So we left home on Saturday, flew to Paris, took the train further to Lyon, walked all the way to our airbnb in an unspeakable heat and were finally able to drag our feet to the nearest café for mussels and beer.

In fact, we were so tired we didn’t even see the old town, we settled for the Presque-ille and met with my childhood friend Irina and her partner for drinks and dinner. They’d come from Grenoble for the occasion and it was a very joyous encounter. Last time we met must have been 4-5 years ago in Oslo, when they came to Norway to go hiking in the mountains. So we chatted and chatted and remembered silly stories from our childhood.

Yesterday we had breakfast at Paul, packed our stuff and left for Montpellier. We arrived at 16:30, sleepy and exhausted on account of the heat. Or maybe it was just me. 😉 My viking seems to be able to face the heat a little better, I’m simply melting away.

Lyon was bustling with people and was so incredibly hot that coming to Montpellier felt like coming home. Normal pace, not too crowded, just perfect!

So happy to have caught the holiday spirit on camera, this guy is having so much fun, don’t you think? Still Lyon. The next pictures are from Montpellier.

As I was saying, we fetched our keys and found our airbnb apartment, after walking with our carry ons from the train station- I know, we’re crazy like that! I always want to take a cab and he always votes against it. 😉 We live in an area that gives the impression of being a bit shabby, without really being it, it’s just across the street from a decent neighborhood. But F was very worried. The first thing he checked was the escape plan, then started opening doors with locks he couldn’t close. I was so thirsty I could have drunk water from the toilet and so I was not a fan of his precautions at all. Besides, having grown up in Romania, you survive “in spite of things”, not “thanks to precautions”, so I was never used to putting the worst first. In the end, the lock closed itself and after a good portion of swearwords about the French way of doing things more complicated than they need to be, we were finally able to go out for a drink.

And that was only the beginning. After another meal of moules marinieres with French fries, I made the mistake of showing F the cat door from our balcony and the rest, you should have been here to see! We cannot leave the door open, there’ll be cats invading! No cats ever come in uninvited, I’d say! Here they do! And then we laughed. We laughed so hard I almost peed a little. And I ended up having it my way. The terrace door ajar, or else we’d be asphyxiated. And no cat invaded. 🙂

Today it’s been hot hot hot and on Wednesday they say it’ll be worse. 41 degrees! I don’t know what to say, except that we’ll probably be renting chairs and parasols and staying by the sea. Or by the ac.

Time to go out for dinner, pasta on the menu today! 😉 Hope you’re having a great holiday yourself!

xxx, Alina