So, Have You Taken Any Pictures Lately?

Why, yes I have actually . . .

Thanks to Brian FitzGerald's expertise in the world of Apple products, Laurie Contreras' ability to safely ship a package to France and wonder back Brice Rontet's driving and GPS system getting me to the FedEx delivery warehouse in suburban Corbas, I now have my new lap top computer up and running!!!

I will start uploading pictures from the past four weeks in the next few blogposts based on topics rather than my usual day-by-day chronological order.

Surprisingly, my first topic will be . . .

FOOD!!!

This should be my  first stop

EVERY morning

I love bread!

Lots of bread!!

In all shapes and sizes!!!

And SO good for you too . . .

I like sausages too and . . .

Lyon is famous for its sausages

NO!!!

And then there is the cheese . . .

The FABULOUS cheeses!!!

Desserts

Sweet lovely desserts

Gelato is always

a good option . . .

As are crêpes

Oh my . . . 

Rouen's chocolates are

OUTSTANDING!!!

An entire wall of chocolate

Praline based desserts

are nice 

Les Larmes de Jeanne d'Arc

These "Tears of Joan of Arc" are incredible chocolate covered almonds.

REALLY incredible!!!

No sugar here I'm sure

Non-fat as well

Café Life

Of course, much of Lyon's lifestyle revolves around the café scene. 

They are good places to meet friends

Or to stop after an
exhilarating bike ride

Perhaps you want to meet

that special someone for lunch

Or just enjoy a sunny autumn day

Their chalkboard menus
tell you all you need to know

See?

One of my favorites

GREAT but simple cuisine at
Sophie's in the St.-Just district

Oh the aromas . . .

It will fill up quickly
in another 30 minutes

A great place to eat in Rouen

In the La Croix-Rousse district

A cultural must for me the next time I'm up there.

Brats at the Lyon Rugby game

They have wine in France

HUGE wine tasting festival in Lyon

My three wine tasting festival gurus
Ludo Dornier, Mathieu Paredes and
the lovely Floriane Ponsard

Oysters at a Wine Tasting Festival

Ludo made me do it

Smooth with a dash of lemon.

The food and drink in France

is MAGNIFIQUE!!!

Falcons' Season Opener

Today was finally the start of your Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons 2012-13 American football season.

Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons (0-0)
at

Lyon Les Gones (1-0)

FIRST QUARTER:
On an overcast, chilly day, the Falcons got a good kickoff return but were forced to punt after only three plays.

The very stout Falcon defense forced Les Gones to punt as well.

A Falcons' pass was intercepted.

The Lyon offense was stopped again on a three and out, punt.

Falcons were also stopped cold, three and out, punt again.

Defense continued to rule the first quarter as Les Gones punts again in yet another three and out. At the end of the quarter it is still 0-0.

SECOND QUARTER:
The Falcons fumbled deep in their own territory.
Lyon strikes quickly on a 20 yard TD pass play and their PAT kick is good as Lyon takes a 7-0 lead.

Three and out, punts were the order of the day as, on successive possessions  the Falcons, Les Gones, the Falcons and finally Les Gones again could not move the ball.

This final punt by Les Gones was out of their end zone, a fierce punt rush forced a ten yard punt and a very short field for the Falcons.

On the last play of the half, a fourth down play to boot, Falcons' running back Wahid Larbi scampered 4 yards for a TD. The two point PAT attempt was no good and Les Gones led 7-6 at the half.

THIRD QUARTER:
Anthony Bouvier recovered a Lyon fumble to continue the momentum shift.

QB Mathieu Paredes threw a beautiful 40 yard TD strike to Emrah Bayrak. Paredes then ran in a two point conversion try to put the Falcons in front 14-7.

On the ensuing kickoff a hard hit by the Falcons' Armand Mbonjo jarred the ball loose and fellow Falcon Julien Roudier pounced on the loose pigskin, Big Mo was now officially wearing Bordeaux and Silver!

