It’s vacation! Woohoo! A friend commented the other day that she likes how the French don’t go more than two weeks without a vacation. Well, it’s not necessarily true for ALL the French, but we are enjoying it nonetheless. So we are celebrating because we have a week free, followed by four days in the south of France (Nice, Marseilles, Monaco, etc.) with the school. And on top of that, day finally felt like spring! It was WONDERFUL!! Sadly I had to be stuck in the office, but on the way back to school I was enjoying the weather so much and had nothing to rush back to, and the sun was still shining brightly that I took the longest way possible back to campus.
Backing up a bit, last Sunday I got to see a new city in France! The school took a bus of whoever wanted to go to Lyon for the day for only 15 Euros, which is way cheaper than a train ticket would be, so Leah and I decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to see the city. Not only that, but one of our friends that we met in Barcelona who is from Dijon decided to meet us there as well with one of his friends.
The day began with an interesting start… Unlike the States, daylight savings for us began last Sunday, so we got many reminders to be sure to set our clocks forward and show up for the bus at the right time. We stayed up late watching a movie, lost an hour of sleep, and then I woke up and got all ready and went looking for Leah. I knocked on her door and no one answered; it was ten minutes before we had to leave so I quietly peeked in and there she was, in bed, dead to the world. “Leah! The bus is leaving in ten minutes! Throw on clothes girl and let’s go!” She woke up in a flustered and confused panic and floundered around the room bewildered and frantic before amazingly emerging five minutes later dressed and ready to go. Yea for girls who don’t have to spend an hour getting ready; I like my friends.
After our arrival, we wandered around the markets for a bit before meeting up with Gregori and his friend Sophia. And then commenced the search for the restaurant. This was more difficult than it sounds, due to several factors. First, Gregori insisted we eat at an authentic Lyonaise restaurant, but then this sometimes created a problem because the specialty of Lyon is sausage and other meats and Leah and I are vegetarian. Then came the availability of the restaurant, since it was lunch time, and then obviously the price factor. After a long and arduous search, we finally came to our destination, where we rested for a good 2 ½ hours or so. Nothing terribly exciting, I know, but sometimes this is how you experience the culture- eating the local cuisine, observing the people, and talking in the language with two locals, which was really good for Leah and I and we learned many useful phrases and slang throughout the day, which we impressed our friends with upon our return.
After our lengthy lunch, we wandered to the top of the hill where, on the way we found some Roman ruins, which was really cool. Following the ruins, at the top of the hill, was a large church, a miniature Eiffel Tower, and a really cool view of Lyon and the two rivers that intersect in the city. After stopping to take the necessary photos, it was sadly then time to depart from Gregori and our new found friend Sophia with plans being made for them to come to Geneva and us to go to Dijon. All in all it was a lovely day and nice to see another part of France.
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