Shops of Lyon

We are one of the fortunate ones who managed to get away, albeit briefly, before the first lockdown back in March. For Valentines weekend we headed for a few nights in Lyon - you might remember that getting back was more stressful than it needed to be as we almost missed the flight. Even now, just typing this, I’m reliving the feelings that brought - we will never cut it so fine again for a flight. Given this year, it will be a fair while before we go anywhere near a flight, I’m sure, but even so.

Lyon was lovely though. We did the usual thing of arriving ‘close enough’ to our hotel and then wandering, or rather, marching through the streets in search of where we were staying. I say marching, as at the start of a break, somehow we always walk much more quickly, by the end and when it’s time to leave everything is a bit more leisurely. More so than normal it would seem on this break, ahem.

herboristerie in lyon

I’d booked a hotel in the old part of town and so we walked past these shops many times - it was no hardship at all really, though.

A french bookshop

I wanted to peer into each and every one of them. Perhaps this one especially…

le comptoir de mathilde

Even those which were no longer in use and full of faded glory drew my attention.

garage du palais
bottles stacked in a shop window

Sometimes it was the content more than than the shopfront that caught my eye.

books in a shop window, with two tiny human models

I still haven’t worked out the significance of those human figures, but if they had a price tag on then I’d be more than interested in acquiring them. And isn’t it peculiar, this is probably the closest I’ve got to browsing shops this year, but it’s something I’m missing - even though it’s not something I do a lot! Probably linked to the fact that we can’t at the moment, and absence making the heart grow fonder as the saying goes. Though I’m sure I’d also hate wandering around a packed shopping area too.

PoCoLo

Stars and the White Garden

I thought that we should head a little further afield for this post, and while we’re there we can pick up some sun at the same time. Yes, for this post we’re heading over to the Andromeda Botanic gardens in Barbados. Clearly I’ve not been there recently, what with it being 2020 and all that, but we did visit at the end of 2019 and our visit is rapidly approaching its year anniversary, which is also crazy.

It was our second time in Barbados, the first time we went for a friend’s wedding and as part of a larger group we spent a lot of time socialising rather than sight seeing, and it was great. But when we went back - and part of the reason for going back - was to see more of the island, and of course the rest of the reason was sun, rum and relaxing.

There were two gardens on my visit list in Barbados, and this was the second one we visited. We booked a cab and off we set. The Andromeda Botanic gardens, is a wonderful place (as their website says) and is both beautiful and informative. It’s also a partner garden of the RHS, and so - and rather bizarrely - I was able to use my RHS membership to enter.

But anyway, on arrival you’re given a clutch of laminated papers with lists of what you’ll see. I was doubtful that it would be useful, but I was so, so wrong. The list fan in me loved it, as I made MOH visit each number in turn, and yes it was hot.

in the white garden at andromeda botanical gardens

The white garden, you’ll not be surprised to learn included plants that had - or while have - white flowers and/or foliage. We set about looking for the white ginger, bush clock vine, a busy lizzy (found that one), crinum, varigated mondo grass and so on.

green and froths of white

Well we spotted some of them, but more than that we enjoyed the garden, and this part of the garden especially. The ‘instructions’ told us to turn left onto the deck, and to take a seat and admire the views.

a spot to sit and enjoy

Who were we to argue?

But then I spotted something hanging from the branches, and so it wasn’t long before I was off to find out more.

stars hanging from the branches

I was mesmerised by the stars. It was instant admiration - and many photos were taken as I was convinced they would be easy to replicate. I think they probably are, but I still haven’t tried.

Looking closer I was convinced they were made of newspaper, sprayed - or maybe even just bleached by the sun - and covered in glitter.

a closer look at the star made from newspaper

They would make stunning Christmas decorations. I even found a website, which I have squirrelled away somewhere, with a tutorial on how to make them. I’m sure that one day I will.

a pot edge and decking

And then MOH spotted the busy lizzie - a plant he knows, and we were off again. But not before stopping and admiring these leaves, which were not only variegated, but huge!

variegated leaves

I think these leaves - which are quite similar in shape to the leaves of my Lords and Ladies - are fab, and could have admired their ‘markings’ for much longer than I did.

A view to be mesmerised by

But with views like this, Andromeda isn’t a place that you stay still in for long.

PoCoLo

The loo we couldn't find at first

Once we found our hotel in Lyon - which was trickier than you might expect, as the entrance was low key to say the least, we learnt we’d had a room upgrade as we checked in. That doesn’t happen to us so often, so it was quite exciting. As we were shown our room we took it all in our stride as we were shown around, but as soon as she was gone, we were exploring for ourselves, looking out of the window for the view, checking the snacks on the dressing table, the wardrobes with its towelling robes, and the bathroom. It’s just that one thing was missing. And that was the loo.

Seriously.

A huge bath, luxurious toiletries, fluffy towels, a fancy sink. But no loo.

There had to be one. And then in clicked.

It had to be off the mirrored entrance-way…

From the outside you'd never know

And so it was, opposite the wardrobe. The brass door knob in the picture above was the only clue we had. And neither of us were quite ready for what was behind that door.

inside it was just bonkers and not dissimilar to a caravan loo
quite a view from the loo

Yes, our very own OTT hand-painted chateau-scene. If It’d have told you beforehand, I’m not sure you would have believed me, and seeing was believing.

fun at the chateau

It was totally bonkers, and totally made for my Loo Series posts - did they know? And what were the other room’s loos like?

In truth, it was a bit like a caravan loo, just quite a fancy one. But still bonkers.

a well hidden loo

Only in Lyon. Or is it?

PoCoLo