Why is it that you often have to leave a place to fall in love with it just a little bit more?
Lyon (photos taken my Mum!)
In two weeks time I will no longer be Lyonnais as I up sticks and move in with my in-laws whilst we wait to complete on the house in the country. I’ve been desperate to get away from Lyon, its pollution, traffic and some of the ignorant inhabitants whom I have recently written about, so why is it that I’m now feeling so nostalgic?
Probably because I have had had a love hate relationship with the city for the last 14 years and it is the only place I have ever lived in France. The unknown of our new home and lack of familiarity of nearby towns, not to mention I have never lived in the countryside before, are becoming daunting as I watch my city loft become stuffed with removal boxes waiting to go into storage. Have we made the right decision?
My renewed passion for Lyon has also been fuelled by this weekend’s glorious weather, a stark contrast to the cold, grey days we’ve had recently. Also I’ve been able to enjoy some of my favourite activities here: the restaurants, shops and theatres Lyon has to offer… just yesterday I enjoyed cupcakes from Candy Cookie Boulevard and although not quite as special as I had hoped, they certainly did the trick in terms of satisfying my cravings!
Cupcakes: Fraises Tagada, Nutella & Coco, White Chocolate and Speculoos!
I also love wandering around the small backroads in Lyon centre and discovering small shops selling all sorts of wonders. Yesterday I found a great wine shop (I know, no wine for me at the moment, but I can store!), a craft shop and a doll clinic!
The Doll Clinic: such a cute shop to look at!
The fact that a British foodstore called Little Britain has also opened here has done wonders in helping with my cravings for British food products and taken away the feeling of homesickness that I’d been having, as I’ve been able to enjoy bacon sarnies, chicken pies, proper custard, Cadburys cream twirls and other much missed British goodies on demand (you wouldn’t believe I left the UK when I was 16 would you?).
Little Britian: Boulevard des Brotteaux, Lyon 6
"Little Britain" British food store heaven!
Despite my nostalgia I know that it is time to move on. A chapter of our life is coming to an end and a new chapter will soon open with the arrival of Little Miss Piglet. Life in the French countryside will be much better suited with a little one and our daughter will be able to enjoy greater freedom and various activities which she could only dream of if we stayed in the city.
And all is not lost. Lyon will be just a 40 minute drive or 30 minute train journey from the new place so it’s hardly as if we’ll be cut off from city life, British food or my favourite Thai restaurant! We’ll also be able to explore the nearby towns of Chambery, Aix Les Bains and Grenoble, not to mention wakeboarding and sailing on the lakes of Lac de Bourget, Lac de Paladru and Lac Annecy. Next winter we’ll be 40 minutes closer to our favourite ski resorts so really we’ll be getting the best of both worlds.
Now we just need to sign the Compromis de Vente tomorrow and cross our fingers, toes and arms that we get a mortgage!
Hi,
Don’t feel sad young Piglet! Shops only provide the temptation to spend money. Think of all the fresh unpolluted air in the country…err except for horse dung that is :)
Happy memories
PiP
but I like spending money! LOL! Seriously though, it is nice to have the shops there as an option when you “need” something! You know I’m not good at planning!
Yes, the countryside will be a lovely pot pourri of cow dung, horse pooh and chicken s**t!
It’s funny you should mention feeling nostalgic for a place you couldn’t wait to leave – I feel that way about Bretagne sometimes. For as much as I was unhappy there, I spent my formative years in France there. It was my home for a long time, and it was where I learned about the French language and culture.
But like you said, you will have a whole new set of memories tied to the new place, especially since it will be home to your family!! I am jealous though that you’ll be so close to Annecy, I’ve always wanted to go there. The state where I grew up had over 10,000 lakes, so easy access to them is something I’ve really missed. Not to mention your proximity to the slopes – lucky girl!! :)
how wonderful it must have been growing up somewhere with 10 000 lakes! I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have been like. I love lakes and being by water so if I can’t be by the sea then lakes will do. I don’t really know Annecy so can’t wait to explore :)
I think it’s totally normal to feel nostalgic about a place right as you’re leaving it – it’s always the way! But as you say, this chapter is ending and very exciting new chapter is just beginning. PLUS, it sounds like you are going to be SO well set up where you are. That’s great to have so many options just 3/4 hour away! Wow! Bon courage pour tout and will look forward to hearing about your new adventures elsewhere.
Thanks Sion for your kind words and comments, you’re so right about it always being the way, it’s just ironic isn’t it?
I know what you mean. While I am only moving 6 miles away to our new house we are starting to feel the loss of this house as boxes start piling up. However, this does not change the fact that our family has out grown this house and we really need to move. I guess now you always have an excuse to ride the train into the city. In America 40 minutes is nothing.
I guess you’re lost in boxes right now as well hey? You’re on my “to visit” list so I’ll be over soon for an update! It’s amazing how you become totally detached as the boxes stack up, its a maze of boxes here right now, we have even started a box wall!
About once a month, I want to move back to the United States. Something will just make me terribly homesick, someone or something will irritate me and I will just want to throw in the towel and go back “home” ..
But then one days like today, when the oprresive heat is gone, the dog does not look like he is dying and I have energy, I appreciate all the things about my new (foreign) home and think that I don’t want to leave !
Once you start fixing up the new house and ready to leave the in-laws, you will be more than happy to be in that big beautiful house in the countryside.
When/If we ever move back to the US, it will not be to a city again, but a house in the country. I envy you :)
Candice, you shoudl come here, it was cold and miserable today…
I love days like you describe above and I hope that I have plenty of them to come!
