Swimming and Aqua Activities for adults, children and babies 379 rue Jean-Marie Arnion, 69380 Dommartin Tel: 06 11 88 26 50
What's On in Lyon?
Ahmad Jamal Jazz The jazz player Ahmad Jamal is playing the piano on 29 April, 8.30 p.m., at Théâtre de Vénissieux, 8 Boulevard Laurent Gerin. For all the lovers of jazz music.
Artist Ben The Modern Art Museum of Lyon presents Ben Vautier's main artworks from March 3 to July 11, quai Charles de Gaulle
69006 Lyon, 04 72 69 17 17.
Concerts Alpha Blondy, the king of reggae, 2 April- 8.00 p.m, at Espace Double Mixte, 19 rue Gaston Berger, 69001, Villeurbanne.
Tokio Hotel, rock pop indie, 18 March, Halle Tony Garnier, 69007, Lyon.
Medrano Circus Entertaining shows for children will take place at Medrano Circus near Perrache railway station.
for a cultural exchange between the French and the Japanese communities.
City Guide to Lyon, France an in-depth Lyon city guide featuring information about Lyon tourist attractions, sightseeing, where to stay, what to eat, and other useful Lyon, France travel tips.
Contact Expats Contact expats worldwide through their network
for people choosing a new life in a foreign country
Dreamkaravan This blog is a very original travel in the world of beauty and wonder by a very talented local writer
Expat.org Portail de la mobilité internationale et de l'expatriation
Lucie Aubrac (1912-2007) was one of the most famous woman who played a very important role in the French Resistance during the Second World War in Lyon.
With her husband Raymond Aubrac she joined the Libération-Sud resistant group in Lyonand then ran the underground paper Libération in 1941.
Her husband was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and sent with the famous French resistant Jean Moulin to the Montluc prison located in Lyon.
Lucie Aubrac managed to convince Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo’s chief, to allow Raymond Aubrac, the father of her child, to get married with her before he was executed. During his transportation to the German command, the French resistants managed to release him with the 13 other members of the French Resistance. The Aubrac left for London and their daughter became De Gaulle’s goddaughter.
As a history teacher, Lucie Aubrac was always active in the campaign for the human rights. The film Lucie Aubrac, released in 1997, shows her husband’s escape and her role in the French resistance in Lyon. Her role was played by the very popular actress Carole Bouquet.
The French agricultural industry is in danger, although it is considered as one of the best in Europe. What about the Rhone-Alps region?
France is the leading country of European agriculture and the second exporter in the world after the United States. French agriculture is based on farms and produces beef, wine, poultry and cereals, but also milk and sugar beet with Germany.
Contrary to most countries, France has implemented a controlled property market since 1958 as land and rural properties cannot be purchased freely. This structure control ensures that the young farmers can find properties more easily or enlarge their agricultural surface areas, but it also supports the operations of agriculturists with several jobs.
Agriculture covers 51 % of the total surface area in France and 60 % farms produce milk, beef, wine and major crops. The land prices go from over 6000 €/ha in the South and less than 3000 €/ha in the central regions of France.
To become a professional farmer, the candidates for installation grants must obtain the agricultural skill qualifications, especially technical knowledge, economic and management skills.
The French agriculture has always played a very important role in France’s economics as its contribution to GDP is one and a half times that of the car industry and that of the food industries.
One French person in four lives in the countryside and the average size of the professional farms is 70 ha.
The Rhone-Alps region is the 10th agricultural area in Europe and the second largest one in France. 51 % of the professional farms are located in the mountain regions, which represents a real economic advantage for the touristic activities. The agricultural farms in the region produce beef, pork meats, cheese and wine. However, the region’s production is very popular for its diversity and quality as the average size of the farms is smaller than in the other French regions.
In addition, the farmers produce the local products that are part of the culinary and gastronomic traditions, especially the AOC wines and cheeses.
The number of agricultural areas decreases whereas the urban areas are developing in the Rhone region. But the Savoie, the Haute-Savoie and the Drome regions have large agricultural farms that offer a large selection of local and high-quality products.
Today, the French agricultural industry faces an incredible crisis. The milk producers were on strike in Lyon on January 17 as the URCVL, the organization in charge of collecting and selling the milk production in the Rhone-Alps and the Haute-Loire regions cannot cope with the financial crisis anymore. The milk production has been in danger in the European Union as the equality of the farmers between the European members does not exist. Of course, the milk production quotas should be reduced as long as the dairy market is not fully stabilized in order to balance out supply and demand.
Yet, the prices the milk producers are paid for their produce do not cover the costs. The local milk producers want a base price system and a monitoring agency in Europe.
With over 1, 000 exhibitors and 3,500 animals exhibited in Paris, the annual agricultural fair or the “largest farm in France” presented the French local products and animals of all the French regions, despite the distress of the French farmers. The visitors could see all the diversity of the French agricultural traditions and taste some of the best local products.
A lot of the Lyonnais people are convinced that the agricultural industry of the Rhône-Alps region highly contributes to the economic development of their region and has a direct impact on tourism. More and more local farmers try to produce biological products and organize visits on their farms to adapt to the tourists’ expectations, who do not want to be merely consumers anymore.
