Final Preparations

French Fact-of-the-Day

Clovis King of France

 466 AD - 511 AD

King Clovis being baptized a

Christian with a Battle Ax in hand

Clovis was a Frankish king who became a Christian as seen above and drove out the last of the Romans from France. He thus united the people and gave the country its Germanic name.

Today was my last Thursday meeting of the AVF club before returning to Camarillo in only six days!

The Ladies from the Netherlands

prepared the days goodies for

today's Feast of St. Nicholas 

For once, I wasn't the only male at the meeting.

A wonderful Christmas Story

was read that warmed all of us,

young and old 

Amazingly, I didn't eat any 

The kids got presents after

the Christmas Story 

A Dutch tradition in case any

hungry reindeer drop by

They didn't.

New Reflecting Old 

I believe that this will

be part of the weekends

Fête des Lumières

I know that this will definitely

be lit up for four nights 

Christmas Shopping continues

I didn't make any purchases here but I think that this wee, basement shop will be on the top of Laurie's must see list when she comes to Lyon this Spring.

Oh, So Good For Me

Great aromas and an appetite make great bedfellows.

Tartiflette and Diots 

Damn!

I did finish all of my Christmas shopping today . . . I think.

On Monday, I'm taking the train to northern France to the city of Strasbourg to visit their world renowned Christmas Market.

Who knows what treasures await me.

Required Reading

I am currently about 100 pages into Victor Hugo's 1862 classic, Les Misérables.

Now, I've seen the movie versions of his book and have enjoyed the Broadway hit musical adaptation more than once. All of these experiences were quite enjoyable I must say.

Reading the beginning of Hugo's work should be required reading for everyone in America after this Fall's contentious Presidential elections. Even though the work is 150 years old, the message is as strong and clear today as it was then.

The sad part is that the message still needs airing five generations later.

We hold our last Senior team practice before playing the high-flying, 3-0 St-Cergues Bulldogs at home on Sunday.

We need a good one! 

Rain, Rain Go Away . . .

French Fact-of-the-Day

Approximately 83% of the French population claims to be Roman Catholic, 10% say that they are believers in Islamic faith, 2% are Protestants, 1% Jewish and 4% say that they are not affiliated with any religious group.

Overcast, drizzly and cold was still the order of the day today. Still, with time running out before I return to Camarillo one week from today, I needed to finish up on buying Christmas presents to take home from exotic France.

Over the past five years while I've been living and working in Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and France, people will ask me from time to time where I call home. I rarely, if ever, say the United States.

Instead, I usually say California.

The reaction is usually the same, my inquisitors eyes glaze over, muscles start twitching and then they start raving about the time they visited or how they long to make a voyage to the Golden State one day.

Over the past five years while I'm in California, people have asked me what I'm up to nowadays. When I have answered that I'm going to be living and working in Italy, Sweden, Switzerland or France.

The reaction is usually the same, my inquisitors eyes glaze over, muscles start twitching and then they start raving about the time they Europe or how they long to make a voyage to the Continent one day.

These reactions are almost always the same, it seems the grass is indeed greener on the opposite side of the pond.

HUGE weekend in Lyon!

Thursday night is the start of the four night Fête des Lumières. Literally millions of visitors will descend on Lyon to see the epic lighting effects on many of the venerable city's landmark buildings.

The Fête is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary for her aid in sparring Lyon from more plague damage in 1643. It started with people simply placing a candle in their windows as a show of thanks in 1852 when the golden statue of the BVM was unveiled at the top of Fourvière Hill. Now it is a lot more than just a few random candles.

St-Jean Cathedral in 2011

I can't wait to take some pictures of this light show over the course of the weekend.

Santa visits La Croix-Rousse

At one of these small Christmas Craft Fairs, nothing says Christmas like a good . . .

Petting . . .

. . . Zoo

Even the statues get dressed up
for the Holidays

Nice cloak.

Interesting Music Group playing
in the streets of La Croix-Rousse

The band man in the middle had
on a great pair of shoes!

I wonder if I could borrow them for the Falcon Prom this Friday night?

Madcaps

Click on the picture to here about 30 seconds worth of their upbeat music.

That reminds me, as near as I can surmise, if it wasn't for American holiday classics, there would be no Christmas music in France.

This is the family home of
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema

He was born and bred in Lyon. He started playing in the top French league with for the Olympique Lyonnais team in 2004, he has played for Real Madrid since 2009.

His family still lives here and that is the state of the art natural grass of our Falcon practice field in the foreground!

Karim Benzema

If he can play the crazy bounces on our field, he can play anywhere!

Reading Is FUNdamental

Twelve more great short stories about the Master Sleuth. What more could you ask for?

A Little Better Weather Today

French Fact-of-the-Day

France encompasses an area of 643,427 square kilometers, ranking it as the world's 42nd biggest country.

To compare it in terms of the United States, it is just a bit smaller than America's second biggest state, Texas which boasts of its 695,621 square kilometers.

I spent most of the day in bed still trying to kick aside the lingering effects of my recent illness. I'm almost over it now.

