Ski nautique sur le Rhône

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.

Flat-hunting begins

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.

Une piscine merveilleuse

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

50m outdoor pool on the side of the Saône

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

As well as lanes there is a fun area too

Will have to book a session there soon.

Pourquoi y-a-t-il un chien au travail?

Today at lunchtime this gorgeous little chien came to work.

He had a job to do. And that job was sniffing out bugs. There had been a report of an infestation so this chien – qui peut renifle la présence des punaises – was brought in.

When I got an email about le chien – I had to Google chien because I couldn’t believe a dog was coming in to try to detect an infestation of bugs. But a chien it was.

Et il n’a rien trouvé.

Café gourmand encore

Remember café gourmand? Here is another example for you to enjoy.

Comment est-ce qu’on sait qu’on habite en France?

Nothing says I live in France more than this, in my opinion:

A little green square of paper on my windscreen

It is our proof of insurance. I followed the instructions and stuck it on my pare-brise. And now I feel like we have truly arrived.

And then I went from this green square:

To this one.

Eglisette à Lyon

Regardez cette eglise au coeur de Lyon.

C’est toute petite.

Je ne sais pas si elle est jamais ouverte.

Maintenant on parle

Not sure that works in French but a Sunday stroll to the market on the banks of the Saône resulted in a nice pair of earrings for Cath and this beauty of a book for me.

I’ve been looking for something like it for a while and here it was for an absolute bargain.

J’aime bien le nom de cet oiseaux – il s’appelle hawfinch en Anglais

One of the herons that escaped me in the Camargue

And this one is only en Camargue – where I saw it – and près de Lyon!

And I found these timbres inside – making it even more of a bargain!

Enfin, à la piscine

So it was finally time to don the obligatory tiny trunks and go for a swim in Lyon.

These should be small enough for French rules

I booked two tickets to the temporary summer outdoor pool in Parc de la Tete d’Or which is erected for two months in the velodrome. So it was a return to the site of Cameron Norrie’s ATP win but this time for a swim.

When we got there it turned out to be more of a giant paddling pool. Very shallow the whole length of it and with people playing all across it. I managed five lengths.