little

A full lunch with dessert under 10€., a photo by cocopuff1212 on Flickr.

Little is a sweet, actually-not-so-little cupcake shop that also serves lunch.

I had a plate of tasty crab & asparagus tarte salè (served with baby greens) and a bottle of Badoit, a cupcake for dessert of course (apple caramel), and a generous cup of coffee (brewed with a Nespresso machine!).

All of that was 9.80€. Pas mal.

Little
30 rue des remparts d’Ainay 69002 LYON

I discovered Little through this wonderful blog. Thank you for the information, Argone!

a week in london, in 25 photos

London. What can I say?

I love the city.

I did not want to leave. I've been to many wonderful places during our three years in Europe, but no other city made me feel that way before. It's been more than a month since we were there, and I still think about it often.

London has my heart.

I shall be back. Yes, one day.

down in the courtyard

As the party winded down and some of our neighbors began going upstaris to their homes, I looked up and saw a small piece of sky, in dark hues of blue-gray with smear of pink.

A warm, early-summer evening, spent with good food and good wines, chatting, laughing, relaxing.

I thought I would be happy if time stopped and I just stayed here forever.

fête des voisins 2012

Fête des voisins 2012., a photo by cocopuff1212 on Flickr.

And here's a scene from our "neighbors' party" in the aforementioned courtyard. I'm really going to miss these people.

courtyard

Our building's courtyard., a photo by cocopuff1212 on Flickr.

The courtyard in our building is paved with concrete, and with three trash cans and nothing else, isn't exactly pretty to look at.

But the pink-ness of the building makes up for it -- I think.

seven more weeks

Seven more weeks in France., a photo by cocopuff1212 on Flickr.

Yes, seven more weeks. That's how much time we have left in France -- we're heading back to the U.S. this summer.

It's an exciting time and we are looking right ahead. There are a lot of things we are looking forward to, as well as issues we need to address (that have been put on the back burner for three years). I know there will be an adjustment we have to make, but surely this upcoming move will not be as hard as moving from L.A. to France.

I just hope our wash-machine will hang in there for just seven more weeks, and that we won't get rear-ended for the rest of our stay in France.

science museum, london

We expected the Science Museum in London to be primarily a place for children. We went there because we thought our 10-year old son would enjoy it.

We were very pleasantly surprised. Of course, he loved the hands-on exhibits and enjoyed the children's lecture and overall had a terrific time. But my husband and I were also delighted to find so many -- so many! -- fabulously interesting and beautiful things to look at.

I love old scientific instruments. Their beauty lies in their function and utility, and their ability to answer and ask questions at the same time. What were people trying to find out back then? Did they find the answers they were looking for?

We could have visited the Museum two days in a row and still not have enough time to see everything. I eventually stopped taking photos because it was taking too much time, and just enjoyed looking at the exhibits.

It was a good call.

mind the gap

Waterloo Station, boarding the 9:35 train to Hampton Court.