James' birthday

Last Friday was James' 28th birthday and since we were having a party that night he and I went out for dinner on the Thursday night. James said it was hands down the warmest birthday he'd ever had when we were sitting on a patio for drinks at 7:30pm and it was around 20 degrees! Unfortunately I forgot my camera and so the photos are from my cell phone. We walked up to Place Terreaux just a couple streets away from our apartment to enjoy some démis of Leffe and the end of patio season.

Then we strolled over to a restaurant called Butcherbrother which specializes entirely in burgers and has a kind of New York-style theme. James ordered a beer from Brooklyn and I went with a delightful cocktail before the main event arrived: big, juicy burgers with bacon. I put the water glass next to the burger for size comparison below - it was a beast. But of course we got through them and while I was immediately ready for bed, when offered dessert James naturally replied yes and somehow managed to eat a giant brownie as well. The birthday boy was very happy :) 

In the meantime about 45 minutes after dinner and as soon as we got home I fell asleep at 9:30pm and didn't wake up for 10 hours! The burger clearly won that battle. Friday morning on his actual birthday James opened up his presents and cards from his family and me. He is now the proud owner of a new dress shirt, two new sweaters, some new books, and some British chocolate (though that didn't last long).

Friday night we had a house party with all of our roommates and a couple of previous ones inviting friends over so it was a pretty massive event. Safe to say James imbibed a sufficient amount and thoroughly enjoyed his birthday!

Our humble abode & Thanksgiving

Since August 1st James and I have been living in a shared apartment with three other roommates in the centre of Lyon. It was a humongous step up from our previous shared apartment - possibly the dirtiest apartment I've ever lived in (and that's after living with cockroaches in Australia) - and we were thrilled to be hooked up with the room through friends. Initially we were subletting a room for just August and September from our roommate Paul but then our roommate Laura had to move for the school year since she's a first year teacher, so now we're subletting from her until the end of my visa. We love this place, and since I've had a few requests to see what our home looks like, here's a little peek!

We're on the third floor (which in France is the 2ième because the first or main floor is called rez de chaussée) in an old building that used to be a factory. The entrance to our building is in a court and it has an old stone stairway showing decades of use by sloping in the middle from wear. The ceilings are about 15 feet high and the windows are huge and have shutters on the inside to block out light. Some form of these is essentially standard on pretty much all buildings in France, newer ones have blinds or stores on the outside, and some are even automated. We have all the amenities we could want in the kitchen including a washing machine and a dishwasher, and our living room is equipped with three little couches and some lovely plants making it very cozy. 

We have two bathrooms, one with a tub and one with a shower, as well as two toilets, so even though there are five of us there's never a lineup! Also we're rarely all here at the same time and even when we are the apartment is big enough that it doesn't feel cramped. Our bedroom faces onto the court and you can see the view from our room is just off to the side from the stairwell (those balconies are the landings for the stairs). It's generally quiet since we don't have the street noise, but of course noise in the court can echo quite spectactularly so it has its pros and cons.

Due to the size of our apartment it makes for great hosting, and since it was Thanksgiving last weekend I hosted a lunch with 11 guests including two other Canadians! Everyone brought something and I bought two freshly roasted chickens from the morning market on the river, sold to me by the most typically cliché French vendors who were fast-talking and very charming. With the assistance of some friends I whipped up some pumpkin pies and stuffing to ensure it had the taste of home!

Oh yes, and there was lots of wine. I do live in France after all!

Road trip to the Riviera

After their three day stay in Lyon, we were set to join Sharon and Howard on a (four hour!) road trip south to the coast. We met up with them Sunday morning at their hotel, where they had a beautiful view of Place des Jacobins, before grabbing a taxi to pick up the rental car and navigating our way to the A7. We're pretty sure we saw a castle along the way and I somehow managed to snag a photo of it! After a stop to get sandwiches we continued on and before we knew it we were driving through Nice.

