We left Spain this morning at 7:00am. It was ridiculous to leave so early, but when planning our itinerary, it was the best time to have as short a layover as possible. Had we left later, we would have had to hang around the Barcelona airport for several hours, and who wants to be stuck in the airport with kids? Not I. So we flew from Malaga to Barcelona, had about an hour to wait, and then went on to Lyon. The Barcelona airport had play equipment for the kids which made our brief time there rather nice. While Kent and I sat in the sun streaming through the windows, the children played pirate or something. I think US airports should invest in something similar. Our two flights were short, the children played on their kindles, and we were in Lyon by 11:00am.
Agnes and Jean-Marc met us at the airport. It has been seven years since I have seen Agnes, and I will admit, I was overjoyed to see her. She holds a special place in my heart, and I was so glad that we made Lyon part of our trip. Agnes' health hasn't been great. She underwent chemotherapy for breast cancer four years ago, but she is continues to suffer side effects from the treatment. In early winter I was worried she was going to die and I wouldn't have seen her again. I know that happens, but I am certainly happy that we met again.
We had a nice drive into Lyon. Agnes and Jean-Marc live in a very posh flat (the whole 8th floor of their apartment building) near the center of Lyon, not too far from where I lived when I served there. We had a lovely lunch and then Jean-Marc and Agnes left us for several hours while they went to see someone about purchasing a piece of property in the country. They are going to sell their flat and build a house, and their appointment to sign papers just happened to fall on the afternoon we arrived. While they were gone, we had a quiet afternoon reading and playing on the kindles. It had been rainy, and when it cleared up we might have gone for a walk, but we didn't have a key nor a code to get back into the building or the apartment, so we stayed put. Fortunately, no one, including Kent, had high expectations about what to do in Lyon, so everyone was happy.
In the evening, Agnes and I went to the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Lyon for a concert. There was a string quartet playing in the sculpture gallery. The sculpture gallery is really my favorite part of the museum and I remember it from my time in Lyon. They have some really spectacular pieces of sculpture, and sitting and listening to the music in that setting was really terrific. Agnes and I talked and talked on the way and as we waited, and then as we walked around afterwards. Lyon is a beautiful city, and it was lovely lit at night. It was wonderful to be with Agnes again. I have missed her. And it was fun to walk streets I walked down twenty-two years ago. We went by my apartment building. Very little looked familiar, but the city itself felt familiar, and being with Agnes better than familiar.
The quartet and the crowd.
A particularly lovely sculpture.
More crowd.
Agnes and me.
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