The trick to doing anything of the appointment needing sort of thing in Italy, is to leave very early and plan for any and all sorts of problems or delays.  Really this applies to anything where one needs to be in a specific place at a specific time.  Leaving an hour early this morning for a medical appointment gave me time to:

avoid the Friday market that closes all of the street in the center of town but not necessarily the same streets as last week.

find a parking space in a nation where there is 1 space for every 10 cars because the urban planning didn't keep up with it's fixation with cars.

pay for the parking when the ticket dispensing machine is broken, (since September), and the next nearest is 2 blocks away.

fight the swarms of elderly folks who use medical centers and doctor's offices as social clubs and are constantly having testing and check-ups.  This keeps them healthy and active as they are out of the house for hours every week going back and forth to these various appointments, chatting with friends and neighbors who are doing the same, and not plunked in front of the t.v., (as well as the obvious preventative benefits).  Unfortunately for those on a schedule it clogs up the system big time.

wait with these hordes of white haired old biddies who gossip and tsk on the long wooden benches.  They all dress alike in dark wool coats, dark skirts and sensible black shoes on their tiny feet.  They jump up and down every time the ping goes off for the next patient to be called up to the reception, checking the screen to see if it's their number, thus also getting plenty of exercise.  (Scary thing is that I am no longer that much younger than them.)  The wait today was 20 minutes.  Not bad.  xxoo me

I read The Boothbay Register on-line at work today.  I shouldn't do that as it makes me very homesick.  I know I sound ungrateful after a weekend away but there's no place like home.  Sniff.  xxoo me

Craftsmen building a Creche in Notre-Dame Basilica.

 As many of you may know I've never had the best opinion of France.  Well, not France so much as "The French".  My past experiences have all been in Paris or the Riviera.  No one, not even the French, like the Parisians and the people on the Riviera?  Well I don't know what anybody except me thinks about them.  But I don't like 'em!  They have always been rude and unfriendly.  On my 4 trips to Paris I have had my suitcases tossed onto the street by an innkeeper, (guess there were no rooms), been chased down the street by a gang of North Africans, (of French citizenship I am sure), been refused service in a bar and had my coffee literally hurled on my table in a cafe.  The best was near the Louvre on my first visit when a beret wearing, mustache sporting man tried to pull me into his car.  Really.  So my entire French experience over the years has been negative and it tainted my opinion of all the French.  But I am a big enough man to admit when I'm wrong!  Lyon has changed my mind.  We had a wonderful weekend.  The locals were friendly and helpful and a good time was had by all.

The early evening view over the city from Fourvière.

  Grace and I left early Friday morning from Torino by train.  We traveled over the mountains and into France going from autumn to winter to autumn again in 4 hours.  After checking into our hotel on the business side of Lyon we walked one block down and met up with our visiting friends from home.  Joy!  It was great to see familiar faces.  Grace and J. were off and gossiping immediately.  We all headed across the river Rhone into the area called Presqu'ile and then across the river Saone and wandered around the old center for a bit.  It's all narrow twisty turny cobbled roads lined with chocolate shops and pastry shops.  Did I mention I put on 10 pounds just crossing the border into France?   After that we walked up many stairs and steep little roads to Fourviere, "the hill that prays", where sits Notre-Dame Basilica, probably the most beautiful church I've ever seen and that's saying something.  While Italian churches are generally dark and foreboding and really quite gruesome, the Notre-Dame of Lyon is painted in gorgeous pale blues and greens with gold leaf.  It's like being inside a giant Easter egg.  The sun went down and the cold came out so we went for a warm drink for the girls and a warming drink for us.  We had dinner at a little restaurant where we had a lesson in French from our lovely young waitress, none of which I can now remember.

Freezing, grumpy girls

GP came in late Friday night.  Saturday morning we all met up again and toured the city.  It's a great livable size, only about 70,000 in Lyon proper.  There are tons of lovely squares and historic buildings.  Unfortunately it was windy and really cold.  We had a great dinner eating typical Lyonese food including a lot of cheese and one dish of some sort of animal head.  It looked like whale blubber.  I did not try it.  The desserts were incredible however and I think I tried them all.  Alas we had to say good-bye when the evening ended as friends were flying out on Sunday.  xxoo me

The gang.

Selfie by our funny waiter.