When you have been given a whole heap of drugs for a sore back, including codeine for the pain, and then find yourself hosting a new online group coaching course, don't chat to the 1st client who comes online (that you know well, who also lives in France and knows that Dr's give you loads of strong medication) about feeling doped out - which leads to banter between the two of you about other drugs including the words 'coke' and 'LSD', as you then may hear another little voice saying 'Hello?' as a new, completely unknown client joins the call.
Your professional image flies out of the window.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Drug Lessons 1
When you have been given a whole heap of drugs for a sore back, including one to be taken 1st thing in the morning and one to be taken last thing at night, make sure you take them at the right time, or you could find yourself falling asleep in the waiting room at the cabinet de radiologie.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Extreme Pavements
The Montée de la Grande Côte does what it says on the tin and leads you in a rather straight and steep route up the side of the hill to the Croix Rousse plateau. A plaque at the bottom helpfully informs us that it used to have a huge sewer running down the middle of it when it was the major route up the hill to the silk weaving district but, be reassured, it has been tarted up a lot since then and has even got funky new pavements.
In the seventies there was a great uproar when several Medival and Renaissance buildings were deemed beyond repair and pulled down. This area (near the top) has been made into a park area, with views down the hill. However the demolition sparked a major restoration project both on the Croix Rousse hill and in Vieux Lyon and this eventually led to the designation of a UNESCO world heritage site in 1998.
Nowadays you can see wonderful architecture as you go up and down a pedestrianized street, there are a couple of bars and cafes, as well as plenty of boutiques and workshops that help reflect the history of the area. On a weekend, red faced and slightly sweaty tourists plod up the hill, in fact it is so steep that there are parts of it that are staircases and other parts that have steps cut into the pavement.
It was one of these sections that caused me soooo much pain today.
There I was innocently going to work at 6.50 in the morning, when I noticed the street cleaners were washing the pavement with gallons of water. Being aware of this I slowed my pace, not wanting to slip in the rivers of water washing down the hill. I reached a relatively dry bit and needed to take a road on the left, observed a stream of water and thought to myself 'Avoid that bit, it will be slippy' but somehow still ended up on my arse anyway.
So a scream alerted the 2 cleaners and a passing pedestrian that I was on my bum and in a tiny bit of discomfort and they came over to assist.
When asked if I was ok, I said that my knee and foot were hurting. I rolled up my jeans and showed an impressive cut on my knee and one of them said 'C'est vrai.' If I hadn't have been in so much pain, this would have annoyed me. Did he really think that I had artfully arranged the contents of handbag across the pavement, then sat millimeters from a stream of running water, sprinkled water on my jeans and then cried out as I was some sort of Munchausens suffer?
One of the cleaners then cheerfully informed that lots of people had slipped on these new paving stones but the Ville de Lyon was not replacing them as it was 'Trop cher'. I eventually made it down the hill and into work.
Then the adrenaline wore off and my back started aching, combined with the fact that the swelling on my knee kept on swelling and the realization that it was very difficult to bend over and place a baby in his cot, made me acknowledge that I had done some serious damage.
This being France it counts as an 'accident de travail' (as i was on my way to work), so everyone has been buzzing around trying to make sure that I'm ok. The Dr gave me a truckload of medicine (including one that may make me vomit blood), an appointment for an xray and a prescription for the physio to give me back massages.
I was fortunate enough to get an appointment tonight with the physio who made me twist and turn and basically inflict torture on me before she relented and gave me a back massage. She after reminding me to breathe as she worked on the more painful bits and watching me struggle to get off the couch, she remarked that the muscles in my back were tender. Why else did she think I was there??
So, my advice for today, if you're going to slip on a pavement, do it on your way to work, but be prepared for people stating the bloody obvious.
In the seventies there was a great uproar when several Medival and Renaissance buildings were deemed beyond repair and pulled down. This area (near the top) has been made into a park area, with views down the hill. However the demolition sparked a major restoration project both on the Croix Rousse hill and in Vieux Lyon and this eventually led to the designation of a UNESCO world heritage site in 1998.
Nowadays you can see wonderful architecture as you go up and down a pedestrianized street, there are a couple of bars and cafes, as well as plenty of boutiques and workshops that help reflect the history of the area. On a weekend, red faced and slightly sweaty tourists plod up the hill, in fact it is so steep that there are parts of it that are staircases and other parts that have steps cut into the pavement.
