A better day, outdoor markets and impromptu mojitos!

Nothing like a good night's sleep to reset the brain. Both Alex and. I woke up feeling much better than yesterday. We had a leisurely morning, snacking on our new favorite treat, praline pastries from our corner bakery. It's weird looking food, because of the pinkish red candy mixed with the buttery French pastry goodness and for a few days I didn't buy any. But on a whim, we tried it yesterday and now we're hooked. Maybe that's why this particular bakery has a line out the door all the time. 

My plan for the day was to go see the Museum of Resistance, Lyon's WWII and Nazi internment camp museum. Alex elected to stay home, which was a fine choice, given the work of yesterday. I became distracted on my way there, though, by the huge artist market on the Saone river, so instead of heading in the direction of the museum, I walked the opposite way and looked at art. There were so many excellent artists, most of whom were way out of my price range. I did find a little red ceramic piece that for 4 Euro (that's my price range) and I couldn't resist. It's now mine. I wanted so badly to take pictures of the market, but I knew that the artists wouldn't appreciate a non-paying customer walking away with photos of their work. After about 5 blocks, I crossed the Saone river to loop back towards the musem. What do you know? On the other side of the river, there was another market, this one filled with stalls of books. So yeah, I toured that one too. Two of my very favorite things lining the riverside in Lyon on a Sunday morning. What could be better? After my book tour, I made my way from the Saone to the Rhone river for the last leg of my journey. And there it was, another market. This one was filled with produce, cheeses, meats, olives, flowers and spices. Dang. The market trifecta. I could seriously get used to living in this city.

After a couple of hours of marketing, I finally arrived at the museum. I was already tired from all of that wandering and Alex texted me asking if I wanted to have lunch. He was pretty surprised to hear that I hadn't seen the museum at all yet. So, my museum stop was much shorter than anticipated. Having said that, it's a special place. Nothing was written in English and I declined an audio tour, but I didn't really need to be able to read the explanations to understand impact of the war on Lyon and especially its Jewish citizens. I wish I'd had the energy that was required for it, though. A return trip to Lyon is definitely in my future.

After the walk back to our flat, Alex and I met to have a late lunch. It was almost 3 PM when we sat down at what appeared to be a Mexican restaurant, but it actually served maybe one or two Mexican/Spanish dishes. The rest of the menu was French. Both of us ordered crepes. On a whim, I decided to try the mojito that was apparently one of the place's specialties. Alex got one too. That's how we wound up having crepes and mojitos for lunch on a Sunday afternoon in France. It was kind of perfect and such a happy difference from yesterday. 

The rest of our day was spent doing laurdry, prepping for our trip to Paris in the morning and napping. Yes, napping is the natural consequence of having a mojito at 3 in the afternoon, at least for me. I'm going to miss this apartment, where I sleep with the window open, listening to the sounds of merry people enjoying all of the wonders of Lyon's old town.