With great blocking by the offensive line, Brice Rontet exploded on first down for a 21yard TD run. Frederic "Papy" Bastiand kicked the PAT and the Falcons now led 21-7.

Lyon was forced to punt.

The Falcons turned the ball over on downs deep in the Les Gones end of the field.

The quarter ended with Lyon both driving and trailing 21-7.

FOURTH QUARTER:
The Lyon drive ends with another punt as the Falcons' defense continues to play hard.

The Bron-Villerurbanne club throws an interception but the ball is now deep in Lyon's territory again.

Lyon experience their fifth three and out, punt.

After a couple of first downs, the Falcons punt.

The game ends with Lyon completing a few passes but the whistle blows and the Falcons bring home a victory 21-7!

GREAT WIN FALCONS!!!

D3 - Sud Poule C

Week #2 Results
Bron-Villeurbanne 21 - Lyon 7
St.-Cergues 27 - Clermont Ferrand 13
BYE: Chambery

STANDINGS:
St.-Cergues Bulldogs 2-0

Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons 1-0
Lyon Les Gones 1-1
Chambery Aigles 0-1
Clermont Ferrand Servals 0-2

Week #3 Games
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Chambery (0-1) at Bron-Villeurbanne (1-0)
St.-Cergues (2-0) at Lyon (1-1)
BYE: Clermont Ferrand (0-2)

Busy, Rainy Saturday

Rain returned to Lyon today but that would not stop me in the least. The morning was spent shopping for groceries, getting a haircut and beard trim and washing. I had to go to the laundromat today as my bedding needed washing. There is no real good way to dry these linens without a dryer in this drizzle.

In the afternoon I headed back to the library to check out another five DVDs for my impending FedEx vigil this coming Monday as I once again await the delivery of my new computer.

Again.

I opted to eat lunch in the Vieux Lyon district at Cafe Restaurant Du Solieil. They served me a TREMENDOUS quenelle St. Jacques! The sauce was rich, delicious and oh so good for me! The mandatory small bottle of white wine was parfait as well.

Once back in The Villa, it was time to turn on ESPN America to watch the College Game Day show, funny and insightful as usual. Our featured college game to start the evening here was 9-0 Louisville at 4-5 Syracuse. It did not look attractive on paper but it turned out to be a big time upset by the Orangemen who looked very sharp today.

Sunday marks our season opener here in France. Your Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons (0-0) will make the short drive to play the league co-leading Lyon Les Gones (1-0). A crosstown rivalry just adds to the excitement of what should be a very tough game for the Falcons.

Reading Is FUNdamental

Today I finished another of the Lyon Library's fun anthologies. This one featured three short stories by Ernest Hemingway. The first story was Fifty Grand about boxing followed by a bullfighting tale called The Undefeated and finally some noir thoughts titled The Killers.

Interesting read.

GO FALCONS!!!

Long Day of Waiting

It turns out that while FedEx tried to deliver my computer yesterday while I was out, they had no plans to try again today. Unfortunately, they did not let me know this, so I spent the entire day at The Villa "waiting for Godot."

The word from their spokesman when I called their local office was that they would try to deliver again on Monday. When queried, he did say that their offices were open until 7:30 p.m. tonight and that I could pick it up there. FedEx would be closed on the weekend.

Thus armed with my iPhone's map application I tried in vain to find the office. This inability of my iPhone to do anything but make and receive phone calls and SMS messages when not hooked up to a WiFi connection has been irritating the last few weeks.

Now it is flat out FRUSTRATING!!!

My spirits were bolstered when I met up with Falcon Ludo Dornier at Place Bellecour to enjoy the offerings at a food and wine festival. After several delicious samples that Ludo recommended of local meats and cheeses, I had almost gotten over my laptop frustrations.

I did purchase some interesting cheese, sausage, sweet sauces and juice from the various local tradesmen at the fair. I should dine well the next two days.

On the bright side, The Villa is the cleanest it has been in a few weeks.

Someday, Apple MacBook, someday . . .

