It was my second birthday in France and for the second time, I was late leaving work because of a big staff meeting. But when I dashed home Cath had prepared a kir royale.

And then it was off for a meal at Le Zeste Gourmand. A five minute walk from our flat and the food was amazing.

Au secours. Mon cerf-volant! Il est attrapé dans un arbre dans le Parc de la Tête d’Or!

When the sun comes out in Lyon the people come out in their droves along the river Rhône to sunbathe, drink and exercise.

This outdoor gym is always heaving with people – doing pull ups, press ups and handstands.

A lot of the men exercise with their shirts off so tout le monde can admire their physiques if they so wish.

This pic is a bit more safe for work.

On my way to work I was stopped by a policeman and some nice people from a cycling safety organisation.

They explained some of the most important rules of the road to me.

Even when there is a flèche jaune at the traffic lights allowing me to cycle through – pedestrians have priority.

Two other important things – you cannot use headphones while cycling – the fine is €90! I said I didn’t know that (but the truth is I have been stopped and warned about it once before).

Also you must have a sonnette – a bell.

I didn’t have one so I had to go to the bike shop at lunchtime and buy one. As mentioned before the people in the bike shop next to work are super helpful. They don’t sell sonettes so they gave me a bag of the things they fit to new bikes which includes a bell.

Unfortunately it is too small for my handlebars. But I will use it until I get the chance to buy a proper one.

The name of Prince Harry’s book in Serbian. Also note the author’s name.

Remember here it is in French for comparison.

A work trip to Belgrade – my first time in Serbia – and there were surprisingly a lot of reminders of Lyon.

Belgrade is at the confluence of the river Sava and the Danube – just like Lyon with the Rhône and Saône.

The old docks area has moved and is now a trendy-ish place to eat. Sound familiar? There is even an old piece of docks equipment left on show.

There are a lot of moored boats that have become bars. Just like les peniches au bord du Rhône.

Belgrade’s Roman name is Singidunum, Lyon’s Lugdunum

There are even murals in Belgrade too.

Ça suffit? Non? OK – there’s even a Paul!

On our way back from St Croix-en-Jarez disaster – or a rocky outcrop – struck. I drove too close, there was a bang and we had a flat tyre.

We had to call Leo&Go who arranged a breakdown truck followed by a lift home.

I was meant to be going into work for the Turkish elections but we were significantly delayed and by the time we got back to Lyon I had to leave it to my colleagues. They did a very good job.

Cath’s sister Sally came to visit so on Sunday we went to St Croix-en-Jarez – a hilltop village that used to be a Carthusian monastery.

We had been last year but it is so picturesque we thought it would be a good place for lunch.

When we got there it was clear something was going on – the place was packed with runners. Turns out it was this. How to turn your weekend into une épopée.

We had a very nice lunch and then a walk around the village admiring the views and the cottage gardens. I also saw a lovely black redstart.

Today is Europe day and there was another protest outside work about the proposed changes to Euronews.

Once again, there was a model of the green cube crying blood red tears.

I wish they’d stop using that image – it makes me sad to think that the cube is so upset.