It’s nearly Christmas so it can only mean one thing – the chocolate shops of Lyon are doing a roaring trade.

Which means there is a bit of a queue to get in.

There are other chocolate shops in Lyon – so many chocolate shops.

These are obviously popular because there was another queue.

But there is so much choice. So much.

Il y a de la brume ce matin. On ne peut pas voir La Saône du mon bureau.

Last year we took in a Christmas concert at the Basilique Saint Bonaventure.

This year it sold out very quickly so we tried something diffferent – a Neapolitan Christmas at L’Hostel Dieu.

It was a lovely setting for some pre-Christmas music.

Featuring the soprano Heather Newhouse and the Mandolin player Vincent Beer-Demander (I bet he likes a drink) it was an amazing evening of Christmas music, vigorous tarentellas, unusual instruments and fun.

The audience gave the musicians and choir an extended ovation at the end so we were treated to an encore.

I was hoping Beer-Demander might give us a bit of Maggie May but no such luck.

As I was walking down Avenue du Maréchal-de-Saxe you’ll never guess who I bumped into.

Father Christmas was there with a couple of rennes and a couple of petites filles.

The road had a real Christmassy feel. Not much further along the road was a stall selling la barbe à papa.

Even Cath’s nails were getting in on the act.

My regular lunchtime walk was a victim of the rising river levels – this time La Saône.

Me and my colleague had to head back to work without reaching la confluence.

I learned a new word in French last week – les bas ports. My landlady asked me if I cycled along the bas ports to get to work. And indeed I do.

But yesterday and today I could not use les bas ports because they were so bas that the Rhône had subsumed them.

It took a bit longer to get to work but at least my feet were dry.

As mentioned, it is the weekend of la fête des lumières when the world descends on Lyon for its annual light festival.

Because it’s packed and raining we decided not to brave the crowds at the biggest venues.

But we still managed to see a couple of installations.

This one is called Sign. Un brasier sur l’eau. it is supposed to be a fire of joy.

It is called Asklipion – after the Greek god of medicine. It is meant to evoke the healing power of plants.

Look at this Christmas display in a local chocolate shop!

The smell inside the shop was amazing.

The 8th December is the night when the people of Lyon put candles on their windowsills to thank Mary for saving the city.

It looks lovely and also marks the start of La Fête des Lumieres.

I’m sure it is related to the feast of the Immaculate Conception which is interesting in a country that prides itself on its laicité – secularism.

Then I read that President Macron has gotten into a lot of trouble for allowing the lighting of Hanukkah candles in the Elysée Palace.

Meanwhile a whole city lights candles on a Christian feast.