Weekend in Lyon/Smoking Ban

A few weekends ago was my friend Mike Davies' birthday, so eleven of us met up in Lyon to celebrate. We stayed in the hostel on the hill where the Fourviere church is which gives a really nice view of Lyon and you can just walk down and your in the old part of the city with all of the bouchon restaurants. After we ate we thought we were going out dancing, possibly on a boat club on one of the rivers, but we ended up at a jazz club till 4am. The next day I went off on my own as the others headed back so I could get to know the city better before Kathy comes. I went uphill to Fourviere past some Roman ruins, down millions of mini stairs that make your legs want to skip them to Vieux Lyon and through an art market, bought apples and quenelles from the market, and then headed off to the Croix Rousse past the Place Terraux.

On Thursday was part 1 of the smoking ban in France, which forbids smoke in schools, buisnesses, and government offices (part 2 next January forbids it in bars and restaurants). It was a lot less dramaticism than I thought it would be; now the smoking room in the teacher's lounge is empty and there are cogarette butts littering the ground just outside the school gates. I think what's hard about it for people is that its their socializing activity; they all meet to fume une clope before heading off to lunch or to class. Since kids can legally smoke at 16 here I don't think it will really change the number of people who start smoking.