lyonopolis

nestled between the rhône and the saône rivers with a hill for praying and a hill for working the pretty ex roman trading post is quite the cultural city. not that i saw much of its culture.
as per usual i looked at it from the outside and a little from the inside of a glass. (which is kinda cultural...?) its a town where they roll out the barrel: the heart of the beaujolais:
so, november 16th is the beaujolais nouveau fest (as in, when everyone gets to sample this season's beaujolais wine) and what better time to go catch up with friends and to do a little work on the city that is the topic of my latest research and employment.
so, maggy the great, traverser of countries (yes, plural) drove us down there at not quite break neck speeds a coupla days early but in time to visit some of pascal's great uni buddies.
we also popped in to a little mediaevil town perched atop a hill in the freezing cold.
we walked up the praying hill to witness muffled views of the city in the rain, with a mini eiffel tower to the right and a monstrous church to our lady the fourvière (dunno what that means) to the left, snuck past the churches to the saints paul, john & george (maybe fourvière is old latin for ringo?) all in time to go watch the rugby.
ooooh what a game!
i shared the spectacle with my 2 american chicas (if you've been following the blogs, these are the same 2 lovelies who i met and travelled with in nicaragua) who enjoyed the action, or at least the boys' form....

once again it was nice to catch up with friends, they make the road worth while. and for me, i got to meet some more of pascal's 'family', a very important family. (c'etait un plaisir de faire votre connaissance x)

and for maggy, well she had her picture taken at 97km/h the wee tart. we're not quite sure if the gendarmerie will be able to publish the picture directly to the blog.....


oh, and as for the beaujolais, well, this year i'd probably recommend it to go with a strong cheese, maybe parmesan, on top of your salad.

xxxx
b