Time in Lyon

There exists a strange phenomenon in the Lyon side of France in regards to time.  A meeting that is supposed to start at 2pm starts around 2:30pm and that meeting that should be one hour goes for about two hours.

The strange occurence spreads into the restaurants or meal times between the family.  That meal that usually lasts about one hour in the states grows, easily, into a 3 hour drinking and eating frenzy in which, at the end, you forget your name, you feel like you are about to explode or you do something stupid and drink that digestif that carries out for a whole nother hour.

The idea of being en retard is just simply a way of life, usually when I plan to meet someone and I say a time, I imagine myself adding 15 minutes to my *always on time* self in order to arrive at the same time.  Living with a true Lyonnais I am more than aware that it is more than an anomaly, it's simply a way of being.

The most annoying to my American ideals is when it comes time to choose a restaurant to eat at.  We wander around the street, talking, saying "Maybe here?  Here?".  By the time we do eat I am starving, my stomach hurts, my legs hurt and I chug down my aperitif to try and get some sustenance in my system.

So, in Lyon, always prepare for the time.

a+