Last Practice

It was a "Thursday With Mary" day here in Lyon, so I joined Mary Robinson Hubert for our weekly outing to the foreigners living in Lyon club meeting in the Vieux Lyon district.

Three nice ladies of Filipino ancestry prepared food from their native land for us to savor.

So I did.

It was good and I was able to restrain myself from overindulging for once. It was interesting to find out that all three of these nice women are cousins of Rio Mesa's Gordy Abellera.

Afterwards I did a lot of walking to some parts of Lyon that were new to me. Goodness they have a lot of restaurants in this town!

In the evening we held our final practice before our Senior "A" team's season opener this Sunday against the Lyon Les Gones, our crosstown rivals. It was a very good workout from both a tempo and effort standpoint. We will need to play really well against the Les Gones who are 1-0 going into our first game.

Finally, while I was out roaming the city, FedEx tried to deliver my new computer today. I will be anchored to The Villa on Friday awaiting the delivery of this much missed bit of modern day technology. Pictures from France will be back on the blog hopefully very soon.

YAHOO!!!!!!!!!

Reading Is FUNdamental

I finished another short story mini-anthology today from the Lyon Library. This book featured two tales from Dashiell Hammett. The two noir stories were Creeping Siamese and Nightshade. These were perfect stories for the day's bus/Metro rides around town.

Game Week

It is finally time for our first Falcon "A" team game this coming Sunday against our crosstown rivals, the Lyon Les Gones. On Tuesday we had a very high energy practice as we got back to work following a long holiday weekend layoff. We still have a long way to go before we can be considered a good team but we are progressing nicely.

I continue to enjoy eating lunch in the little neighborhood restaurants that are off of the beaten path in Lyon. The prices are reasonable and the food both rich and delicious. I am starting to really enjoy moutarde sauces.

Today I visited Lyon's Gallo-Roman Museum which is a bit on the small side but full of very interesting pieces. I have mentioned before that I enjoy these smaller venues that do not try to overwhelm you with volume but instead leave you impressed with their quality. This was a very worthwhile museum indeed.

Our Cadet practice tonight featured a lot of hitting since we found out that their scheduled scrimmage this Saturday has been cancelled for some unknown reason.

We have one more practice Thursday night before our game on Sunday, it HAS to be a good one!

Reading Is FUNdamental

I continue t take advantage of my Lyon library card. I just finished another book with the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle called Sherlock Holmes Investigates. This book featured three more of the Holmes' stories, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, The Five Orange Pips and The Vieled Lodger. The game was definitely afoot!

End of My Normandy Weekend

Very early Sunday morning, I headed out from Caen to Rouen but not before making a stop at a really good boulangerie for one of the best pain chocolates that I have had to date. The key to this one was the two thick bars of chocolate baked into the flaky dough. My dream pain chocolate would have two halves of a Toblerone dark chocolate bar crammed into it, just saying . . .

I opted to not take the freeway and instead drove the scenic back roads of Normandy's farmlands. Lots of horses, cows and sheep were enjoying the morning with me even though it was rainy and raw.

Once I arrived in Rouen, I turned in my rental car and decided to check out a few more of this charming city's sights as the sun started to shine. After taking several pictures that I hope to someday download to a new computer and upload to this blog, I stopped for a long and delicious lunch on a quiet square at a restaurant named the Bar des Fleurs. It was a 90 minute affair that included a local "digestive" called Calvados . . . POWERFUL!!!

I was not scheduled to leave by train to Lyon for another five hours and had run out of things to do in Rouen. Thus I walked to the train station to find out if I could take an earlier train for the 90 minute ride to Paris. The answer was yes and the next one was leaving in a mere ten minutes, so I took it.

Once in the French capital, I still had five hours before my second train to Lyon. Since all of the earlier trains were booked, I was forced to roam the rues of the City of Lights. I decided to hop on the Metro and go to one of the most iconic sights in all the world, the Eiffel Tower. Given the now cloud free, sunny weather, it was a perfect day to roam the Seine River's banks and admire the Tower.