It was one of these sections that caused me soooo much pain today.
There I was innocently going to work at 6.50 in the morning, when I noticed the street cleaners were washing the pavement with gallons of water. Being aware of this I slowed my pace, not wanting to slip in the rivers of water washing down the hill. I reached a relatively dry bit and needed to take a road on the left, observed a stream of water and thought to myself 'Avoid that bit, it will be slippy' but somehow still ended up on my arse anyway.
So a scream alerted the 2 cleaners and a passing pedestrian that I was on my bum and in a tiny bit of discomfort and they came over to assist.
When asked if I was ok, I said that my knee and foot were hurting. I rolled up my jeans and showed an impressive cut on my knee and one of them said 'C'est vrai.' If I hadn't have been in so much pain, this would have annoyed me. Did he really think that I had artfully arranged the contents of handbag across the pavement, then sat millimeters from a stream of running water, sprinkled water on my jeans and then cried out as I was some sort of Munchausens suffer?
One of the cleaners then cheerfully informed that lots of people had slipped on these new paving stones but the Ville de Lyon was not replacing them as it was 'Trop cher'. I eventually made it down the hill and into work.
Then the adrenaline wore off and my back started aching, combined with the fact that the swelling on my knee kept on swelling and the realization that it was very difficult to bend over and place a baby in his cot, made me acknowledge that I had done some serious damage.
This being France it counts as an 'accident de travail' (as i was on my way to work), so everyone has been buzzing around trying to make sure that I'm ok. The Dr gave me a truckload of medicine (including one that may make me vomit blood), an appointment for an xray and a prescription for the physio to give me back massages.
I was fortunate enough to get an appointment tonight with the physio who made me twist and turn and basically inflict torture on me before she relented and gave me a back massage. She after reminding me to breathe as she worked on the more painful bits and watching me struggle to get off the couch, she remarked that the muscles in my back were tender. Why else did she think I was there??
So, my advice for today, if you're going to slip on a pavement, do it on your way to work, but be prepared for people stating the bloody obvious.
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Le bus change
Anyone living in Lyon will have noticed the signs that have been up since the beginning of the summer informing us that on the 29th Aug the bus routes are changing. To be fair, there have been a lot of signs informing us these changes will be happening however very little in the way of information about what the changes will be.
The week before the big change, I noticed a little stall set up by the Croix Rousse metro, all decked out in red and manned by a couple of people wearing fetching 'Le Bus Change' red T-shirts. It was about 8 in the morning and as I was on the way to the gym I didn't stop. Fortunately it was still there on my way back, this time manned by 4 people. I had a little laugh to myself thinking that only in France could they think that 2 people could cope with the rush hour commuters and 4 people with the day time shoppers.
I went over and was asked if they could help. I requested a new map of the bus routes. This was met with some pursing of lips and a suggestion that she could tell me information on specific bus routes (and even recharge my monthly travel card) but she didn't have a map to give me. I pointed that it would be good to have a map that I could refer to when needed and she went off and asked the supervisor, who had a thick timetable of all the bus routes for his own personal use, but no maps. The only suggestion they had was if I wanted one 'urgently' I could go to the nearest travel office in Hotel de Ville. (The travel office in Croix Rousse being helpfully closed during the summer 'Vacances scolaires'.) I pointed out that it seemed a little bit strange that they had a stall offering verbal information but no maps or time tables and, in true French fashion, received a shrug in reply.
I was not really sure what they meant by 'urgent' but as it was only a few days till the big change, the next time I was passing an open travel office I picked up a map and, after studying it, found out that the bus I used the most often (the no 18 for anyone who is interested) as it formed part of my route to work, was having it's route cut and is no longer of any use to me. Hmmm
Since then I have noticed more of these little information stalls outside of metro stations and major bus stops and now they seem to be equipped with a steady supply of maps and relevant bus timetables. Obviously I was not the only one who found their method of information distribution rather odd and there have been changes.
Then the other day I received in my letter box, a new map and 4 free tickets. Fantastic. The only thing is, I got these on the 2nd September, a full 5 days after the new changes came into place..... ?????
