This will be a short post today. Much shorter than Day Three’s post, which I think is the longest I’ve ever done. And you should see all the photos I left out. Wednesday was, indeed, an ambitious day. Thursday was a different kind of day. Starbuck’s first, of course, and they got my name right – they even spelled it correctly! I took my coffee back to the hotel and drank it while working on the blog post for Wednesday. I had written the text on Wednesday night, but the photos take the longest so I did them on Thursday morning. It took me four hours!! So I spent the entire morning in my hotel room at my little desk, and my breakfast was made up of various snacks that I had collected in my travels: an apple, some apple/strawberry sauce, a cereal bar, some mixed nuts, and some wheat biscuits. More fun and satisfying than it might sound, and it gave me something to do while waiting for all those photos to load into the blog library first, then into the post itself.

It was about 1:30 when I headed out. I walked south of place Bellecour to place d’Ainay. I stopped at place Ampere and bought a sandwich from a restaurant chain called Paul that I was familiar with from a trip to Paris a couple of years ago: olive roll with mozzarella and tomatoes and olive oil – very good. Thursday was the hottest day I’ve experienced here so far and the sun was brutal (not complaining, just reporting). The guidebook I am referring to said that rue Auguste Comte and rue de la Charite are where the art galleries can be found. Being around 2ish, everything was closed for lunch, most signs said they would reopen at 3:30. But this isn’t Chelsea in NYC and I never did find any galleries that I really wanted to go into. I also walked rue Victor Hugo, which is a big shopping street. I need proper footwear for gardening when I am in Bormes les Mimosas (couldn’t fit enough shoes in my one carry on bag), but it seems everything in Lyon is about fashion more than function and I didn’t find anything that seemed right. Around 3, being tired from walking in the hot sun, I returned to my hotel and took a break.

I went out again at 4 and walked the same area to see what was open. I went down streets that I hadn’t been down the first time and I happened upon an art supply store. I had decided that on this day I wouldn’t take any photos unless they absolutely insisted upon being taken. This morning, as I’m writing this, I regret that decision. I have very few photos from Thursday. It’s interesting to see how it feels to wander Lyon taking photos and thinking “blog post,” as compared to how it feels to just walk around experiencing Lyon and not considering how I will record it. Both are equally good and valuable, I feel, but one can’t do both at the same time, can one? A very big choice must be made each day and the choice involves an equally big giving up of the experience that isn’t chosen.

So, I did not get any photos of the art supply store. It isn’t anything like Jerry’s Artarama! It’s more like a supply closet in need of restocking. But I made a major find there – rub on letters!! I bought a stack. Also, some rub on trees that used to be used in architects renderings (I think its all done on a computer now, like graphic design). I also bought a circle template and a white correction pen – as I worked in the studio with Margaret and here in my hotel-desk-studio, those are the items that I kept reaching for but that I didn’t have. Having new materials makes me want to work, but I am heading out into Lyon this morning (Friday), since this is my last full day here I want to make the most of it. Perhaps this evening I’ll make some art work.

Walking further I happened upon this shop with piles and piles and piles of “stuff” that looked like a truck had backed up and dumped it there. On second look, it was actually more organized that that. The shop was closed, but while I was taking photos from outside the windows a woman appeared (she is in one of the photos); she was on the phone, but opened the door and handed me her card. It said, “Antiquites Marilyn, expert en poupees,” which is what it says on the window in the photos. These photos seem to scream “COLLAGE.” So I simply present them here for your pleasure and contemplation.

Just before 7 p.m. I returned to place des Celestins, where my hotel is, to meet up with Madeleine, who is a friend of Margaret’s. I’ve met her twice before, 2 and 3 years ago, but this is the first time that she and I spent any time on our own, just the two of us. Retired now, her career was teaching English to French students. She speaks English better than I do! We went Le Comptoir des Marronniers for dinner, located on a pedestrian only street that is just one restaurant after another, all of whom had tables outside, busy all night with lots of people. Madeleine told me that this warm weather in September is unusual. Most years the temperatures have cooled off by now, especially evenings and mornings, and the eating outdoors is finished. So I have been very lucky to have this summer weather the first week of September and to experience Lyon with everyone outdoors long into the night. Madeleine says that the weather is cold, gray, and wet from November till April – sounds like North Adams – although they don’t get much snow or below freezing temps.

I enjoyed my dinner with Madeleine immensely. She is intelligent, sensitive, warm, and open, and the conversation flowed easily and nonstop. How lucky I am to know someone here in this foreign city! The food was delicious: an original take on a traditional Lyon salad, fish with mixed veggies and rice, and apples baked with praline sauce, all washed down with a glass of white wine (oh, and begun with an aperitif of sparkling wine and hazelnut liquor, something new that Madeleine introduced me to). The night was warm and clear and people bustled and buzzed with life all around us. It was around 11 when I got back to my hotel room. Wish Madeleine and I lived closer to each other. I am really sad that I took no photos of Madeleine or of us or of the restaurant and the lively street scene. So engrossed in our conversation, so completely living the moment, I forgot to step back from it and remember to pull out my iPad camera and document it. Interesting this interplay between total involvement in the moment as it is happening and the stepping back from the moment and observing it.

Now, just a few photos and then I will head out into Lyon for my last full day here. Hopefully, this won’t take me four hours!