Lyon - Fourth of July

Phil had the idea to have a "cookout" or "picnic" at our condo to celebrate the 4th of July. We had seen a British/American guy with a shirt that read "Happy Treason Day, Ingrateful Colonists". Oh, so side topic - Phil's first new job after retirement is to create wacky t-shirts like we have seen throughout out trip, with quooky english words put together in non-sensical ways (only in different languages like French). I think he has a name for his company as well as several good examples...

Unfortunately Jerry is down today - thought he just overdid last night, but he caught some stomach bug or disagreeable food or something - can't let the hotel room, we will leave it at that. The plan was to got to the Saint Antoine market by the river to get picnic supplies for later on. Ivan, Diana, Kate and I start out to the Market. It is a nice farmers market - complete with fresh fruits/veggies, cheeses, olives, nuts, and meats (including skinned rabbits). But without the paella that Ivan wanted and nothing so great for a picnic - and it was much smaller than we had expected.

We grouped at a cafe for a cafe/soda. We decide to venture on the Bus (new experience) to the more famous Les Halles of Paul Bocuse. This was really a fancy dining hall/shopping area that was really impressive to see. Fine wines, cheeses, chocolates, seafood, bakeries, etc. It was like a tiny shopping mall devoted to fancy foods and mini-restaraunts. Ivan quickly got his paella for later, some wines, and a few "snacks" for now...

Except for the Paella and with Ivan now full, it seems the afternoon picnic was becoming an evening time thing. At a lost for what else to do, we just headed for the huge grocery store to pick up items. Not exactly "American" food, but some nice cheeses, meats, french bread, fruits and some macaroons.

I took the opportunity to do my laundry and use the pool between shopping and dinner (now that the pool was open it was refreshing to cool off). We had a laundry mat on site as well. I watch a bunch of French kids/families as well (turns out there is a Montessori school next to our condos, in the same courtyard). I saw one French dad that was so patient with his son that skinned his knee. It was an interesting experience.

Jerry is still not feeling great, but did pick up our place for the guests coming over. Others didn't do their laundry as planned, nor took advantage of the pool, but with our Rowenta fan, we managed to have a nice fourth of July picnic dinner.

A lazy day, but a good one. Hope you enjoyed your 4th as well.