It was rather windy in Lyon on Saturday evening, blowing enough to buffet us on the walk to the metro station, and enough to spoil the spectacle of the match (viewed through generously tinted spectacles, anyway), which OL eventually won comfortably enough, even if they had to rely on a slightly bizarre injury time own-goal to confirm it. However, the stormy weather was obviously nowhere near as violent as it was further west. La tempête Xynthia is being blamed for 50 deaths, the worse tally in France for 30 years, most of them drownings as the winds combined with a high tide to flood coastal areas.
When we got home from the match I was jubilant to discover that the pure football red and white angels had at last slain the anti-footballing beasts in their own Potteries home. It all turned rather sour later though, with the news of another horribly broken leg. St Arsène is right to cry foul - three in less than four years is a direct consequence of the over-physical approach that most inferior teams take in order to 'stop Arsenal playing', and of the fact that such an ethos is condoned, nay applauded, by most of the English media. I might also suggest that causing two broken legs in less than three years is no coincidence for the aggressor in question either...
The wind still blew but the skies cleared yesterday. The warm sunshine was almost spring-like as we took advantage with a short stroll along the river. The variable weather was one of the reasons we decided to abandon a proposed weekend in the mountains. Having done no skiing whatsoever this year, it was a hard decision, swung in the end by the fact that I came down with a cold. Another first for life in Lyon - I claim it's the first time I've caught a cold in France. May it be the last for at least another eight years...
Instead of skiing, we settled for a weekend of recuperation (ie lazing around) on my part, and a whirl of cleaning and cooking de la part de la bienheureuse. Cauliflower soup, apple and blackcurrant crumble, tiramisu and an almost tidy bedroom to look forward to for the remainder of the week...
