Lyon, The Most Underrated City in France

Waking Up Wednesday morning to a text saying my only class for the day was cancelled put me in a fabulous mood! I was able to spend all day relaxing with friends and even made homemade peroogies! I used ricotta instead of cottage cheese for the inside but they ended up still tasting amazing!

Thursday I decided to go to Lyon with my friends and went to open a French bank account… we had to make an appointment to set up an account so we decided to go back on Friday after school.

Friday morning I had a class on the European Union and it turned out to be my favorite class that I am taking! I can’t wait to understand this craziness a bit better! After class we decided it’d be better to leave early Saturday for Lyon than late Friday and save about $40 each on the hotel for one less night.

Around 8am Saturday morning we were off to one of the most underrated cities in France. Arriving in Lyon, seeing the beautiful French buildings, the metro, the tram, and the beautiful churches, I knew it was going to be an amazing two days. We went to another “kebab” shop to save money for lunch then hopped on the metro and headed to the center of the city. Walking out of the metro, which was extremely clean, we instantly saw a Ferris wheel and a big open square surrounded by beautiful French architecture. There was a huge protest going on in the square at the time so we kept walking when we arrived at a huge river. Across the river was one of the most beautiful sites I had ever seen. There was a big city on a hill with the “Notre Dame Basilique” at the very top. We crossed the bridge and began our journey up the hill to see this beautiful place. On the way we passed another huge church with beautiful architecture and three red doors to get in. I was mind blown and I had only been in this city for less than two hours. On the way up the hill we stopped at an overlook of the city and again I was speechless. We had a perfect view of the river, the bridges, the buildings, and the whole atmosphere. It was absolutely astonishing. Upon further continuation up the hill, we ran into beautiful roman ruins. It was like a theater set up. This city was not going to let me take a breath even for a second. Seeing the stone mixed with the green grass in a stadium set up made me feel like I had entered a whole new world. We continued further and reached the basilique. Hearing a man play the accordion set the mood to bring me back to the realization that I was in France about to enter one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Each inch of the walls on the inside and outside of the church were covered with detail that would take days to even be able to fully see each part. I couldn’t imagine how long it took to build it. Once we entered the church, there were candles everywhere and beautiful colored stain glass windows the architecture being even more detailed and mind-blowing than the outside. We spent a good amount of time trying to grasp the moment and beauty of the basilique before we headed on our way back down the hill. Once we arrived at the bottom we found a street that was just bursting with excitement! An irish pub to our left flowing with people, an old Moroccan store to our right, a guy making crepes on the left again, and so much more. It was so lively and full of new things. Finally, on the left we found what we were looking for, an ancient “traboule” aka underground passageway that used to take the silk makers from their shops to the merchants between the streets. It was cool to see, although we only ever found that one, as they were a bit hard to find. I felt like I was back in the old days walking through the traboule. After this it was getting late and we thought it was a good time to head back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. We took the metro to get to “Chinatown” which was supposedly the third biggest Chinatown in France after the two in Paris. However, after we got off the metro, we all felt a bit funny as if we had entered the ghetto. It had an odd atmosphere and we walked a street over and found this “big Chinatown” which was actually only a small intersection with some restaurants and some lanterns hung over the streets. After scouting out china restaurant, a china buffet, a Vietnamese restaurant, and a thai restaurant, we decided to eat the first Chinese restaurant we had seen. We all decided to order “Nems” which we thought were eggrolls and then everyone ordered something different. When the “Nems” came, we were pleasantly surprised with some of the best eggrolls we had ever had. Following the nems, my “chicken fried rice” came to the table. Unfortunately, their chicken fried rice is different than in the states. I was handed a plate with white rice in one part, fried chicken (or some type of gross meat) beside that, a carrot beside that, a cucumber, and some onions beside that. It was awful! Luckily, everyone else had picked some pretty awesome meals and we laughed about my plate and had a great time! After that, we took the metro to the “Croix Rousse” thinking there were a bunch of bars where we could grab a quick drink before heading to bed, but we only found a small bar after walking a good while then grabbed a drink and jumped on the metro about 10 minutes before it closed for the night at midnight. We were exhausted and headed to bed thinking we had seen everything we wanted to see in Lyon, but when we woke up in the morning and checked the internet, we realized we had missed some things. We headed back to the “Croix Rousse” to find the famous “chokolat” which was a chocolate store with a wall of liquid chocolate. I bought the most amazing chocolate bar I have ever had in my life then we headed through a small French Sunday market and saw the things they had to offer. It was mostly produce and vegetables with a few flowers and then one man was selling flavored “nougat.” We tasted a sample and it was amazing but we had all just bought chocolate and did not buy anything from him. Afterwards, we thought it would be cool to walk through Lyon to find the Opera House instead of taking the metro again. On our way we passed this colorful wall of graffiti that looked awesome. We stopped there and took some pictures and relaxed for a bit together. Finally we started walking again and came to the Hotel de Ville. Again, I couldn’t believe how breathtaking this site was. We took pictures and just admired the place before continuing to the other side of this enormous structure. On the other side was another big open square with one of the most beautiful roman fountains I have ever seen in my life. There were restaurants on one side of the square with the “musee des beaux arts” on the other side. It was beautiful. We were all hungry so we continued on to find a restaurant. It was absolutely beautiful outside so we wanted to find a place to sit outside, but, as the French like to spend 2-3 hours on lunch, its hard to ever find a place to eat so we settled in this cute little restaurant that specialized in muscles. Everyone ordered muscles except me, because I wanted a chicken that was cooked in sour cream, cheese, and some other tasty dishes. We also had unlimited free fries that were unbelievably delicious. Everyone agreed that altogether it was one of the best meals we have had since arriving in France. It was so nice to sit down and relax and enjoy each others company like the French do. Afterwards, we set out to find the opera, only to realize that it had been right beside the hotel de ville the whole time but we hadn’t noticed because we had been blown away by the beauty of the hotel de ville. Unfortunately we could not enter the opera and it was nothing too exciting to see. However, there were some men playing music and breakdancing right beside it so we enjoyed their “show” for a bit then headed back and were on our way back home to Vichy. Lyon was not a place I had ever planned to visit, but is definitely underrated by those visiting France. It has the city atmosphere and is lively like most places one would visit, but has less people, and is cleaner than most cities. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this dreamland and would highly suggest this trip to anyone who is travelling to France.