He is a highly controversial artist who thinks that signing and writing slogans on artworks contributes to the art creation. However, some criticize what they consider to be his lack of respect for the arts standards. They see his work as sensationalism. French local magazine Lyon Capitale calls into question the controversial artist : can we consider Ben as a real artist?. The magazine denounces the selection of Ben in the program of the Modern Art Musem of Lyon. The exhibition could be a way of presenting a highly popular exhibition more money-making as it is more adapted to the public’ expectations.
« le Musée d’art contemporain […] programme une grosse expo populaire, qui “fera de la billetterie”, histoire de remplir un peu les caisses et de programmer le reste du temps des choses plus confidentielles… »
True, Ben Vautier is a very original artist who does not seem to care about the others’ opinion about his art.His official site looks like an incredible bric-à-brac where you have to pick up what you like best.
Whether you like him or not, you know his art since it is part of our everyday life. We can see his slogans and his round writing on many products such as diaries and socks.
Modern art is often seen as a popular art that is not real art. Many modern artists use basic materials to make their artworks. They can use tires or matches to invent a new creation and communicate their vision of the world. Of course, as it is always the case with the modern art, many people do not understand their interpretation of the world and do not consider them as real artists.
Modern art certainly needs more time to be accepted.
However, we should not despise popular art and think only elitist art can be real art. It is no exaggeration to say that art should be understood and appreciated by more and more people since real art is communication.
InterNationsLyon get-together was a real success on February 25th. About 15 nationalities and 60 members took part in the event at the Hilton Lyon Hotel where the staff of the bar was very friendly.
As the Lyon Community is getting bigger, the members of the Inter Nations network are eager to meet every month and welcome the newcomers in a recreational atmosphere. Inter Nationsis an international online community of expatriates who exchange information on expat-specific topics in the World forum or in their town community.
Many members of the Lyon community think it is very important to share their ideas and tips or advice with friends or business contacts on the Internet, but also meet them in fashioned and cosy locations in Lyon. Internations plays a key role as it enables its members to have a first contact, then meet regularly and strengthen their friendship or partnership.
Of course, we can expect the members to be even more next month at the Inter NationsLyon get-together.
The adjective LYONNAIS or its feminine equivalent « lyonnaise » is usually used in expressions that refer to the local information about Lyon and its local people.
The people living in Lyon are called the “Lyonnais”: les “Lyonnais” et les “Lyonnaises”.
In the same way “Parisien” means the people living in Paris and the Londoners or “Londonniens” means the people living in London.
In addition, “Lyonnais” is also included in other expressions that mainly deal with the French gastronomy, sport and banks.
The “Bouchons Lyonnais” are very traditional restaurants in Lyon where you can eat the most famous dishes “à la lyonnaise” like the “andouillette lyonnaise”. The dishes are served in the local style with sauces.
The Crédit Lyonnais is a historic bank that opened in Lyon in 1863 before it was nationalized in 1945 and went bankruptcy in 1993. Today, it is known as LCL.
The international press often talks about the OL or the Olympique Lyonnais or Olympique Lyon, a French football club founded in 1950 in Lyon. They usually play their home-matches at the Gerland stadium (stade de Gerland) that can welcome 41, 044 supporters. The club has already won 4 Coupe de Francetitles and a record seven Trophée des Champions. The club’s nickname, Les Gones, means the kids in the local dialect. The club’s home colors are white, red and blue.
The club is going to change stadium and play in the new 60, 000-seat stadium located in Décines-Charpieu in the suburb of Lyon.
More and more Russians love Lyon and would like to visit our wonderful city. Some of them can speak English or even French.
However, only a few tourist guides are published in Russian. The Russians often need interpreters and translators to visit Europe and France.
Lyon, the second largest city in France should make some effort to integrate the Russians people and help them find information, tips and advice more easily.
Fortunately, a few Russians like Tatiana Klimova who has been living in France for about 5 years, try to share their passions for France with the Russians. She has been writing many interesting articles and blogs in her French and Russian blog of gitane " Veni, Vidi, Vinci".
Here is one example that I have found very beautiful in French and in Russian.
True, the local people of Lyon should work together with the Russians and help them understand the French culture better.
In his brillant article entitled 500-year-old Nostradamus prophecies become first French book to be archived on Google, Graham Smith said, " A sixteenth century edition of predictions by Nostradamus has become the first book from France's vast archive of literature to be digitally preserved by Google.
The collection of prophecies is from a vault containing 500,000 classic French books stored at the Municipal Library of Lyon.
Nostradamus is best known for The Prophecies, the first edition of which appeared in 1555 and has rarely been out of print since his death.
France has a 750million euro (£650million) scheme in place to digitise its libraries and museums."
"... a group of French wine brokers were convicted of selling to E. & J. Gallo 3.57 million gallons of red wine from the Languedoc that it falsely called pinot noir but in fact was made from a much less expensive grape,Some French wine brokers were convicted...", reported Eric Asimov in the New York Times on February 19. Read the article
Lyon has always been considered as the city of art and creation. It all started when Lyon was the city of the silk industry in the 16th century. From the past to the present, Lyon has been associated with the luxury products of jewelry, textile, fashion, interiors and design that highly contributed to the international popularity of the French how-to-do.