The first class seat on the train from Paris was roomy and comfortable and I got back to The Villa just before midnight tired but with many positive memories of the Normandy coast and the historic events that occurred there that changed the course of history for the better.

Monday only had a Cadet practice on the schedule. Since our new order of helmets and shoulder pads arrived late last week, this was the first time that all of our Cadets were in full gear. It was a good practice to be sure.

Reading Is FUNdamental

During the past few weeks, I have had time to finish three more books.

The first one was The Unlucky Lottery by Hakan Nesser. It was another very dark Scandinavian murder mystery, a genre that I have grown to love.

After that I polished off Stephen Clarke's A Year in Merde which is a fictional account of a Brit's culture shock when he moves to Paris. It was both funny and familiar to me.

I mentioned that I purchased a Lyon library card last week. The first book I checked out and read was  a compilation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Serlock Holmes stories called More Mysteries. It included three Holmes stories, Silver Blaze, The Three Garridebs and His Last Bow . . . both classic and good!

The Bayeux Tapestry and more of the D-Day Beaches

After a great night's sleep in Bayeux's very affordable but elegant six room manor called Le Tardiff, I was up early for a very full day after strolling the old town in search of the perfect croissant, pain chocolate and cafe combination. May I say that Bayeux was strong in all three crucial departments!

The first stop was just 100 meters from Le Tardiff, the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. I distinctly remember Father John the Baptist, our fantastic World History teacher at St. Francis H.S. tell us about it some 50+ years ago. I must say that it was every bit as spectacular as he wanted us to believe but I, for one, did not at the time.

The Tapestry is 70 meters long and details all of the important facts leading up to the epic Battle of Hastings in 1066, that HAS stuck in my head thanks to the good Father's lessons. It was Anglo-Saxon King Harold and his troops vs. Normandy's William the Bastard and his army with the winner claiming the undisputed title of King of England. Since William's name was changed to William the Conqueror, you pretty much know the final outcome of the 14 hour battle. The stitch work used to both tell the story and embellish it I'm sure to some degree, is truly amazing.

The rest of the morning and afternoon saw me meander towards more D-Day sights to the Northwest of Bayeux.

I made a quick stop before leaving Bayeux at the Monument to Reporters near the British Military Cemetery. I did not see any mention of David Lassen, I can't figure out why.

The German Military Cemetery has the remains of 21,000 German soldiers. It is a much more somber and depressing than the American Cemetery that I visited yesterday that was brimming with hope for the cause that they served in sacrificing their lives

At Pointe du Hoc, one sees the very steep cliffs that American Rangers has to scale on D-Day in part with the aid of ladders borrowed from the London Fire Department. These cliffs were very heavily bombarded leading up to D-Day and the massive bomb craters are still there just as they were in 1944. Lots of rain when I visited this sight.

Almost every little village in Normandy along this historic stretch of beaches has some kind of a museum dedicated in some way, shape or form. The best one is reputed to be the Utah Beach Landing Museum so I made that my last major stop on the day and I was not disappointed in the least.

I was struck with the differences in terrain that I had seen in the last two days. At Omaha Beach, the American soldiers had to deal with crossing at least 200 yards of heavily fortified, open beach with little cover from German firepower. At Pointe du Hoc, it has climbing very steep cliffs while at Utah Beach the beach is only 20 yards of sand but it leads directly into marshlands. All different, all difficult in their own ways.

My final stop was the the village of Ste. Mere Eglise, the first village liberated by the Americans near Utah Beach. For movie buffs, Red Buttons played a real life paratrooper, Private John Steele, in the film The Longest Day. Steele's parachute landed on the village's 700 year old church steeple and got snagged there leaving Buttons/Steele in a very bad spot as the fighting went on below him. Two excellent stain glass windows in this church commemorate all of the paratroopers who fought in the village on that fateful day.

Tired, I headed towards the city of Caen where I would spend the night. With no map, a Garmin that informed me that the closest hotel was 349 km from Caen, almost no GPS system on my phone and a hotel that is located in a residential area with virtually no signs, it was a minor miracle that I found it.

