Shenanigans Crossing Borders

Ever hear an ass bray?

No, not JP or his bad jokes.

I mean, a real donkey, braying at full blast, in the mountains of France, at 7 in the morning?

No?

Let me tell you, it’s amazing. It is like nothing you’ve ever heard before.

One summer JP lived across the street from a zoo and could hear them feeding the lions in the morning. This had nothing on that.

Holy wow are they loud.

Like Indy-500-practicing-for-carburetion-day loud (this might only be something someone who grew up close enough to the track would understand).

The beautiful mountain top town of Courzieu is so damn beautiful!

We originally were planning to leave on Thursday and hightail it Barcelona on Thursday, but we decided to stay in Lyon for Shabbat (a larger Jewish population here v. in Barcelona). So we booked a weekend in the part of Lyon known as Villeurbanne (Urban village?)

Everyone packed up, JP worked the morning (Fridays are US hours), and at noon we left the mountain top (sad panda face) and drove into town.

It’s about 45 minutes into Lyon, and en route we stopped at Hyper Cacher to stock up.

This was our first kosher stop since Berlin, and it was really nice to load up on wine, some deli meat, and chicken.

Strangely enough, the vegan/vegetarian diet is ok, but once in a while it’s nice to eat a salami!

The meat here is fantastic! They even have a version like peperoni, and something else that’s really, really red. I think some of this actually comes in from Strasbourg, so that’ll be a town we visit another time.

JP made sure to call the bank before we checked out!

At the apartment, we discovered some less-than-pleasant features (bathroom ceiling had a hole in it that was taped over, but falling down), and a lack of amenities (dish soap, sponges, hand towels). Needless to say, we got in, unloaded and unpacked

Elyce is amazing and cleaned a lot of the kitchen to make it usable, then cooked a bunch of food while JP finished the workday. Sadly the girls weren’t quite as helpful as they could’ve been.

For Shabbat we opted to not go to Friday night services, leaving that for Saturday morning.

This shabbat was probably the most sincere, lovable, and incredible Shabbat we’ve had yet!

We managed to get out and to the synagogue relatively early.

Security checked our bags, and then JP stayed downstairs while Elyce and the girls went upstairs.

Davening was heavily in the sephardic tradition, and today was a Bar Mitzvah, so we got to experience it. And this shul was packed!

Unlike our previous synagogue visits, this one was brimming with families, energy, excitement. The rabbi gave a speech, the bar mitzvah boy gave a speech, and then a special rabbi from another synagoge gave another speech. Shame it was all in French and we didn’t understand a lick of anything. But it was still awesome!

After services, there was a lovely kiddush with deli meat, herring, pickles, sandwiches, sushi, tuna thingies, egg thingies, sodas, whiskies, spiked lemonade, and even vodka with redbull. JP poured a drink for a random stranger, talked at length with the rabbi, and helped bring food out for Elyce (who was a bit overwhelmed by this all) and Avital (who was reacting to the sesame in the air).

After leaving the synagogue, we stopped nearby in a large plaza to let the girls run around and let off some steam. The Jawas immediately started growing a group of new friends while playing tag, and though nobody understood each other, it was fun to watch children being children.

About 15 minutes into sitting in the sunlight and recharding our Sabbath batteries, a family of 5 from shul walking by said hello and Shabbat Shalom (friendly greetings on the Sabbath). 2 minutes later, the husband came back and asked if we had lunch plans.

We didn’t

So they invited us back to their home

JP stopped to walk the dogs and feed them while Elyce and the jawas went back with the wife and other children.

Getting back to their apartment, we helped setup an impromptu meal, and spent the rest of the day learning about each other, their lives, children, families, etc.

This was, by far, the most hospitable shabbat we’ve ever had!

Near the end of Shabbat, we all went back to another synagogue where we had afternoon prayers, then a food break (the 3rd meal), and then the evening prayers.

We then went back to our new friends’ home, collected everyone, and then bid each other farewell after exchanging contact information and taking photos. We will absolutely stay in touch and come back! And they are certainly welcome to visit us anytime in Chicago!

Sorry, didn’t ask permission to post the adults faces.

Back at the apartment, we prepped for our departure. We had a long drive and we didn’t want to stay in this apartment any longer than necessary.

Shavua tov!