I can’t wait to visit Lyon, it looks lovely. I was nervous about living in the countryside at first but once you are there, it is great! Always the way when you you are planning to leave somewhere that you see the place differently. You have this new adventure to enjoy with lots of new things on the way too. xx
I’ll show you around if you make it here! Promise!!
Ideal situation, just a short journey from town.
That’s what we have here and it is super to be able to live in the country but have access to all the delights of town without the downsides.
I liked Chambery very much…do they still have that wild strawberry flavoured vermouth….?
You’re right Fly, the more I think about it the more I find the situation ideal :)
As for the strawberry flavoured vermouth i have no idea… I will find out as soon as I’m no longer pregnant ;-)
I think it’s a normal reaction. It’s like when you get divorced you then start to only remember the good times.
I have moved so many times in this country that I’ve never had time to get nostalgic.
Good luck with getting the mortgage..hope it all happens very soon.
Wow Ayak, how many times have you moved? We’ve moved quite a bit but often within the same town or area so not quite the same.
Thanks for the luck with the mortgage, it seems to have paid off… news soon!
Moving to the country will be a big change but you’ll enjoy the peace and quiet with little miss! Good luck with the move … its a lot to take on in your “condition” (hee hee)
I think I’m stark raving mad and would not recommend that any pregnant woman tries to move to the country whilst organising their move, staying with their parent in laws and trying to get a mortgage, is another to make one bonkers! I will need the peace and quiet to recover!
There are many wonderful things about Lyon that you won’t be able to replace where you are moving. However, give yourself a little time in your new home and new community and you will find wonderful things there that you never even new existed in Lyon. Good luck with the signing. Hope you get your mortgage.
Thanks Michel! things are finally looking up as of today. It’s been a stressful few weeks!
I spent this weekend helping move my dearly beloved out of his flat in Nice to his dinky pad near Montpellier. He’s been moaning about Nice and having the flat for months, but of course, when the crunch came, selling the flat and leaving his base in Nice was a real wrench.
I suppose it’s a way of saying good-bye – remembering the good bits and regretting the past. Still, onwards and upwards, Lyon ain’t going anywhere and as you say, it’ll be even better when you go back to see by choice all your favourite places.
Thanks for your support Sarah.
I hope your dearly beloved has recovered from his move and that he settles nicely into Montpellier. I’m finding that it’s something about men and change that make them moan like anything…
I think that what you write about here is one of life’s peak experiences: there is nothing like this time of appreciation, you know? Knowing you are leaving, and knowing it is time to leave, appreciating the good things about Lyon, while also preparing for what is new is truly the “good stuff,” the “sucking of the marrow” that Thoreau writes about, IMHO!
I know that for me, whenever I will have to leave Paris (somehow I don’t imagine I will be in this city for the rest of my life), it will probably be the time that I will love it the most and have the most appreciation for it.
I like what Sarah writes: “It’s a way of saying good-bye.” It really is!
I am so excited for you and for the changes that are coming for you. I wish you every bit of luck and hope that settling into your in-laws’ home and then your own new home will be a smooth process.
(It’s good to be back here! I like catching up with you. :) )
Karin
(an alien parisienne)
Hi Karin! So pleased to see you back online! I can’t wait to get online properly again to do some proper catching up!!
What you and the others say is so true and I’m feeling really, really excited about everything today. Literally my mind is buzzing!
I came to Lyon like you went to Paris, it wasn’t somewhere I specifically chose to go, like “hey, I must live there!” so I think this is what impacts our relationship as well.
I hope that you’ll make it down next summer to enjoy some of the greenery and lakes with us!
lovely place indeed !
i’ll have to go there one day!
Rosa
Hi Rosa, Lyon is a lovely place and with so many great places to eat ;-) Definitely worth visiting over a weekend!
Funny what you miss about the British foods… maybe just feeling a bit homesick .. cannot believe you left here all those years ago and still miss the food!! I would love the chance to move to another country, and see if I miss the foods. :-) Maybe Bacon would be my downfall .. otherwise not sure.
Hi Anne, okay I admit I don’t miss the food on a daily basis and most of the year I don’t even think about it, but since being pregnant I have come to miss certain things that I really enjoyed in the UK… proper bacon and proper white sliced bread to make bacon sarnies some of them!
It’s also part of British heritage, I represented Great Britain internationally in competitions and whilst I love France and feel very French I will always be British so certain food stuffs are nostalgic to me :)
When I moved back to Britain for a few years I missed loads of French foods as well so I guess I’m just a greedy foodie person!
Hi,
I’m with WordPress now so the link in your blogroll is for my defunct Blogger blog. This is my new one:
http://theothersideofparis.wordpress.com/
Thanks for letting me know! I’ll update!
OMG – my blogroll needs some serious updating, must add to the to do list!
I’m so happy to have discovered this blog! I’ve been living in Lyon for 5 months now as an English Assistant and I have the feeling that it will be very helpful to me… I know what you mean about the British food store. The American store by place Terreaux has helped my homesickness several times now.
Hi Melissa! welcome to Lyon!! I hope you’re enjoying the city, it is really fantastic!
The last five months are probably the worst as the weather has been grim, spring here is lovely!
I’ll come over and check your blog out v. soon, I’m just short on time right now as I move out of my house in a few days… arggghhhhh!
I’m visiting Lyon for the first time next month and can’t wait to fall in love with it! I’ll definitely be checking out Little Britain :-)