Today, many well-known French designers exhibit their creations in the world in order to show the exceptional inventiveness of French luxury. With the support of the New York Design Center, the Comité Bellecour (the directors of 5 major Lyonnais houses ) have promoted professional designers in the gastronomy, design, fashion and decoration sectors in America since 1997.
The dress designer Max Chaoul was one of the professional designers to participate in the exhibition in the New York Design Center. He exhibited his vibrant red “Nefertiti” Dress made of Lyonnais tulle, a very refined luxury material. Today, he is the president of the Village des Créateurs(Designers’ Village) as he wants to support the young creators of the region.
Located on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse area in Lyon, the Village des Créateurs ( Designers’ Village) helps promote 50 young local companies in the textile and fashion industry. The village gives them advice and personalized guidance in business strategy, legal and financial assistance as well as professional trainings.
The Village des Créateurs also contributes to the promotion of the designers’ projects in the different media by communicating about their creations in a monthly newsletter and a promotional website.
What is more, 10 resident companies of the Village des Créateurs have their own workshop in Passage Thiaffait, where they can either produce, exhibit or sell their creations such as the "Luminous objects" by Elsa Somano , BonChicBonChien by Céline Boulud who produces dogs' clothes and accessories, the Tube à Essai that is a workshop managed by the students of the Fashion University. They can participate in the promotional events that are organized in professional shows every year.
In January 2010 some design objects of the young companies of the Village des Créateurs were exhibited in Paris, such as modern jewellery by Laurence Oppermann, bedding for kids and adults by Sélène et Gaïa, ready-to-wear and lounge wear for kids. People could also buy some fashion objects on sale and meet the local designers in the show room of the Village des Créateurs.
“Perfectionism is obligatory. I want to encourage them with realism”, says President Max Chaoul as the Village des Créateurs wants to support the young creators’ inventiveness and professional skills in order to highlight the creative know-how of the fashion and textile industry of the Rhone-Alps region.
The lovers usually offer presents to their beloved for Saint Valentine’s Day. In France, people prefer traditional gifts that are associated with romantic love:
Flowers
A romantic menu in an exceptional restaurant
Romantic week-ends
Jewelry
Lingerie
Some may find a more original present like a Smartbox for a very romantic week-end in a very prestigious hotel in the Riviera or in Paris.
In Lyon, you can spend your Saint Valentine’s night in a very exceptional place and savor a gastronomic menu in the Orangerie de Sébastien restaurant in the Lacroix-Laval green park located in Marcy-l-Etoile.
Here is the Saint Valentine menu served on Saturday 13 February in the evening and on Sunday 14 February for the lunch and the dinner (45 €):
Amuse bouche
Appetizers
Foie gras mi-cuit au torchon, compotée de châtaignes
et confit d´oignons rouges petite salade mesclun
Half-cooked foie gras in a cloth, stewed chesnut and red onion preserve with mixed salad leaves
Magret de canard rôti, écrasé de pommes de terre Vitelottes,
pointes d´asperges sauce lie de vin au cassis Roasted duck breast fillet, mashed Vitelottes potatoes, asparagus tips with blackcurrant dregs
Fromage de Brie aux fruits secs,
méli-mélo de salade Brie cheese with dried fruit, a medley of fruits.
Duo mousse framboise et chocolat noir
Duet of rhaspberry and black chocolate mousse
L'Orangerie de Sébastien restaurant looks like a castle with a wonderful view over a French garden.
avenue de Lacroix-Laval, Marcy-l-Etoile: 04 78 87 45 95
A few expressions to help you to make a reservation
I'd like to make a reservation for tomorrow: je voudrais réserver pour demain
a table for two: une table pour deux combien coûte le menu de la Saint-Valentin: how much is the Saint-Valentine menu?
Valentine’s Day (la Saint Valentin) is a traditional day for the French who usually exchange Valentine’s cards and offer flowers or confectionery on February 14.
The name comes from the tradition of courtly love (l'amour courtois) in the High Middle Ages when the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer celebrated romantic love in his poems. Courtly love began in France as the traditional way of expressing true love though poems and songs since love could not be found in the marriages.
You may find examples of French love messages that are associated with the French culture, the French cuisine or Lyon city.
Send a French Valentine message associated or not with a specific French topic and order a unique message (see our conditions and prices) .
Now, here are a few words of love vocabulary in French:
to flirt: flirter avec to fall in love with: tomber amoureux de...
to be in love: être amoureux de... love at first sight: coup de foudre
a date: un rendez-vous
a boyfriend/ girlfriend: un petit-ami/ une petite-amie
an admirer: un admirateur I love you: Je t'aime to get engaged: se fiancer avec to get married: se marier a present: un cadeau
honeymoon: la lune de miel engagement ring: bague de fiançailles
wedding ring: une alliance flowers: des fleurs
perfume: du parfum
Swimming and Aqua Activities for adults, children and babies
A French Resistant Woman in Lyon
.