Finally Home Again

This week flew by… I can’t even figure out how it’s already Monday again! Last Monday and Wednesday we had different teachers for French class. The first was a lady who was much more strict than our normal teacher. I liked her because it was a bit more challenging although I can’t remember her name… Wednesday we had Sebastien and he was awesome! He was hilarious and taught us so much. Instead of going over the assignments as a class he came around and helped us each individually with our mistakes and explained it in depth to us. I learned the most that day.

Monday night, my friends and I stayed up till 4 am eating nutella and chips and hanging out. It was a good bonding time… I absolutely love the people here. I already consider them some of my closer friends.

Tuesday and Wednesday we all just laid around hanging out. Nick showed me a new grocery store where I found baking soda! I was ecstatic! I ended up making cookies Thursday night for Lauren’s birthday! Then we all went to Said’s house to celebrate with her. The house was absolutely packed with all the people in our program and he turned his house into a club type space with strobe lights. We all had a blast… I crawled into my bed at a decent hour that night and made it to class in the morning. Friday we watched a movie with the intermediate class. It was about foreign exchange students going to school in Barcelona which was pretty cool since it relates directly to my life now and my life in about 3 more months! After school I took the train from Vichy to Nevers then from Nevers to St Pierre then from St Pierre to Angers to see my host family for the weekend. The ticket there and back cost about 80 euros which wasn’t terrible. It took me about 5 hours each way. The train from St Pierre to Angers was a TGV and was a double decker! I was overly excited for that! I arrived and Nicolas & Vincent picked me up and took me home. Everyone was there and I had so much fun being back home again with them! I missed them all so much! I truly think of them as my family. My mom had made me chocolate mousse and an amazing sponge cake with nutella in the middle. We stayed up and talked for a bit then headed to bed. In the morning my mom cooked an amazing appetizer with eggs, sour cream, and cheese. It was awesome! Then we had lasagna and chicken cordon bleu and I was absolutely stuffed! I had forgotten how much the French eat… still have no idea how they aren’t all obese! I couldn’t even bare to look at the cheese or chocolate mousse that they all ate after lunch! Nicolas and I headed to what he claims is the biggest mall in all of France, although I don’t know if I believe him. We shopped for a bit then headed back to the house where Coralie met us to take me to Rennes for Marella’s birthday. It was so amazing to see them both again!! It seems like it’s been so long but we picked up right where we left off and nothing had changed! It was such a great night! We went to a big discotech outside of Rennes that had 5 rooms. The first was the huge main room with couches and tables wrapped around the ginormous dance floor in the middle with crazy lights flashing to the beat of the music that the DJ was playing. When you went up the stairs, there was a big dance room/bar to the left playing really random songs and another big dance room/bar to the right playing old school French music. Finally there was another room off to the side which was a bar that was like a cinema playing a movie… despicable me to be exact (extremely random), and there was a huge hulk statue in there. I think it was the most random discotech I have ever been too. There was a private club downstairs as well that wasn’t exactly any place I wanted to go. We stayed there dancing until about 5 am when we drove back to Marella’s apartment. We arrived back there around 530 and her cat had peed on the bed Coralie and I were supposed to sleep on so we stayed up till about 630 cleaning that and finally went to bed… well attempted to go to bed. We had put her cat in the laundry room so she wouldn’t pee on the bed again and she apparently hated it because she banged on the door all night. It was so loud, it sounded like someone was trying to break in, and you would have never known a cat was making such loud noises. Around noon we gave up on trying to continue to sleep and woke up and ate breakfast then Coralie and I headed back to Angers. We stopped at Mcdonald’s on the way, which was so different than the USA. Nobody came to the counter to ask for our order because they assumed we would be using a credit card which means you have to put in your own order on their little screens. Unfortunately, my American card wouldn’t work in that machine so Coralie paid for mine with hers and I paid her back… It was crazy expensive and the food wasn’t even good and greasy like normal! I paid 7.50 euros (about 10 dollars) for a McChicken Meal which would be about 4 dollars in the USA. France is so expensive! Finally I arrived back at my host families house and hung out with them for an hour and then Nicolas and Manon took me to the train station and we said our goodbyes. It was such an incredible weekend and felt amazing to be Finally Home Again with my host family and friends… however taking the train back to Vichy also made me feel amazing to be finally home again in Vichy. I will never again have one specific home; I am blessed to have many homes with many wonderful people in my life. When I arrived back in Vichy, Nick made me an amazing Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo for dinner. It was delicious!

