In the end the ash blew away, the rail strike petered out, and whatever mode of transport chosen for the trans-Manche sortie at the weekend would have sufficed. So the TGV and Eurostar it was, and a very smooth trip it was too. The late afternoon kick-off allowed me to rise at my leisure on Saturday morning, leave home at ten for a TGV leaving Lyon half an hour later, and be in London in little more than five hours. My virgin Eurostar experience was thus pleasantly painless, and I arrived to find the Big Smoke bathing in pleasant spring sunshine. Via an interminable supermarket checkout queue in pursuit of vital supplies unobtainable in France (golden syrup), I reached the Marquess only twenty minutes late for the ritual pre-match rendezvous and pint with le grand chef JW.
Thence to the holy ground for a match which had all the air of a training game, apart from a storm of booing which greeted the appearance as substitute of a money-grubbing former player, and even that soon petered out as people gradually dozed off again in the evening sunshine. Bizarrely, for a team allegedly in pursuit of a Champions League place, the Sky Blues made virtually no attempt to win the game. As for the much blighted and maligned Gunners, well a draw was an improvement on the previous three games, and a clean sheet was a welcome bonus.
Afterwards I eventually dodged the crowds and queues and caught the tube to Turnpike Lane, where I was meeting the McBhoy and the Peace Bird for a curry at the Jashan. Very pleasant and tasty it was too, in the company of another friend of theirs. Thence back to chez-eux for my overnight billet of a futon mattress before I was up at 7.30 to make my way back to St Pancras, sharing the underground with apprehensive-looking marathon runners and reclaiming my Eurostar seat from a pair of batty old dears who were in the wrong carriage. "It's our first time, you know."
By 3pm I was being welcomed to a sunny Lyon warm enough for a summer's day by la bienheureuse, whose weekend sans mari was filled by wardrobe and window box purchases. Our brief joint weekend was completed by a stroll through the crowds along the rive gauche du Rhône, and a three course meal - reblochon soufflé, tuna and tomato main course and strawberry patisserie. Delicious fare, prepared as usual by my favourite chef.
