Lovely Lyon.......home of St. Exupéry & the Little Prince!(July 12, 2008)

Woke up at 4 a.m. to a mountain thunderstorm! But after driving 1 1/2 hours to Lyon, the weather was cooperative. Skies were a bit gray and it even sprinkled a time or two, but all in all was a great day! Lyon is the "second most important city in France" after Paris. I had spent a week there in 1973, but didn't remember much about it. I do remember it being a tough week. The family that we stayed with evidently didn't have much money, and even though they were given money to host us, they fed us precious little. At night after church services we would sneak off to a cafe and buy a sandwich!

Anyway, I wanted to see the city again, and this time I had a very favorable impression! It is absolutely beautiful, and does remind me of Paris, except it is not as overwhelming. There is an old part, and a new part, and some great Roman ruins (if you're into Roman ruins). In fact, they are having concerts everynight at the the Roman theatre, and tomorrow night it is Pink Martini (one of my favorite bands)!

Since the rest of my group went to Annecy today (except Mary from Alaska, who is going with me next week), I had to make new friends. I met a French professor from Illinois who is here with a group of students. Four of her girls were with her.....the rest of the students evidently stayed out too late last night and couldn't make the trip. (Sound familiar, Whitney?) She was pretty disgusted with them. Anyway, we didn't stay together the entire time because they wanted to do the Roman museum, and I already saw one of those in Arles, remember? So I went off on my own. I guess as a sort of "déjà vu" from my trip in 1973, I needed to have another "getting lost" experience. But this time atleast I had a map and a compass, so I found my way back to the rendez-vous point in plenty of time!

Something I had never seen before......a store with my name on it! Renee and I got a kick out of a shoe store in Nice called "Renée Chaussures", but there is a store in Lyon called "Cindy Beauté". OK, so it is out of business. I soon discovered that I was in the area of town that caters to Africans, because every other store sold beauty products for black hair!

I'll close with a couple of pictures from the market.....a cute little man in a beret, and the ingredients for ratatouille ready to go! And, I must share with you the word for "potty break" in French....."pause pipi"! (Of course, you have to say it with a French accent......pose-pee-pee).