A few sights from an afternoon stroll around Lyon.

Now that Halloween is over, I wondered what the chocolate shops would have on display in their vitrines. Too early for Christmas?

Of course – la coupe du monde. The chocolate World Cup.

Elsewhere it was Christmas all the way.

Comme toujours, j’ai apris quelques nouveaux mots pendant mon sejour a Marseille.

La pipelette – chatterbox

Le char – a tank.

Bazlama – Turkish flat bread as made by Hanna’s neighbour. And they made a lot of them.

Et constipé

Having been to Notre Dame de Fourviere in Lyon and Sacre Coeur in Paris it was only right to complete the set with a visit to Marseille’s hill-top basilica.

Known locally as la bonne mère, it boasts amazing views over Marseille and inside features lots of links to sailors.

You could even seen the one-time home of Edmond Dantes – Chateau d’If.

I even got a glimpse of how much Olympique Marseille’s stadium has changed since I was there in 1998.

To complete the set, here’s how they are getting ready for Christmas in Aix-en-Provence.

A trip to Marseille wouldn’t be the same without a day at the beach.

This time we went to Martigues and the weather was gorgeous. Sunbathing was the order of the day – although I decided against a swim as the sea was a bit choppy.

It was strange to think it was the end of October it was so warm. But the clocks were going back so winter must be around the corner.

Because Marseille is written differently in English I always struggle to remember if it is Marseille or Marseilles. Not any more.

Comme à Lyon, Marseille se prepare pour Noël aussi.

Toussaint is a holiday in France and falls on a Tuesday which means most people faire le pont and take Monday off work too.

As I’m trying to immerse myself in French culture I felt I needed to do the same and so we headed for Marseille to see our French family.

We arrived in time for an apero and so it was time to tick another thing off the to-do list.

When I lived in Paris in 1991, at the end of a shift at Franprix me and a couple of colleagues would go to a bar on the corner of Rue de L’eglise and drink pastis with:

• Sirop de grenadine – une tomate
• Sirop de menthe -un peroquet/parrot

When I told my French teacher this she mentioned there was a third option:

• Sirop d’amande – une mauresque

So it was time to try it. What better place than the Vieux Port.