Our final destination was Villefranche-sur-Mer just on the other side of Nice at a lovely apartment found by Sharon via AirBnB. After winding through the narrow, climbing streets and after Howard successfully (and skillfully) maneuvered the car into the underground parking garage we settled in and were immediately taken the with great view from our terrace. We needed to pick up a few items so we popped into town to grab some groceries and then stumbled across the Man U v. Man City football match playing at a pub, so we sat down to watch it and to enjoy a couple of beers on the patio to properly celebrate our arrival in the south. Back at the apartment we ate some dinner and happily indulged in some wine!

On Monday we decided to head to Monaco for the day to check out the infamous principality plopped ideally on the Mediterranean at the edge of France near the Italian border. Our visit happened to coincide with the preparations of the Monaco Yacht Show which began two days later so there was a lot of setting up of fancy tents around the port. And of course there were yachts. Giant yachts. It's quite a pretty area with the mountains against the blue water of the port, yet the architecture is a bit boring with lots of square looking buildings. There are of course some lovely old buildings as well which we saw but it wasn't the prettiest place I've been to when you consider how wealthy this place is. This wealth is surely found in the Monte Carlo Casino which we saw (from the outside) and some of the high end hotels. Howard and James were keeping an eye out for the Grand Prix racetrack which is permanently marked on the roads and we came across a famous turn which is insanely sharp! 

The photo above captured one of my favourite moments: the juxtaposition of the Fairmont Monte Carlo with a pile of McDonald's garbage in front of it. Priceless! And yes, we did eat at McDo (pronounced mac-DOH in French) while taking in spectacular views of the ocean. We weren't about to pay 19 euros for soup! Before heading back to the car the last thing we checked out were the lush and serene Japanese gardens. It was a nice departure from seeing luxury brands, top-end cars and other expensive and seemingly unnecessary status symbols everywhere. I've never understood the desire or need to show off wealth, but I do love me some nature so I was very happy to take in the variety of trees, watch the fish and squawk* at the ducks (*mwak if you're Alice and Mark).

Back at the apartment after stocking up on some groceries Sharon and I made dinner for the four of us and with that we again enjoyed some delicious wine. Lots of great conversation on our terrace with those stunning riviera views! 

Tuesday was our last day and since James and I were flying out of Nice that night we spent the day there. Sharon packed us all some lunches while James and I packed up our things and then we were off. Once in Nice we started by walking along rue de France/rue Masséna which is pedestrianized before finding ourselves at Place Masséna where the one and only tram passes through as part of its L-shaped track. We next headed to discover the Vieille Ville but on the way came across some construction of a lengthy public space between two thoroughfares called La Coulée Verte (green corridor, some info in English here http://www.attikainternational.com/blog/real-estate-in-nice/nice-s-new-green-project-the-coul-e-verte.html). It was set to be finished at the end of September so unfortunately we weren't able to see the final product but the idea of a more green public space in Nice sounds nice (I couldn't resist!). We walked through the old city and then found ourselves at a gate with stairs for an entrance to a park that offered a waterfall and public toilets, both very enticing, so we started climbing and were rewarded with the best views of the city and the port. 

After making use of the facilities for 50 cents we sat down to eat our lunches, only to discover that we'd left Howard's sandwich in the car! So after popping over the the lunch stand in the park and getting some drinks we had a nice and relaxing lunch on top of Nice. We stopped for several photo ops as you can't help but be dazzled by the scenery around you and started to make our way down to the Promenade des Anglais. It was truly a picturesque, sunny day and there were lots of people out enjoying the late summer weather. We attempted a walk on the beach but since it's a stone beach and not sand it makes for very awkward walking, so we aborted after five minutes and headed back to the sidewalk. Back on solid ground we passed the Musée Masséna which has lovely public gardens, the five-star Hôtel Negresco (which unfortunately no longer allows free tours) and walked up to the train station before making our way back to the old town for a final meal together. James tried a salade niçoise and I had a salad with pancetta, goat's cheese and pine nuts that was divine!

An enormous thank you to Sharon and Howard for letting us join them on their vacation. James and I had a fantastic time with you guys and we were really happy you got to see Lyon! Looking forward to Christmas in Birmingham.