Once there at only 7:00 p.m., the reception desk was closed for the night and due to the kindness of a man inside the hotel who let me in the locked front door I was able to get my room after a phone call to someone in the hotel chains control center located somewhere else in the universe. My room key, I was told, was in a safe in the lobby. All I had to do was plug in my ID code. What ID code I responded. She talked me through it and voilà, I had Room 201 at my disposal. Of course the only bed in Room 201 is a fold out couch.

What price glory?

The D-Day Beaches of Normandy

The start of my drive to Normandy from Rouen was of interest. After sampling various croissants along my 20 minute walk, I finally got to the Esso gas station/Hertz rental car agency, no thanks to my GPS system in a precursor to the rest of my day.

I was quickly told that my reservation was not one of the only three that our agent had at the moment. Taking my reservation number, he called headquarters to try to clear up the matter but would put down the phone every time a cash paying customer came in to buy a tank of gasoline or Coke Zero.

Finally, he asked for my first name and responded, "Ah, GEORGE Contreras!" Sure enough, my reservation information was one of the three he had already looked at 15 minutes ago. He then, with a smile, informed that my rental car's battery was dead so the car was inoperable. Since he only had three cars in the lot for the three previously mentioned reservations, we had a problem. His solution was simple and effective. He just upgraded me for free to a bigger car in the lot. My problem just became the problem of whichever of the two remaining Hertz reservation makers showed up last. C'est la vie, on to Arromanches, ground zero for the D-Day landings in 1944.

Garmin, what can I say about my five year old Garmin GPS system? GARBAGE!!!

She was a total disaster the whole trip, not recognizing roads and steering me in the wrong direction constantly.

At the end of my longest day, I simply asked her how to get to my base city of Bayeux. ONLY ONE CITY IN ALL OF FRANCE STARTS WITH A "B" ACCORDING TO GARMIN AND IT IS NOT BAYEUX OR BRON FOR THAT MATTER!

Since my French phone's GPS only works when I have Wifi, I had trouble brewing. I followed the road signs to Bayuex's historic center but had no clue where my hotel was located other than its address. I followed the signs to the Tourist Center hoping that it was still open and that they could help me. I found a free public parking lot, parked, got out to cross the street towards the Tourist Center and voilà, my hotel magically appeared 10 meters from the parking lot.

I caught a break at last.

I read where D-Day boiled down to the German's inability to make a decision vs. the Allies total confusion. Today, driving, I was one of the Allies.

The first D-Day stop was the city of Arromanches where the Allies built an all important harbor called Port Winston. It was used to disembark men and equipment to use against the Nazis once the beaches had been secured.

The raw weather today was a perfect backdrop for my mind's eye of the mood on that fateful day, June 6, 1944. Up on the bluffs overlooking the town you can still see remnants of the 115 cement blocks called Mulberries that were each the size of a football field that were used to make the much needed harbor. Impressive to say the least.

Next up was a short drive to the West to see the last four remaining German gun installations on the Normandy coast. They were a few hundred yards from the beach and needed an observation bunker on the sea cliff to help them aim their artillery. I got caught in this bunker for about five minutes during a fierce downpour that included some hail.

My final stop for the day was Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery located above the highly exposed area where so many lost their lives. It is a very moving place to say the least.

As I watched them lower the flag for the day, somewhere in the distance a bugler played Taps . . . A VERY, VERY EMOTIONAL MOMENT!

Normandy is famous for its crepes, so I had to try the St. Jacques (scallops) for lunch and a Camembert cheese and apple one for dinner. Both were outstanding as was the honey crepe for dessert after dinner.

And so good for me too!!!

In the evening, I visited Bayeux's Cathedral. It is very well lit at night which added to its overall beauty. There were only about 20 people inside and the piped in Gregorian chant music really added to the religious feeling if it all.

On deck for Saturday are the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, the Utah Beach Landing Museum and a visit to Ste. Mère Eglise which was the first village liberated by the Allies.

The History Channel is alive and well in Normandy!!!

