Lyon!

I feel as if I have been away for a month! What a place Lyon is, it sucks you in, leads you astray and overwhelms your senses until you really don't know what century it is.
It was bitterly cold and misty the whole time so I didn't take as many photos as usual.

But I did walk many kilometers, mostly from one antique shop to another with restaurant breaks of course. Lyon is a city where gastronomy and textiles reign supreme.

Window shopping in the antiques quarter is pure joy.

I came back fizzing with ideas.

I am now ready to tackle my Christmas preparations, inspired to create scrummy new recipes, itching to start painting pictures and excited about some projects for La Jovienne.

I also bought stock, oodles of lovely linens

There are piles of monogrammed napkins in a wide variety of styles.

Some glorious 19th Century Drapes complete with tassels. And heaps more. I haven't finished unpacking yet but it already feels like Christmas has arrived early, it all looks much better than I thought.

Not all my decisions were great though! I decided to go to the cinema one evening and selected a film called 'Les Lyonnais' because it is based on a true story about a man who still lives in Lyon.

I should have read further because he was notable basically because he robbed and murdered his way through the seventies. The film was about how he lost his family because he helped his childhood friend to escape from prison, only to discover that this friend had betrayed him many years earlier. His friend was equally violent and I found it impossible to sympathise.

I suspect that the woman seated next to me hadn't realised what the film was about either. Every time a shot was fired she grabbed my arm and cried 'Oh La!' in a loud voice. When there were bullets spraying everywhere it became 'Ooooh La La!' accompanied by an even firmer grip on my arm. There were many shootings and she made me jump more than the bullets.

Coming home over the Monts Du Forez the sunshine came back and the view of the valley took my breath away. It gets me every time.

 Always different, always sublime.