After Paris, Beau and I hopped on the train to Lyon, there we were to visit a childhood friend of my Dad's, Is. Is has apparently known my dad since before she was 2. Her older brother and Dad have been friends since they were 3! Is does not live in Lyon. She frequently *works* in Lyon, but she lives in a 16th century house in a "village" with no name, in the Ardèche area of the Rhône-Alpes. It's over 2 hours drive from Lyon and way up in the mountains.
Her house is currently being renovated so plug points were scarce and the main source of heating was a lovely fireplace. She did have excellent wireless broadband though. Beau and I were given the lounge with fireplace to sleep in, very cosy and warm. I have a soft spot for fireplaces. We even got to roast chesnuts and toast marshmallows on it. Bliss!
Is also few us lovely french food, (endives wrapped in cured ham), cheese and wine. I must also record (so I don't forget and so I can attempt to recreate) that she made num salad dressing using mustard, olive oil and soy sauce! She doesn't like vinegar.
Is and her Man, N, took us out to Le Puy. It's a very cute town about 50km from where she lives and is one of the more famous starting points of the Camino de Santiago (how crazy that a year ago I didn't even know what the Camino was). It is super cute and has a lovely Romanesque cathedral (a Notre Dame, we saw a few Notre Dames) and also has a Chapel to St Michael perched on top of a "Puy" or volcanic core. Some info about Camino, Le Puy and pics, here.
N also took us touristing around Lyon proper. We saw a cathedral (to St John the Baptist and with an astronomical clock), a basilica and roman theater ruins. It's free to visit the roman ruins in Lyon. They still use the theater to put on shows during the summer. There was a school trip there the same time as us. We met up for dinner with another friend of Dad's and it was all kinda surreal to realise we had spent almost all of our time in France with Kiwis! Very good though.
Still to write about, Switzerland, more Germany and Lolland. Still to visit, Copendagen, Amsterdam, Northern Ireland and Dublin. We then go to Cork for a few days to say Hi and Bye and then it is LA and back to NZ! We'll be in Wellington in less than 4 weeks now. All so fast. I'm also trying to see if I can fit in another visit to Germany. Hmmm.
Point of Fashion:Cardied
Current Obsession: for some reason I am thinking about sewing *alot* also gardening.