Ce Tour Toujours

Things have been changing at the old homestead. My roommate Marie moves out today and has spent the last few days packing up and transferring all of her stuff to her new apartment. I'm suddenly realizing how much of what I use in the apartment belongs to her! It's look quite a bit different these days, partly because of that and partly because on Sunday, my landlady removed the greater part of the furniture in my bedroom. That was fun.

I got an email from her in the morning, saying that her husband and son would be coming sometime that day to pick up my bureau (desk and bookcase unit) and the two green armchairs (one of which was in my room and other in the living room). Just to put this in perspective, the only other pieces of furniture in my room are my bed and my dresser. This means that everything I own, except my clothing, was in or on that bureau. Everything. Fuming, I took everything off and put it on the floor and then I went out to recover from my bad mood. When I got home, they had come and gone.

I've rearranged everything and found a new place for my stuff but my room looks very empty. It's not the worst thing to ever happen to me of course but it was very distressing. I was angry at my landlady for offering no explanation, giving me no warning and, to a certain extent, violating my privacy. I had really begun to feel the security of 'home' in that room and to have it completely disrupted like that made me angry and upset. Given that I leave for good in six weeks though, there's no point in carrying on about it or causing a fuss.

In more cheerful news, I have been watching live Tour de France coverage every afternoon (since Saturday when it started). It's harder to follow in French (obviously) but I've got enough practice understanding what's going on that I can manage without completely understanding the commentary. I've got plans to see two stages - the start of the stage in Chambéry on July 14 (Bastille Day) and the finish in Paris on July 25. There are two Canadian riders in the race this year, Ryder Hesjedal from Victoria and Michael Barry from Toronto, so I even have Canucks to cheer for. It's been a very exciting opening to the Tour and gives me a good reason to hide from the midday heat every afternoon.

Because it has been HOT. It has been between 25 and 35 C every single day since I returned from England. I am from Vancouver. I am not used to sustained ridiculous temperatures like this. Thankfully, through strategic use of blinds and open windows, we can keep the apartment pretty cool. This heat has one redeeming factor, however. It is making me much more confident about my plans to be in Turkey in early September. It is actually hotter in Lyon right now than in Istanbul so I think I'll be able to manage it when I go.

I have no pictures this post so I'll leave you with an incredibly bad music video, but one that is entirely about Lyon. Go figure. Benjamin Biolay's "Lyon Presqu'île"