Le Marché de la Croix-Rousse

Fruit, veges and herbs stacked up high to the heavens, fresh free range eggs, local chèvre and camembert (actually any cheese you could dream of!), homemade jams, fresh local meat... Right outside our front door!

We are super duper lucky to live on a main boulevard which houses the biggest market in Lyon six days a week! So, very fortunately we are able to buy market produce every day if we please. As it happens, this is what I do (sometimes) as I love wandering and meandering on my way to work...

The local produce stalls are easy to spot amongst the other larger producers. You have to look out for the dirt left behind on the veges, the smaller stall, the older and often dirty looking van and the handwritten sign. I now have my favourites! It's so good to know we're eating local and seasonal produce.

Right now the market is full to the brim with berries, nectarines, artichokes and asparagus! Sometimes at 1pm when the market closes and we've run outta money for the week, we scavenge the leftovers and often there are flowers too! This is a very common thing to do in France. Each stall holder leaves behind a box with all the bruised, overripe produce for the scavengers. Perfect, no waste!

Apartment Pets

It's honestly raining cats and dogs here in France, literally. Everyone owns at least one cat and lives next door to a dog. I couldn't believe when I first arrived, how commonplace it was to own a pet. Apartments are small spaces and the thought of a wee fluffy friend having nowhere to stretch out it's legs seemed extremely unfair. And then we found our apartment; a sublet situation. And then along came little Estimée. Well, along came 'us' actually - and moved into her space.

So, apartment cats don't have the space that animals in New Zealand and Australia have, nor do they have the liberty to roam the streets. They wouldn't be able to find their way back, push the code to the building and open the apartment door... Luckily, for Estimée she has a small balcony to gulp the fresh air and watch the birdies from afar. I do find it quite cruel on the large dogs living in these small spaces. It is also very common in France, for owners to leave their dog's deposits all over the footpath. My 'pet' hate!

Les couleurs de Lyon

I am a flâneur; always looking around me - at the passerbys, the buildings and anything else that catches my eye. Typically, a flâneur was a French man who gazed at life passing by as he strolled around. He was often depicted in Impressionist paintings and written about by philosophers such as Walter Benjamin.

Wandering through the streets of Lyon, I am always stopping to peer at the small details but also standing back and just looking. And everywhere I look, candy and pastel colours paint the walls around me. There seems to be an actual colour code - pinks, oranges, and hues of purple and blue! Each time graffiti is painted over, it's covered with a slightly different colour to the base coat, creating a different patchwork on each wall. Whoever chooses these slabs of colour is doing a fantastic job!

It feels at times, like I'm living in an icing coated cake city.

La petite cuisine

When we first moved into our apartment, I was a little worried about the size of the kitchen. I love cooking and when I realised the reality of living in an apartment in France - a two-hob stove top, little-to-no bench space and no dishwasher - I thought cooking might be impossible. But, now that I'm used to our wee kitchen, I love it. Everything fits perfectly; each dish and pot has it's place, and I must say, having a spinning spice-rack makes my day.

My absolute favourite feature, is the circular window - perfect for staring out of while stirring at the stove top.

Les Cordonneries

In France there are specialised shops for almost everything; cheese, wine, meat, fish, bread, cakes, chocolate and the list goes on. In each neighbourhood you can be sure to have the choice of at least 10 boulangerie (bakeries) and a handful of fromagerie (cheese shop), boucherie (butcher), poissonnerie (fish shop). When we moved to the Croix-Rousse, our friend Julie who we're renting our apartment from, took us on a tour of her favourite specialised shops. Now we have our favourite boulangerie etc. Honestly, the choice of boulangerie is ridiculous! There are so many. Today I visited our local cordonnerie which is situated in a lovely old building! A young vibrant man owns the place and he kindly punched a hole in my phone case, for free. 

cordonneries specialise in shoe repairs

the workshop space with beautiful wooden floors

Settled in Lyon

Being cosy is my favourite thing. I love spending time at home, especially in Winter - all rugged up with tea, a book and Tim. I was pretty excited when we decided to settle in Lyon; the prospect of an apartment of our own in the beautiful French city and being able to unpack my suitcase, finally! After travelling for six months we decided on Lyon because we had met a few lovely people and we liked the small scale compared to Paris. We had darn good luck and found a beautiful, luminous apartment to sublet for six months (on Le Bon Coin). We are very lucky - our little home is situated in the Croix-Rousse, has a huge food market each morning literally right at the doorstep and it came with a little, rather cuddly cat called Estimée. Since we have a few more weeks of the bitter cold, I look forward to spending time inside weaving, cooking and eating yoghurt (one of my favourite things about France is the yoghurt aisles in the supermarkets...)

Our circle window - view over Les Pentes