Cycling home I saw what I thought were three Handmaids from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel.

As I got closer I realised they were Segway riders ready for the rain. Blessed be the fruit.

You may remember I recently saw an animal in the Rhône which I thought was a beaver but which colleagues told me was un ragondin.

Well today there was no doubt as I saw quite a few of them – out of the water.

Coypus are an invasive species and there are signs up asking people not to feed them. But people were feeding them bits of their baguette sandwiches!

A lunchtime walk along the Saône

Comme l’année derniere la canicule s’est arreté avec un grand orage.

Malheursement cette fois j’etais dehors quand ça a commencé.

Quand je suis rentré chez moi, J’ai compris qu’il a plu là-bas aussi.

It was a nice sunny day so Cath and I decided to try a bit of sailing/steering/driving a boat along the Saône. We had spotted a company that let you take a boat out without a licence at Confluence so after a very brief chat about the rules of the waters and how to drive the thing, we took to the waters.

It was quite straightforward to be fair, stay on the right, go under the yellow triangles on bridges and steer the whole time.

We only took the boat for an hour so we had time to travel up the Saône to Vieux Lyon and then we had to turn back. We saw some lovely sights on the way.

It did get a bit choppy when another boat went past – our little craft got tossed about a bit. But it was great fun and a nice way to see the city. We even saw my place of work on the way back.

I also learnt a new word – le point mort – neutral gear. I learnt it just in time.

S’il vous plaît messieurs, venez à le cube vert.

As regular readers will know, Euronews is moving to Brussels in March next year.

Our graphics department has had some fun with the news.

I recognise the Thompson Twins, Snowy and the Manneken Pis – and a Schtroumpf.

I guess that is Plastic Bertrand holding Snowy judging by the words on his T-shirt.

But I’m not sure who this magician/busboy looking character is.

And where’s the Belgian bullet?

Of course the faces of all the Belgian celebrities have been replaced with those of our graphistes.

Update: 20 July. The red-clad figure is Spirou – a very famous Belgian comic strip apparently. A bell-boy at the Moustique Hotel.

And of course the Thompson Twins in French are Dupond et Dupont.

Vous savez deja que j’aime les martinets – leurs vols, leurs cris – tous. Et ça c’est bien parce que Lyon est la ville des martinets.

Voici des images de la fenetre de chez nous.

After missing out on last year’s celebrations because I overdid it on the swimming front this year we planned to go and see the feu d’artifice.

Because of the ongoing unease the government has banned the sale of fireworks to individuals this year. And also made buying alcohol more difficult.

But just before 1030pm we strolled down our street to see what we could see. Along with the rest of Lyon it would seem.

After 20 minutes it was over but it was a very impressive display. There were shouts of Vive la France and Allez Lyon. Good fun.