The week before the big change, I noticed a little stall set up by the Croix Rousse metro, all decked out in red and manned by a couple of people wearing fetching 'Le Bus Change' red T-shirts. It was about 8 in the morning and as I was on the way to the gym I didn't stop. Fortunately it was still there on my way back, this time manned by 4 people. I had a little laugh to myself thinking that only in France could they think that 2 people could cope with the rush hour commuters and 4 people with the day time shoppers.
I went over and was asked if they could help. I requested a new map of the bus routes. This was met with some pursing of lips and a suggestion that she could tell me information on specific bus routes (and even recharge my monthly travel card) but she didn't have a map to give me. I pointed that it would be good to have a map that I could refer to when needed and she went off and asked the supervisor, who had a thick timetable of all the bus routes for his own personal use, but no maps. The only suggestion they had was if I wanted one 'urgently' I could go to the nearest travel office in Hotel de Ville. (The travel office in Croix Rousse being helpfully closed during the summer 'Vacances scolaires'.) I pointed out that it seemed a little bit strange that they had a stall offering verbal information but no maps or time tables and, in true French fashion, received a shrug in reply.
I was not really sure what they meant by 'urgent' but as it was only a few days till the big change, the next time I was passing an open travel office I picked up a map and, after studying it, found out that the bus I used the most often (the no 18 for anyone who is interested) as it formed part of my route to work, was having it's route cut and is no longer of any use to me. Hmmm
Since then I have noticed more of these little information stalls outside of metro stations and major bus stops and now they seem to be equipped with a steady supply of maps and relevant bus timetables. Obviously I was not the only one who found their method of information distribution rather odd and there have been changes.
Then the other day I received in my letter box, a new map and 4 free tickets. Fantastic. The only thing is, I got these on the 2nd September, a full 5 days after the new changes came into place..... ?????
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Feeling hot, hot, hot!
It has been hot in Lyon ever since I got back from my holiday and I have not been able to much more than moan about how hot it is and debate whether I should move into the fridge.
A good indicator of the temperature is the chicken man in the Croix Rousse market. He has one of those rotisserie stalls that you buy ready roasted chickens from. In the winter he is Mr Popular amongst the other stallholders who seem to all drop by and have a chat with him. I'm sure the length of the chat is in direct ratio as to how cold it is. However if you walk past the stall in the summer it appears to be unmanned. Then you notice him about 3 stalls down having a chat with the cheese man or the fish man, who have refrigerated trailers for their products! Yesterday he appeared to be having a long chat with one of the meat guys so it must have been hot.
The French seem to have an aversion to aircon though and maybe for good reason as it is always rumoured that the machines are great breeding grounds for nasty things that can make you ill. 'La clim' is a constant source of debate in the gym between those who want it and those who don't. However doing Body Pump or Zumba when it's 37° without aircon is most unpleasant, so you can make an educated guess as to which side I am on!
This afternoon my friend and I met at the ice cream place in Place Sathonay to cool down with an ice cream and catch up on the summer news. We managed to cool down a lot because as we sat and chatted(and had our ice creams) the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up and the rain started to fall.
A good indicator of the temperature is the chicken man in the Croix Rousse market. He has one of those rotisserie stalls that you buy ready roasted chickens from. In the winter he is Mr Popular amongst the other stallholders who seem to all drop by and have a chat with him. I'm sure the length of the chat is in direct ratio as to how cold it is. However if you walk past the stall in the summer it appears to be unmanned. Then you notice him about 3 stalls down having a chat with the cheese man or the fish man, who have refrigerated trailers for their products! Yesterday he appeared to be having a long chat with one of the meat guys so it must have been hot.
The French seem to have an aversion to aircon though and maybe for good reason as it is always rumoured that the machines are great breeding grounds for nasty things that can make you ill. 'La clim' is a constant source of debate in the gym between those who want it and those who don't. However doing Body Pump or Zumba when it's 37° without aircon is most unpleasant, so you can make an educated guess as to which side I am on!
This afternoon my friend and I met at the ice cream place in Place Sathonay to cool down with an ice cream and catch up on the summer news. We managed to cool down a lot because as we sat and chatted(and had our ice creams) the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up and the rain started to fall.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Parlez-vous espanaise?
