Moving to France and adapting to life in Lyon
I got an earlier tram to work today, strode into the morning conference meeting ready for action, sat down and a colleague I hadn’t yet met turned to me and said:
Not a good weekend for Fulham then?
He made me laugh – I’ll give him that. Fulham were thumped by Man City 4-1 in the FA Cup on Saturday.
It turns out this colleague is Portuguese and a big Marco Silva fan. He predicted a good season for Fulham and Marco in the Premier League next season.
So we ended up as friends.
Today I decided to walk into Vieux Lyon as it seems that is where it’s all happening on a Sunday.
I love the way you often get glimpses of La Basilica de Notre-Dame de Fourviere as you walk around Lyon.
Once again, the whole of the rest of the city seemed to be in Vieux Lyon with me. I was gawping at chocolate shops and wine shops and hot chocolate shops where you could pay €16 for a hot chocolate when I stumbled across this:
Now, long-time readers (who am I kidding – it’s just me) will remember an entry about les traboules in Lyon that I learnt about in a DuoLingo podcast.
Well today j’ai traboulé!
And it felt wonderful. Here I am a couple of months later trabouling for all I am worth.
Everywhere I looked in Vieux Lyon were great places to eat, great places to drink and gorgeous food on show. These pink brioches a praline were so tempting.
So I bought one – along with a couple of very strong bottles of local beer and another thing to brighten up the flat – a lovely redshank.
Good job I joined that gym.
So after a week at work it was now time to explore. First I needed to join a salle de sports. With all these pastries I’ve been treating myself to it was time to do some excercise.
There is a branch of Neoness fitness right opposite the flat so I ventured in to try and join. It was a challenge for my French but after a free trial session I managed to enrol – although there was some confusion over the RIB – a bank account number in France which turned out to be the same as an IBAN in the UK so we got there.
Then it was off to Parc de la Tete d’Or. Recommended by my colleague Ali – who knows I like birdwathching – so I took my jumelles and headed there.
I wandered around – along with most of the rest of Lyon – as it was a lovely sunny day. People were playing boules, I saw plenty of birds – herons and cormorants and some greylag geese. And there was a woman cracking a whip repeatedly. I wasn’t the only one who found that strange judging by her admirers.
And as there is a zoo in the park I saw a family of giraffes as well.
On the way back home I passed a florists shop so popped in and bought a plant to make the flat a bit more homely. At least now I am not alone.
So that’s it. I made it to the end of my first week – four days to be precise. I met loads of interesting and friendly people, lots of things about working in a Newsroom were familiar, lots of things were very different.
Everyone was very helpful and made me feel very welcome. But at times my head hurt as I tried to get to grips with different language services, sponsored content, branded content, magazines and all types of differen editorial shows and products.
I’m not sure I would have got through the week without the help of Ali Ihsan Aydin – my digital colleague. Showing me how the canteen works, the coffee machines work, my computer works and putting up with all my stupid questions. He has been a godsend.
I finished my working week with a session learning how to use the content managment system. It is quite straightforward but I’m sure I’ve forgotten it all already.
And I made my first bit of real impact.
So how best to celebrate?
Roll on week two.
Not the best start to my second day – I missed the tram. I had to apologise to my first meeting of the day as I was going to be 10 minutes late.
I will have to start leaving the flat a bit earlier- it shouldn’t be a problem as the daily morning deliveries at U Express wake me up at about 6am anyway.
At least my pass has been fixed.
I treated myself on the way home to a couple of treats from a local patisserie.
I accidentally bought a flan after asking what a delicious-looking chocolate cake was and not realising that the Boulanger was talking about a different pastry altogether. Ah well.
Wearing my brand new shirt I was ready to go.
A brisk walk to the tram stop and then we are off. Although – we weren’t. It came to an immediate screeching halt and I crashed into a woman sitting down. She screeched in pain and then I noticed she had her arm in a sling. Je suis desolé, excusez-moi madame-was the best I could offer.
Was this a bad omen? If it was then there was a good one just round the corner.
Among the bits of information scrolling through the screens on the tram such as: Comment porter un masque, Le meteo and #ilovetcl Instagram pictures there was one about the birds to watch out for in Lyon.
Now that has got to be a good sign right? And then we were there – at the green cube.
Everyone was very welcoming but there’s a lot to get my head around.
At the end of the day my new pass was ready for collection.
Today I have a day to myself before I start at Euronews on Tuesday so I head out to explore a bit of Lyon.
I think it’s safe to say that Lyon is a bit more attractive than New Malden. I hope no-one from the New Malden Neighbourhood Facebook group is reading this.
I finished my day by buying some booze for a long overdue drink after making a lasagne. But I was to be thwarted for a second day – no tire-bouchon or bottle opener in the apartment. Oh well, third time lucky.
Here we are then, Lyon. After the shortest flight imaginable I’m here – and after a very expensive taxi journey – Sunday prices apparently – I have arrived at my new home.
I need some essentials so nip out to the nearest supermarket that is open. One thing I particularly want is a glass of wine or beer. But..
No alcohol is sold on Sunday afternoon. Is that a Monoprix thing, a Lyon thing? I don’t think it’s a France thing. I have to make do with tea.
Today’s the day. Heathrow Terminal 5. 1405. Packed for the first few weeks of my new role.
LFT negative, print out of a letter saying I’m coming to work (if needed).
Then..
And while sitting waiting to board one final – v generous – gift from my former colleagues. A gift voucher to spend in France.
My last game at Craven Cottage for a while. I will miss the place but will be following closely from Lyon. Today’s result didn’t go to plan but as fan Paul Parish collapsed in the Hammersmith End and later died, it didn’t really matter. I hope he enjoyed Mitro’s early goal.
I did get to hear a chant invented by one of my son’s (who wishes to remain anonymous) being sung by the Hammersmith End. It also made it into the papers!!
Thrown to (the) Lyon 