After two-and-half days of anxious waiting – and having largely given up hope – I just got the call to the say the flat is ours!

Our dossier won out over the rival six bidders. From 1 August we have a proper home.

One thing you see a lot of in Lyon is les moineaux – house sparrows. They are everywhere – even in the newsroom.

They are better than hoovers picking up all the crumbs on the floor.

And if you sit outside for lunch – well you are asking for it.

While driving to Sainte-Croix-En-Jarez we saw plenty of these signs. Next Friday the Tour de France is in town.

It’s stage 13 from Le Bourg d’Oisans to St Etienne. I’m off work that day – be nice to go and have a look.

Today we made our second attempt to visit Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez. The last time we tried it was closed off because of a car rally. But today we succeeded and it was worth the wait.

It was a hilltop monastery belonging to the Carthusians founded in 1280 until the French Revolution brought an end to that.

Who’s that watching on as the Duchess of Cambridge does her thing at Wimbledon?

While our dossier was being perused by a prospective landlord in Cours Franklin Roosevelt, we went for a walk around Limonest. While there we spotted another potential home.

I’ll ring the agents on Monday and get them on the case. It feels weird knowing someone is pouring over our payslips, tax returns and work contracts to decide whether we get to rent his flat. On verra.

One thing I wasn’t expecting to see on my cycle to and from work was people waterskiing on the Rhône. But that seems to be a thing in the summer.

I certainly didn’t see that on the Thames.

And so, with le dossier completed and an agent on the case, this week we started looking around potential flats to rent. There were three up first. Two in the sixieme arrondisement, one in le deuxieme

We started in Cours Franklin Roosevelt.

It was really nice – no balcony or garage but still really nice. Six other people were interested and had submitted their dossiers already. We had til the next day to decide whether to thrown our hats into the ring. It was also just à côte d’un magasin ou j‘ai acheté une chemise et une paire de chaussures en Mars.

Next stop Quai Gailleton – a really busy road next to the Rhône.

It was a big flat but on a very busy road and it was a bit of a mess. That one was a no.

We finished the next day with a two-bed flat just round the corner from our current home.

It had a balcony (two actually) a double garage and was very modern.

But it was just a bit too small. So in the end, we threw our dossier in with the other six contenders for the Cours Franklin Roosevelt flat. We find out on Monday. Fingers crossed.

I have yet to have a proper swim in Lyon but I have definitely found the place to do it.

The Centre Nautique Tony Bertrand looks amazing – although I cycle past it everyday I have never looked in from above – until now.

Will have to book a session there soon.