Whenever I go abroad my brain registers that I need to go into foreign language mode and due to a 6 month stint of working in Madrid when I was 20, the default language used to be Spanish. Since moving to France it has obviously become French and Spanish no longer gets a look in. Also since moving to France my holidays have mainly been going back to the UK and a trip to Morocco, where the default setting of French worked well for me, the friends I was with (Can you get them to sort out our aircon please? Can you ask the waiter if we can buy a bottle of wine to take back to the hotel?) and the locals.
However this default setting proved to be hard to overcome when traveling round Central America. I would start in Spanish and then end up in French, as well as try and pronounce Spanish words with a French accent. Towards the end of my trip I went to a lovely beach town and was looking for accommodation. I came across a promising looking place and asked (in Spanish) if there were any rooms available. The charming man showed me round and while we were negotiating a price for a week long stay and I thought to myself “Wow, well done, you’ve been conducting this whole conversation in Spanish!” Then came the realization that actually we were both talking in French. So much for my improved language skills!
His name was Franck and he was from Vichy.
However this default setting proved to be hard to overcome when traveling round Central America. I would start in Spanish and then end up in French, as well as try and pronounce Spanish words with a French accent. Towards the end of my trip I went to a lovely beach town and was looking for accommodation. I came across a promising looking place and asked (in Spanish) if there were any rooms available. The charming man showed me round and while we were negotiating a price for a week long stay and I thought to myself “Wow, well done, you’ve been conducting this whole conversation in Spanish!” Then came the realization that actually we were both talking in French. So much for my improved language skills!
His name was Franck and he was from Vichy.
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
I never thought I'd say this but....
… there are times when I do miss France!
At the moment I am on holiday in Central America and to get here meant transiting through the USA. I had a 3 hour wait at Houston, and decided to get something to eat as a) I was hungry and b) I thought it would kill some time.
There wasn’t much choice beyond fast food so I ended up at a themed American Diner restuarant and was welcomed by Cindy, who showed me to my table. I was then greeted by Sandra who explained she would be my server as she handed me my menu. She left me to make my choice but was back within seconds to see what drinks I wanted. I asked for a beer and continued to look at the menu. She came back shortly with my beer and asked if I was ready to order. I felt a bit rushed but told her what wanted.
In no time at all Sandra was back with my food and hoped I would enjoy my meal. I was still hunting through my enormous plate to see if the chef had decided to put any lettuce leaves in with the salad dressing when she was back asking me if everything was ok and did I want anything else? To be honest it was all getting a bit intimidating and I just wanted to be left in peace to eat. However she returned a couple more times to check the food was ok and top my water.
As soon as I had put my knife and fork down, she was back asking if I wanted dessert. I couldn’t take the constant attention, so beat a hasty retreat. All in all I was in the restaurant for 30 mins top, so much for killing time.
It was a strange meal experience and not only was I amazed by the difference in quality and quantity of the American ‘food’ but I really missed the complete and utter indifference of French waiting staff.
At the moment I am on holiday in Central America and to get here meant transiting through the USA. I had a 3 hour wait at Houston, and decided to get something to eat as a) I was hungry and b) I thought it would kill some time.
There wasn’t much choice beyond fast food so I ended up at a themed American Diner restuarant and was welcomed by Cindy, who showed me to my table. I was then greeted by Sandra who explained she would be my server as she handed me my menu. She left me to make my choice but was back within seconds to see what drinks I wanted. I asked for a beer and continued to look at the menu. She came back shortly with my beer and asked if I was ready to order. I felt a bit rushed but told her what wanted.
In no time at all Sandra was back with my food and hoped I would enjoy my meal. I was still hunting through my enormous plate to see if the chef had decided to put any lettuce leaves in with the salad dressing when she was back asking me if everything was ok and did I want anything else? To be honest it was all getting a bit intimidating and I just wanted to be left in peace to eat. However she returned a couple more times to check the food was ok and top my water.
As soon as I had put my knife and fork down, she was back asking if I wanted dessert. I couldn’t take the constant attention, so beat a hasty retreat. All in all I was in the restaurant for 30 mins top, so much for killing time.
It was a strange meal experience and not only was I amazed by the difference in quality and quantity of the American ‘food’ but I really missed the complete and utter indifference of French waiting staff.
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