I won’t bury the lede… the heatwave broke last night! I was suffering at home when, all of a sudden, I could hear the wind pick up outside. Kristian was walking the dog and he texted me that the temperature was dropping. I rushed to open all of the windows (our new hobby) and the apartment turned into a giant wind tunnel. I had to prop open windows and doors to keep them from slamming shut and our clothes drying rack rolled all the way across the hallway into Lilian’s room.
Friends, it got so cool last night, I woke up under our duvet. It was glorious!
We’ve also had not one but two service calls for our A/C. It’s either a freon leak (according to the guys who came out on Friday evening) or a bad board (according to the guy who came out on Sunday). The guy who says it’s a bad board can come back on Wednesday, the guys who say they need an entire day to find the leak can come back on Sunday. At this point, I don’t know who or what to root for. I just hope our landlords kept both appointments.
(We’re supposed to get another heatwave in about a week).
(Please send cooling thoughts).
In the meantime, we’ve been discovering all of the local weekend cooling options. On Saturday, we rented a car to get out of the city. Don’t worry, the irony of renting a personal vehicle that burns fossil fuels in order to escape a heat wave is not lost on us.
Kristian wanted to check out the Grottes de la Balme (Caves of the Balme). We wanted to do some exploring, but mostly we wanted to get away from the daystar during the hottest part of the day. We booked a guided tour for 4pm, which left us a few hours to explore on the way there (I had morning plans).
We decided to stop at the Grand Parc de Miribel Jonage. Which was… ok. There are apparently some neat activities at the main swimming area, but we didn’t have a ton of time and parking was scarce (it turns out a lot of other people didn’t want to be in the city, go figure). We ended up at one of the smaller beaches at the Atoll. The water was giving reflecting pool (aka it was American Flag Green from all the algae) and I’d say that it was lukewarm at best. Of course, we went to Aix-Les-Bains a couple of weeks ago, and now I’m spoiled for water clarity and temperature. It was still refreshing to float around a bit.
The park is accessible via public transit and bike, so we’re going to try it out again. Hopefully, the water at the main beach is a little more clear.
The caves were billed as “so cold, you’ll need a light sweater” which I think was a bit of an exaggeration. But, they were nice and cool. We opted for a guided tour, which was a fun way to discover that my French vocabulary about rocks and geology could use some serious work. I just remind myself that it’s all good practice. I can neither confirm nor deny that I spend a decent amount of time these days smiling and nodding and going “well, at least this is good practice.”
There’s a chapel built into the entrance of the caves. I’m not entirely sure what the guide told us about it, but I think it’s the village church? If so, that’s pretty cool.
(This has been “Made up Facts about France with Hope).
This one I know is true: the caves are home to several species of bats. Here’s your fun vocab word of the day: the French word for bat is “chauve-souris,” which literally translates to “bald mouse.” The bats are mostly elsewhere during the summer, but we did see a few little guys flying around.
Just inside the entrance is an enormous cavern (it’s several stories tall). There are lots of little paths that branch out from it. We spent over an hour wandering around the branches. My favorite was the eerie indoor river. They used to take people on guided tours through it. Which went about as well as you’re imagining. About a hundred years ago, one of the boats in a flotilla capsized and almost everybody drowned.
This is why friends don’t let friends go boating in old-timey skirts.
The sole survivor was a recent bridegroom. Which is why the nearby calcium formation is named something like “the wedding dress.”
I know humans are primed for pattern recognition, but that one is pretty good. What can I say? I love some creepy cave lore.
There is also cave lore about Louis Mandrin, a French smuggler/highwayman. He is often referred to as the “French Robin Hood.”Except, instead of robbing the rich to give to the poor, Mandrin sold goods on the cheap because he didn’t pay taxes on them. Legend has it that he hid treasure in the caves, but it’s just that… legend.
We drove back to Lyon with just enough time to meet some friends for dinner. We met up at a local Ethiopian restaurant which wasn’t air-conditioned, but which was delicious. A lot of the food here gets Frenchified (how could it not?), but there was some actual spice to our dinner. Look at that jalapeño! And I’m happy to report that there was zero béchamel added.
(The “tacos” here all have béchamel in them).
We were all so stuffed, we decided to walk back to our neighborhood. Besides, it was turning into a slightly less awful night. In other words, it was no longer triple digit heat after the sun set.
There was a festival this weekend to celebrate the two local rivers. We stopped by to see the performance celebrating a giant dragon statue. It was pretty damn cool. There were fireworks, fire dancers, LED costumes, sway poles, acrobatics, a cyr wheel, and a pole dancer. And the finale? A lyra performer who soared in a hoop that was all lit up with LEDs.
It was almost enough to make a person forget that they’re slowly melting.
We were all the way in the back, so I wasn’t able to get a very video. You’ll just have to trust me that it was super cool.
New goal unlocked: make friends with the troop of fire dancing LED-clad circus performers. Convince them to let me be part of their spectacles. Soar in a light-up Lyra surrounded by fireworks. It’s good to have dreams, right?
It’s cooler outside today than it was in our apartment all last week. Everyone please continue to think cooling thoughts for us!
