pissenlit pause

Spent a much-needed (can’t emphasize this enough) but inevitably short weekend in the country. Words can’t even begin to describe how nice it was to get away from the tangibly heavy gray of Lyon and bask in the colorful French campagne, where sweeping streaks of sky blue intersect with grass green, and splotches of bright yellow and terracotta red cut through the landscape as if smeared on with palette knife.

Due to last week’s SNCF grève (what?! strikes?!), Paul and I had to catch our bus Saturday morning from far-away end-of-the-metro Gare de Vaise. Unintended advantage: the trip only cost 2€! We made our way from city outskirts through industrial banlieues then rural villages before arriving 45 minutes later at the Villefranche-sur-Saône (birthplace of Claudius Crozet!) train station, where we were greeted by friendly-faced Madame Michel and driven to Paul’s house in Frans.

After a delicious home-cooked meal (one of many served to me graciously by Mme and M Michel), Paul and I spent the afternoon planning and constructing a chicken coop. That’s right, come May 1 he and I will welcome two feathered friends into our proud 65 rue Pasteur family, a prospect about which we are both very excited. Updates to come, but do know that omelet-craving visitors are encouraged to come over. Below is an image of the finished product, a fine piece of craftsmanship given our limited resources (this puppy is constructed from scraps lying around the garage and therefore a total of four types of wood) and amateur carpentry skills:

Otherwise, time was spent reading and drinking coffee on the porch, driving along meandering dirt roads straddled on either side by kilometers of sprawling fields, being treated to a dinner of pizza and wine by Marie’s parents at house-turned-restaurant Chez Dany, and visiting Paul’s fowl-owning friend Pierre whose house – built by his father – is probably one of the most charming ones I’ve seen in France. In other words, the weekend was all about taking advantage of the sun and beautiful weather as much as possible before returning begrudgingly to Lyon. The campagne spoils me.

I leave tomorrow for Paris, where I’ll spend two days alone attending plays, visiting museums, and wandering around its many and varied quartiers before Mom meets me there Friday morning! From Paris we’ll head to the Normandy coast where we’ll discover Mont St. Michel, the D-Day beaches, and hopefully eat lots of yummy cheese, and then we’ll end our mini French tour in Lyon. I’m so excited about her visit; it certainly couldn’t come at a better time, and I can’t wait to introduce her to this country. Echoing my conversation with Liz earlier today, time is passing ridiculously quickly, but I’m oddly comfortable with – and even looking forward to – my return to Charlottesville in just a month and a half. And when I get bored of that, I’m reassured by the fact that it’s only a matter of time before I return to France for who knows how long…