            Monday afternoon we had our first French test. It was surprisingly hard… at least the grammar part. We had one page (front and back) of grammar, then one page (front and back) questions about a story we read, then we had to write one page (front and back) story about a murder that had occurred. The grammar was my main troublesome part. Learning French from speak has both its pros and cons. After the test Kim and I walked to Carrefour… except we didn’t make it there because we found “Leader Price” on the way there, which is a discount grocery store, and we bought all of our groceries there. It was awesome and cheap! Then we headed to the park to watch the boys play soccer and Frisbee. It was a beautiful day! At least 60 degrees farenheight with the sunshine! (It’s been a wonderful 45-50 degrees everyday but yesterday was extra special!) On top of this amazing day, I received valentines day cards from my entire family and they brightened up my day completely! I couldn't stop smiling!

            Today, I had my first business class in English, International Marketing. The professor had a thick accent but spoke pretty good English for the most part. It wasn’t the most entertaining class I’ve ever had but I think it will be good overall. However, the professor tried to tell us certain French words meant things in English that they absolutely didn’t mean…. It was interesting to say the least. After class, Kim, Jacob, and I headed to Happy Cash to get a deep fryer for everyone to use. It was 20 euros so about 6 of us paid about 3 euros. When I brought it back, Nick and I made fries and they were unquestionably delightful!! Clearly, my time here this far has been nothing but perfect! I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this adventure!

Cheers to New Beginnings, New Memories, and New Friends!!

The first day of school I woke up and got ready in time to be there by 9am only to find out I didn’t have to be there till 10 am. That was my fault but I wasn’t alone so I hung out with some of my new friends and headed to school. Upon arrival, there were croissants, coffee, and orange juice along with all of the students and French professors. We started out with a group photo and then began our placement test. The first page was a bit odd to me…. There was a word bank then a picture with blanks attached to each item with the first letter of each word and the exact amount of blanks as letters in the word… aka if you could count letters, you could complete the first page. The next page was a bit more difficult with different tense conjugations… of which I had no clue what to write. I’m much better speaking than writing or reading. Finally, the back page we got to write a story about a picture of Harry Potter in three different tenses. Naturally I tried to find something weird to write about and have fun with it. After the test we went back for an hour and a half lunch break followed by finding out our placements. I placed into the “advanced” level with about 15 other students. We met our teacher and all of the students in the class. It was very different from my trip to Costa Rica where there were only four students per class and everyone was on close to the same level. Here, we were all on very different levels in the same class so it was a much different and new type of atmosphere. I have some pretty awesome people in my class though, and since then we’ve been having fun and making the best of it…. (Class is still class in any country or language).