In the early afternoon I rallied for the trip to Gare de Perrache to again check out the Lyon Christmas Market. This trip was more about food gathering than gift buying.

 Rotary Club sponsored

Santa Claus House

It, of course, reminded me of my Father-in-Law, "Old Skinny" Bill Gardner who was a devoted Rotarian all of his adult life.

Miss you Bill.

Had to try one for lunch

She is from Quebec, Canada and cooks a mean Hot Dog de Bison. It is especially good with a little vin chaud which is hot, spiced red wine.

I noshed my way through the market quite lightly today only stopping to enjoy a fabulous plain crêpe. I must continue to monitor my eating habits, only eating things that are . . .

Oh so good for me!

My sister Marilyn is an expert in

Poupees???

Oh, it turns out that a Poupee is a child's doll.

I think that she may be an expert come to think of it.

Apparently Marilyn

also knows silverware 

This shop could spell trouble when Laurie arrives later this Spring.

Speaking of Laurie . . . 

I'll be back in California in only nine more days waiting on her every whim and fancy.

Warm and Cozy Café

I ducked into a nice café like this one, but a bit more Bohemian in nature, to get out of the damp weather for about a half an hour to read some more of my latest book and have an espresso.

Good for the soul.

B Team Post-Practice Chat

Our developmental Senior B team practice tonight was a good one as we continued to work on our passing game. This group, which plays nine man football, has had a checkered season to date.

They should have played their eighth game of the season last Sunday. Instead the B team is 1-3 with four of their games being either postponed or cancelled. One of their games in Grenoble was snowed out and three more were not played because of the inability by the home team, Grenoble once and the Falcons twice, to secure a playing field for the contests.

Still, these young men come to practice, brave the elements and work hard to improve their skills.

I am very, very proud of these players!

Senior A team practice tomorrow night as we prepare for this Sunday's tough home game with the best team in our league, the 3-0 St-Cergues Bulldogs. We need to have a great practice if we are to have any chance against this speedy, physical squad.

Game Called on Account of Snow

FRENCH FACT-of-the-DAY

The population of France is approximately 65,000,000. It thus ranks as the world's 21st largest country. 

Sunday was to be the day for our second friendly game of the Junior season, this time at home, against our cross-town rivals, the Lyon Les Gones.

Mother Nature would take a hand in the proceedings.

The athletic complexes in France are owned and operated by the cities. They have a long term rooting interest in maintaining the quality of the natural grass fields, so they have come up with three guidelines as to when not to allow teams on them for practices or games.

CRITERIA #1: If the temperature goes below freezing, the fields are closed.

CRITERIA #2: If there is snow on the field, the fields are closed.

CRITERIA #3: If the fields are extremely wet or muddy, the fields are closed.

Outside The Villa's front door

when I woke up this morning 

My street, Rue Christian Lacouture

Surely because of my recent, avid reading of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, I was able to deduce that our game today was postponed.

A message from our Junior team Head Coach, Olivier Caldes, confirmed my brilliant deduction.

I still have no good reason as to why we were allowed on the fields to practice during last week's monsoon weather.

Feeling greatly improved physically, I ventured into the city to see the winter wonderland that might be Lyon.

My first stop was Fourvière Hill.

This Lyon lion had traces of snow 

 And these kids were having fun

Then I headed down the hill to the Vieux Lyon.

 This Cathedral gargoyle was

hard at work as the snow melted

The Vieux Lyon

A bit eerie today 

After reaching one of my favorite boulangeries for a much need croissant and a café, I wandered over to St. Paul's Church. It seems that every time that I have gone by it, it has been closed. Today it was finally open so I decided to explore its wonders and get in from the chilly air outside.

Nice Flames

Not sure which saint this is but

it does not look too good for him

Nice Goatee

Colorful Angels

 Madonna and Child

Brilliant Art

Located above the Main Altar

St. Paul

The Old Swordsman himself

It's That-A-Way 

 The Holy Ghost was

IN THE HOUSE!

Nativity

It is that time of the year after all 

On a side altar

A Sainted French King

No name that I could discern but if I'm not mistaken, King Louis IX (1214-1270) is the only French King to be canonized by the Holy Mother Roman Catholic Church so it must be him.

He is usually just referred to simply as St. Louis.

St. Paul's Baptistery 

 A Tapestry of St. Paul

The view of Vieux Lyon from

the River Saône's Rive Gauche

La Croix-Rousse District 

Today's Painting-of-the-Day

Here are the weather predictions for Lyon for the next four days of practice in the Fahrenheit scale popular in America.

Monday: Temperatures from 46˚ to 39˚, rain

Tuesday: Temperatures from 44˚ to 32˚, rain

Wednesday: Temperatures from 42˚ to 32˚, rain

Thursday: Temperatures from 37˚ to 24˚, partly cloudy

For the peace of mind of my French teammates, do not worry, these Fahrenheit temperatures are almost the same as the Centigrade temperatures that we use here in France, give or take just a degree or two.

It sounds toasty to me, I'm planning on wearing shorts. How about you my beloved Falcons?

MAN vs. THE ELEMENTS!!!

But only if we are allowed on the practice fields.