Walk a kilometer in my shoes!

We continue our trip to Lyon, France to visit our daughter and son-in-law. We've had a WONDERFUL time and thoroughly enjoyed our daily lonnnnng walks either in the country where Kari and Jonathan are housesitting or on one of our treks into downtown Lyon.

This is the house where we've been staying. It belongs to a family with another mission organization who is in America until Monday. We've stayed here a couple of times and loved each one. The house is along the Saone River and that is where we have walked and walked.

My favorite memory at the house will be eating meals on the front porch with the cool breeze blowing through and Beau, their dog, laying at our feet wishfully thinking we will drop a crumb. Forget it, Beau!

Occasionally Glenn's cell phone rings and he has to take care of some member care concerns. This coming Monday the budget for TCK education has to be turned in to the Richmond office so there have been "a few" emails that have come in for me to deal with. Otherwise, it has been a very restful and enjoyable week with Kari and Jonathan. Knowing this is my last trip to France for the foreseeable future, I've wanted to make sure to eat a chocolate eclair and at least one crosissant. Fortunately, we've walked and walked and walked, and Kari and I have even jogged twice!

Did I mention we've walked and walked and walked?

In "the neighborhood" out here there is a place called Troc de l'ile. It is very much like a Goodwill store in America. We haven't been able to find anything that compares with it in Hungary but every time we come out here to the country, we walk down to the Troc to browse. I found a "poubelle de table" for me, which is a "trash can for the table". When we lived here in France in 1984, every French table had a poubelle de table for chicken bones and such. I never got me one then, but I desperately wanted one "for old times sake". I found a cute one in a burnt orange ceramic that will go well with my house decor and dishes.

Not every day but almost, we made a trip down the street about a mile away to the Intermarche grocery store. I never minded the walk because I love walking, but also because I love grocery stores, even in America! One time Kari and I went alone, but forgot to limit our items to what we could carry between just the two of us, so we were quite a sight walking home, heavily laden with our three full bags!

One day this week we headed into downtown to hike up to the top of Fourviere to take daytime pictures, and then to hang around in town until almost dark, and then go up again to see the city at night. Not all these pictures following were taken on that specific trip into town, but most of them were. Between the 1000 pictures I've taken with my pocket-size digital camera and the 1000 Kari has taken with her deluxe digital camera, it is hard to choose which ones to show you!

We catch a bus to take us from our countryside home, past this beautiful, old house on the river. This is my favorite sight on the bus ride into town, which takes about 40 minutes. There are two rivers that flow through Lyon. This is the Saone, the other in town is the Rhone River.

No trip to Lyon would be complete without seeing St. John's Church. It faces a square, but the square is not large enough to be able to get the huge church completely in the viewfinder!

This was a common sight during our whole trip. Kari walking with Jonathan ahead of us. Sometimes it would be Kari and me walking with Jonathan and Glenn behind us. If we're in a hurry, it would be Jonathan and me in front of Glenn and Kari. We mixed things up occasionally, but it was most often K & J in front since they knew where we were going!

I love walking along the rivers. Lyon has done a great job of providing walkways along her rivers!

This picture is taken at the level of the river, but up on top of the hill is the Basilique de Fourviere where we were headed. We WALKED (or should I say "climbed" the hill to the top).

I love the rooftops too!

This is one of the views from the top of Fourviere. Absolutely gorgeous!

Rooftops, up closer!

And now, the walk down. Thousands and thousands of steps between very, very old buildings.

Then we spent several hours "killing time" until almost dark, just walking around the city. We found this motorcycle and we wished Chris and Kate had been here with us. Chris would have loved this old motorcycle.

Another view along the river.

A very quaint sidewalk cafe with more seating inside.

By now we've been walking for about 6 hours. No wonder Glenn's tired! We left the country home at 3:15 pm and it is about 9 pm now. We are getting ready to head across town to go back up the hill to Fourviere to view the city by night.

One more trek across one of the bridges to start the climb.

Dusk without Glenn and me in the picture.

Fourviere by night

The city lights at night.

We fly home this evening and will be back to work in the morning. We've had a great visit, and the only thing that makes leaving K & J is knowing that we will see them in September when we head to the States for our stateside assignment!

Thanks Kari and Jonathan for a great vacation! Thanks Elizabeth and Paul for a wonderful place to stay!