A Walk in the Park

Bonjour Mes Amies,

The park in question is the Tete d'Or, a very large and beautiful place, where I spent happy hours wandering in nature.  Lyon is a large city and has a metro, trams, and busses, but I prefer walking, and the city is very walkable and is flat on my side of the Rhone.
Google Maps gave me some fluky directions though.   Fortunately the park was easy to find anyway, and I did not get lost this time either going or coming. I just needed to be careful to come out the same gate I went in.  My way took me through an older and posher part of town with a lot of big handsome houses that need a staff to maintain.  I'm guessing most of them have been divided into flats.
The park is lush with emerald lawns and a lot of trees.  There's a big lake, smaller ponds and several fountains.  The trees sport various shades of green and different shapes and textures to the trunks and leaves.
In the middle is a wild animal park called the African Plain that visitors can stroll through for free.  The animals are not in cages and gave been given a natural habitat as far as possible in France. I did not see all the animals.  The zebras and crocodiles eluded me, but I saw the giraffes, the bat tailed fox, a cute little rat job I can't remember the name of, ostriches, and various monkeys.  Ahem.  Some of those monkeys were New World monkeys and not from Africa at all.
There are cafes, too, and an amusement park that was closed.  I walked around a lot and I think I saw most of it, but I know I did not cover all the park.  The last thing I visited was the lovely rose garden, which had a huge variety all in bloom this time of year and splashing fountains.
I went to the grocery store this morning, but dinner tonight is just me polishing off the chicken and potatoes, but at the store I got fixin's for Kir Royale because what's Birthday Week in France without an aperitif.  Here's how to do it.  Put a little Cream de Cassis (That's black current liquor) say about a teaspoon full depending on the size of your glass.  Pour in some sparking wine because that's what makes in "Royale," and then top off with sparking water.  If you don't have or don't like sparkling wine make a regular kir the same with with dry white wine. Relax, sip, and enjoy.
My Birthday Week Treat for the Day is tartlette citron--a little lemon pie with a thick creamy filling.  Very sweet and lemony, too.  Yum!
A demain