Added a reading chair to my apartment

After about two weeks here, my back was killing me from laying on the bed/couch to read.  I either read books downloaded to my phone or journal articles.  But I could never get in a comfortable position on the couch and the desk chair does not recline.  What I miss is my nice, comfy, leather recliner.  I could easily sit, lean back, put my feet up and read.  Of course it is also easy to fall asleep, especially when reading the technical papers.

I decided I needed a better chair for reading here in France.  I tried to find used furniture stores here in Lyon, but could only find one and it had a sign saying it would close in January.  It seems like with nearly a million people there would be places to trade-in furniture.  I needed a nice secondhand shop like the one my aunt created up in Sandpoint Idaho.  They have donations of all kinds and some furniture.  I guess if I could read French better I would  be able to find something.

No problem.  It seems that everyone here shops at IKEA for furniture.  In fact, all of the furniture in my apartment is from IKEA, including the kitchen area and bathroom sink.  I have never been to one, although there is one in south Denver, but there is one just a short walk from a stop along Tram 2.  So, off I went.  IKEA is in a big retail area with a Home Depot type store at one end and IKEA at the other.

In between, there are other clothing and electronics stores, as well as a small mall and a Carrefour, which is a Walmart equivalent.  Carrefour has everything from cameras and computers to toilet paper and laundry soap.  They also have food of every kind, including a butcher and fish market in the store.

I went to IKEA on a Thursday afternoon because I was told it gets really busy on Saturday.  There were only a couple of people around as I entered. It was love at first sight.

There are a million things to buy at decent prices.  And they make sure that you look at it all.  The stores are set up so you wander through the store in a single direction.  It felt a little like a Disneyland river ride where you travel a long way in very little space with hairpin turns taking you back and forth in a tight maze.  I found the chairs at the beginning of the river cruise and the one I liked was on sale.  Regularly 70 euro, it was only 39 euro if you got the white seat pad.  The chair is nice because you can lean back and read in comfort, but it also rocks a little bit.

Having found what I wanted, I wandered on down the river and found all kinds of exciting things.  When I came in I had decided that I was not going to buy anything, so I did not grab a cart or bag at the entrance.  Good thing.  I started picking up items and would have bought more, but my hands quickly became full.  I got out spending only 30 euro.

I also ate lunch at the cafeteria.  They have all kinds of food : salads, entrees, desserts and main courses.   They are known for their Swedish meatballs, so I decided to get that. A nice plate of 15 meatballs with two sides, a dessert, and a drink were only 8 euro, about half the cost of a meal in a restaurant.  I don't know how much has been in the news in the US, but they are investigating how horse meat was found in some frozen lasagna here in France.  A few days later I read they had also found some in meatballs from IKEA.  Don't know if the ones I ate had some, but they sure were tasty.

Now the only problem was getting the chair from the store and back to my apartment.  I can take a bus C22 to catch the Tram 2 to take me to IKEA. Or I can take the Metro line B to Line D out to catch the Tram.  Either way it is at least one transfer.  The chair comes unassembled, but it is still a large box and I needed to also get the chair pad.  I thought I would use my rolling suitcase to cart the stuff, but the chair was too large to fit inside.  I needed to lash it to the outside.

On Saturday I grabbed my suitcase and headed back to IKEA.  I was told that it is much more crowded, but I did not realize how much more crowded it would be. Most of the stores in France are only open Saturday and not Sunday.  When I was here before, I strolled in and wandered with out anyone else around.  Today was totally different.  Millions of people must have been here today.  I joined the throng of people entering the building.

Once inside I was immediately stopped as security walked up to me, putting his hand out and rapidly speaking to me wouldn't let me pass.  I told him I didn't understand and asked if he spoke English, which he replied in the negative.  He pointed to my suitcase and I immediately understood, he needed to check the bag.

Today the isles are packed with people, strollers, carts, kids running in and out of the people.  You are a fish in a large school and can only keep going at the speed of the fish ahead of you, which is at a snail's pace.  The chairs are displayed near the front, but of course, you pick up the boxes in the warehouse at the end of the river as you reach the sea of cashiers.

As I wandered along, I found yet a couple more items to add to my load.  Finally, I reached the warehouse, found the boxes, and lashed the box and the pad to my suitcase and went to stand in line.

They have not figured out how to use a queuing system like a bank uses, so you stand in line and if there is a problem you just sit there and wait.  That is what I did.  It took about 20 minutes from the time I entered a line until I finished paying.  Then for the fun part, getting on the tram and the bus.

Luckily the store is near the end of the tram line and the tram was not very full when I got on.  I could maneuver the bulky package into an out of the way place.  As the tram passed one of the many universities in Lyon, it became more and more crowded.  As we approached the stop where I needed to get off, the tram was packed.  I had to knock over people to get my three foot wide package out of the door.  A short walk to the waiting bus and I loaded it into the wheelchair location with ease.  The nice thing about the bus is that it drops me off 50 feet from the door to my apartment.  It takes twice as long as catching the metro, but it was much easier than hauling the cart down to the subway.  Thirty minutes later I was at the door of the apartment.

Now I had a box of parts and a chair pad.  It took me about an hour to assemble the chair and now I can sit and read in comfort.