Sometimes EV charging exigencies call for drastic measures. To McDonald’s France credit, every single piece of packaging on our tray was compostable or reusable, including the French fry container.

“I hope it’s ok that I checked with Myriam to see if we could go horseback riding in the morning,” said Lisa, as I came into the tiny house. Which is how we found ourselves on horseback yesterday, wending our way through mountain forests and meadows. I was atop Tina, a horse prone to breaking into a trot to catch up to Océane, our host. This was equal parts thrilling and terrifying (especially as I was riding English for the first time).

Having a partner who’s willing and eager to bilaterally yes& with me like this makes travel a delight.

Ok, so we’re not in the Alps per se, but rather in the Vercors Massif, a French Alps-adjacent range that is, nonetheless, spectacular. Yesterday we drove along roads labelled route vertigineuse to Grotte de Choranche. As we’d gone into a grotte—network of caves—earlier in the day, we skipped the tour; the view from the parking lot, however, was awe-inspiring. And the drive, especially when it started to rain, was, indeed, vertiginous.

Currently posted up in the Alps in a tiny home (it’s part of the Homnest network). We let the wind blow us where it might, and it blew us here. 

Our electric rental car, a BYD Atto 3 from China. €127 for three days, from Sixt.

Within a few blocks of our Lyon apartment: Couture Shop, where you can learn to sew, guided by a professional, and Bricole Social Club, an “associative and participatory DIY workshop” that suggests we “imagine the place as a huge Swiss army knife at the service of the inhabitants of the Guillotière district and beyond.”

Our time in Lyon is far too short: I can imagine happily visiting for weeks, if not living here for a time.

On buses in Lyon there are USB chargers in front of some seats. Very handy toward the end of a long day of travel, when battery is low and evening plans are still to be navigated.

Our home for two nights, found through an ami à ami connection by Lisa, using her estimable French skills, after the gîtes she’d found originally wasn’t available. Four floors, 2 metres wide. Delightful. And the kind of miraculous find that only appears when you open yourself up to wandering.