I am determined not to spend every weekend here at the house playing Wii or watching Slingbox. That’s not to say I don’t like both; I do rather a lot.
But here’s the thing. A year from now we could be getting ready to move… home or elsewhere. I don’t want this stint to come to an end and to say gee… I’m a pro at Wii bowling but never saw Provence or the Cote d’Azur. It’s really bizarre. A few months ago we were still among the newer people. Then we hit our 18 month mark. Now we’re creeping up on 2 years and once you get to 3 all anyone asks you about is when you’re leaving and where you’re going. One day you’re trying to get used to how to order bread at the bakery; the next day you’re consumed with making sure you go where you want to from here.
So Saturday arrived and I’d come up with a short list of places to go. First was a summer sled run. But when we looked it up online it looked far too serious for Kaitlyn, even if she had met the height requirement. You ride part of the Olympic bobsled track from 1968. Alone. Not really a good activity for a little kid.
Next on the list was a giant display of garden railways. Bill’s been wanting to go since we got here and one of our French teachers told us about it. Kaitlyn turned up her nose. Now, we could have dragged her there anyway and hoped for the best… but we didn’t hold out any hope that it would be a successful plan. Bill had zero interest in the castle I’d found. And neither of us felt much like fighting crowds at any of the local lakes.
Tired of me grumping around the house, Bill printed out information about the zoo in Lyon’s version of Central Park. He made a couple of jelly sandwiches for the car ride, loaded them and us in the car and off we went.
Lyon isn’t that far away but we’ve only been a couple of times… and at that really only for the Toys R Us. It’s supposed to be the gastronomic capital of France. But this trip wouldn’t be to explore any cafes and certainly not to try our luck at a restaurant. No, this was just for the zoo. Honestly, I have zero interest in yet another zoo… especially one known for, well, nothing. But I was not in any position to really argue it. So I shut up and got in the car.
Naturally, the parking garage was on the opposite side of the park from the zoo. But that’s ok, the walk would do us some good. Naturally, I didn’t wear shoes that keep tiny pebbles out and who’d have guessed that all the paths in the zoo are covered with tiny gravel. But I wasn’t going to say a word. Not a peep out of me and my feet.
We walked past a playground and convinced Kaitlyn we’d return after seeing the animals. Then we passed a small pool filled with kid-size motor boats. We stopped and let her drive one. 
She thought it was ok; I think she’d have liked it more if the smaller kid hadn’t kept bumping into her (and everyone else). Than we passed the little race track with cars and motorcycles for little kids. Kaitlyn hopped on a pink motorcycle there. The guy asked us if she’d done this before and I said no, but before he could finish explaining it to her she hit the gas and was off. That she really loved.
The zoo was not at all what I expected. It isn’t a separate thing. It’s in the middle of the park. One minute you’re at the playground, the next you’re staring at a lemur. There were some animals I don’t think I’ve seen before… varieties of lemurs and teeeeny tiny monkeys. But none of the displays seemed very big and definitely seemed like something the humane society would freak out about at home. The lions and tigers had a bit more room, but they didn’t seem so very separated from the people. There was one area that looked like a flock of ducks had assumed squatters rights. Bill figured that was just where the zoo kept the tigers’ next meal.
Kaitlyn became obsessed with having a stuffed snake. We had to skip the elephants in order to work our way back to the stand where she’d seen the must-have toy. Since we didn’t pay anything to get into the zoo, it didn’t seem so bad to pay for the snake. Which she named princesssssss (yes, with the hissing sound) and happily wore around her neck like a scarf.
I held princesssssss while Kaitlyn climbed and jumped on the playground. She was having a ball until she announced she had to go to the bathroom. We walked toward what we assumed would be it and she said why can’t I just go in the grass? Sometimes, she’s so French. Then at the bathrooms came the next dilemma…. they were nothing but holes in the ground with porcelain foot spots. Nice. Difficult. Especially for a little girl wearing a stuffed snake around her neck and tights on her legs. (Yes, it was about 80 degrees and she insisted on wearing tights.) With visions of the time she peed like a bum on the train platform in Barcelona in our heads, we were about to entirely disrobe her when Bill peered inside the separate handicapped bathroom. Lo and behold… it had a regular toilet. No light, but at least a toilet. Seemed like a fair trade.
All in all it was a good day. But my goal for this week is to come up with some sort of box of day trips… pull one out that’s where we go. Leave it to chance. Or not…