Parc de la Tete d'Or, Lyon. Wednesday 15th April 2009.

Fran packed the cheese, pate, and all things necessary for our picnic and we stopped at a boulanger where we bought two baguettes, one sesame - my favourite.

Our three bicycle baskets were filled with picnic fare as we cycled along the Rhone until we reached Parc de la Tete d'Or. Lyon could almost be forgiven for not having much green space when you walk in the gold gates of this lush park. Spring had arrived here and it looked so different to the last time we visited. The cherry blossoms in crisp white and soft pink were as showy as they could be.

Alex took his favourite ball from his pocket and we played catch for what seemed like ages, it was my favourite part of the day.

The childrens fairground was alive with the jingle-jangle music from the carousel, children licked cool ice-cream and plucked fairy-floss from spun sugared masses. Life was better than good today in the park.

Philippe dropped in tonight and had a glass of vin rouge, he brought Smack (the dog) along for a visit too. As usual, he bought a few flutes from his boulanger for Alex, gosh he is gorgeous.

Fun in the sun. Saturday 28th Feb, 2009

Alex slept the morning away while John and I rendezvoused with Isabelle, our food loving friend, at the Jean Mace marketplace. Have I told you about Isabelle? We met by chance at the markets a few weeks ago when both buying rabbit for dinner. She started a conversation with us and offered some cooking tips in her very good English and we answered in our very bad French. Before long we were chatting about food and had exchanged numbers and email addresses. Life is sometimes full of lovely surprises and Isabelle is one of them.

Soon after our meeting we recieved an email inviting us to Sunday lunch. We met at the markets this morning to photograph her buying the ingredients and talk about what she was planning to cook. We wandered the markets while she chatted to the regular stall holders. She has a favourite one for meat, for fish, cheese, fruit, vegetables and flowers. Her favourite guy from whom she buys her fruit filled up a paper sheet with new seasons strawberries. He twisted the top of the brown paper to make it into a bundle and gave them to us. I guess we will be buying our fruit from him from now on also.

After returning home to Alex, who had not been long out of bed, we planned the rest of the day. We spent a while harnessing Alex's hormones into a 'ready for public exhibition' state... adolesence is rearing its head!

We all wandered up Cours Gambetta all the way to the Rhone which flowed opaly green under the bright sunshine. The walkways and bikeways teamed with people all out to play in the warmth, their heads held a little higher and their lips upturned into the beginnings of a smile. There was a feeling of optimism in the air.

We walked for what seemed an eternity, John, Alex, the hormones and I, until we reached Parc de la Tete d'Or, Lyons favourite green space. We entered through gates embelished with gold. The park was filled with families picnicing, strolling and generally loving life. We had packed the cheeses we bought at the market this morning, and enjoyed them while sitting on the grass, along with a fresh baguette. There we sat with a view of the lake, eating French cheese and having a great time together. We threw the ball and laughed as two little kids interupted and demanded that John and Alex played with them, they were so funny.

It was a long walk home but we got there in the end... exhausted.