Traveling on a National Holiday and Rouen, the Gateway to Normandy

I was up bright and early this morning to start my four day mini-vacation in Normandy.

Today is All Saints Day which is a French National Holiday and as it turned out a slight travel headache when dealing with Lyon's bus system. I left The Villa a full ten minutes before the C17 bus was scheduled to drive by on its posted Holiday schedule. I opted to leave my cozy bus stop when the bus had still not come by 15 minutes after said posted time.

Plan B called for catching the 25 bus around the corner which only came by once on hour on its Holiday schedule. It was a few minutes late but it got me to the Part-Deiu train station in plenty of time to catch my high speed TGV train to Paris.

Once in Paris, it turned out that I had to catch a Metro from the Gare de Lyon train station to the Gare St-Lazare station. I was not informed of this when I bought my ticket but I actually figured it out on my own!

My plan was simple, go to the information desk at Gare de Lyon and ask them how to best get to Gare St-Lazare. The lady was quite helpful as she handed me a map, said to take the #14 Metro which I could catch right there in the station. She even circled my destination, the Olympiades stop, on a Metro map that she gave me. With the aid of a very nice fellow traveller, I was able to purchase a Metro ticket from a machine. As we talked, she asked where I was headed and I told her. She was quick to point out that the information desk woman was indeed right about the #14 Metro but that St-Lazare lay in the exact opposite direction than the one she had circled on the map.

MERCI fellow traveller!!!!

From Paris, it was another 90 minutes to my final destination for the day, Rouen.

My hotel gave me the "attic" room for only 35 euros a night complete with sloping ceilings guaranteed to leave a mark or two on me if I got up during the night as the rooms ceiling slopes from about 6'6" down to 2'0" quite quickly. The Hotel is, at least, very well located to the city's main sights.

It was now time to explore Rouen, the city that was the sight of St. Joan of Arc's burning at the stake in 1431. The city is over 2,000 years old and has Gothic architecture and half timbered houses everywhere you look.

My first stop was the Place du Vieux Marche to see the memorial to France's patron saint at the exact spot where she was incinerated. A new church in St. Joan of Arc's honor stands near this spot and has a very definite Scandinavian feel to it. It must be remembered that this area of France was settled by Vikings who had raided the area for centuries. Then this area was known as Land of the Northmen which eventually changed into what it is called today, Normandy.

On the way to the next main sight, I came across Les Larmes de Jeanne d'Arc. Cool name for a GREAT chocolate shop. The bag of chocolate covered almonds was quite delicious!

Next up was the Gros Horloge or Big Clock which was built in 1528. It was very impressive. Someday, when I have my new computer, I'll have to post a picture of it for you to enjoy.

The Palace of Justice, complete with D-Day bombing pockmarks on one side, is a wonderful Gothic structure.

Rouen's most important building is the Notre Dame Cathedral. It is, of course Gothic, and is a landmark for art historians. Claude Monet painted its facade over 30 different times during his life. It is magnificent inside as well.

Once I had finished wandering through this very impressive Cathedral, it was out onto Rue St. Romain to see some very interesting shops and eating establishments on my way to the Aitre St. Maclou. This is where the people of Rouen buried victims of The Plague in the Middle Ages by dumping their bodies into a mass grave and drenching them with liquid lime to speed up the decomposition process. A perfect place to visit on All Saints Day don't you think?

Finally, it was time for nourishment so I went back to Rue St. Romain and had a splendid repast at the Creperie le St. Romain. The main dish was a salmon crepe followed by a dessert maple syrup crepe. 

It was oh so good for me!

Before calling it a night, I opted to improve my digestion by walking down to the Seine River which runs through Rouen from Paris. A massive carnival was in full swing that stretched for many, many blocks. Young children were everywhere enjoying the evening.

Tomorrow I head out via a rental car to Bayeux to see their famous tapestry outlining the all important Battle of Hastings in 1066 and then head out to visit the historic D-Day beaches.

I am REALLY looking forward to the next part of this History Channel come to life weekend.