Ou un ragondin?

I followed him/her for a bit though he/she was very camera shy. And ducked under the water if I got too close.

I asked some French newsroom colleagues and they all think it is a ragondin – a coypu.

I’ve never seen one before, I don’t think.

Not a-swimming, just a-chilling.

On Sunday we went south for a day trip to catch up with our French family.

It was meant to be a trip by train but the strikes meant our return trip was cancelled so we went by car instead.

When we got to Fuveau for lunch there was a strange orange ball in the sky – le soleil – and it was warm.

We got to catch up with our petite niece Alma. She now walks, talks and is a lot of fun.

We ate at a restaurant run by friends of Sally and Hanna. We even gatecrashed a birthday party.

Afterwards we went for a walk at the foot of Mont St Victoire.