Throughout the week, I got to know my flood mates much better. It’s so awesome. Everyone keeps their doors open and we all share cooking tools and utensils. We hang out just about all the time…. So I’ve decided I don’t really care if I ever get Wi-Fi in my room. I enjoy hanging with everyone all the time or exploring the town, sitting down to reminisce about my past week is hard enough, but necessary in my mind. Anyways, we took a bus to the bigger grocery store “Carre Four” where I bought a stove with two eye burners that I can control the temperature. It’s so nice living on my own and cooking every night with all of my new friends. I absolutely love it! We also ventured to “Happy Cash” (the pawn store) where we looked for other cooking utensils.

The town I live in is so cute (Vichy). A boulangerie is right across the street and beside that is a mini convenience store that stays open late when everything else closes. Then, there’s a huge center of the city with all kinds of stores, crepes being made fresh on every street, a cheese store that smells as if someone wore the same socks for a year straight, two different groceries stores, and all kinds of excitement. Obviously the buildings are beautiful and the food is amazing. I’ve already had way too many crepes…. Viva La France! =] Most of our stores stay open on Sunday which is extremely strange for a town in France. We have a cute river running through the city, however there is construction going on there through July and I won’t be able to enjoy it to the fullest while I am here. I’ve spent most of my time after school exploring the town and enjoying every minute of it.

Thursday morning I woke up feeling pretty sick and ended up missing the second half of my French classes and slept for about 16 hours straight and had to force myself to wake up for school Friday morning since I was skipping the afternoon Friday as well to go skiing.

About 3 o’clock, my friends and I took off in two different cars to head to Super Besse to ski for the weekend. First, we stopped at L’eclerc to get our groceries for the weekend (pasta all weekend), which was about 23 euros, a person, chipped in 10 euros per person for gas, and stopped at a sporting goods store to get some ski gear, which cost about 25 euros for me. We spent 54 euros each for the mini apartment, 28 euros for a lift ticket, 45 euros for our rentals…. All in all a little less than 200 euros for an awesome weekend.

Driving to the resort was the craziest thing. About 30 minutes away I began getting worried that it was going to be awful because it was still sunny and I hadn’t seen a drop of snow anywhere, only green grass and trees and beautiful mountains. All of a sudden we turned the corner and there was at least a foot of snow covering everything and it was like a blizzard outside. I think that was the most unreal thing I have ever seen in my life. It was like driving from Florida to Alaska in an instant, unreal. The resort was beautiful and we were so excited once we arrived. The first night we hung out in the apartment and had an awesome time making memories together. About 8 am, we started our day with some eggs, nutella, and croissants. We got dressed and took a bus to the slopes. We got our gear and headed out. Within about 10 minutes, I was covered in wet snow. However, I was in France and didn’t care! We went to their bunny hill to teach the new people how to ski. Ben, the French guy with us, asked me if I had ever been on a bar to get up the slopes. When I told him I hadn’t, he tried to explain to me how to do it, but as I’ve been boarding since I was 3, I didn’t pay much attention and thought it’d be easy. Once we got there it was the weirdest thing and I didn’t understand it at all. I thought it was like this super long pole you grabbed that took you to the top. I thought I’d be fine and got to the front, grabbed on, and it instantly jerked me and I landed on my face in the snow. I got up and went to the back of the line where I realized you were supposed to put it in between your legs and “ride” it up…. I also realized I was the only boarder in line; obviously that’s why Ben thought I needed help. Woops! I finally figured it out and made it to the top with much struggle, the USA is much smarter when it comes to bunny hill carpets or mini lifts.

After a couple of runs, Ben, Frankie, and I left the beginners and went to other hills. After about 2 runs I was frozen and soaking wet from the snow. I couldn’t see anything going down the hill as I only had sunglasses and it was snowing so hard and water was dripping down my face and in my eyes. Also, the snow was pelting my face, and I knew there was no way I was going to be able to continue in the weather without the proper ski gear. I had a blast but I was finished in about another run and headed inside to get warm and wait on the others. When they all arrived, they were just as drenched as I had been. We decided to head back for the night and went swimming and in the sauna to get warm. About 15 minutes after we arrived in the sauna, people were staring at us through the door and we didn’t know why. They opened it and told us they had it reserved and we had to get out… That seems so weird to me being able to reserve a sauna at a resort… I guess money can buy more than I knew. Haha We went back to the room and had another great night. The people here are so awesome and so much fun to hang out with. I’m really glad I’ve been able to spend so much time with them. In the morning we woke up, cleaned the apartment, checked out, and got ready to ski again. However, when we went to get Kim’s car out of the foot or so of snow that had fallen overnight, we ran into some problems. As we tried to remove the snow and have the guys help push her out of her parking spot, we were also on a hill and her car began to slide sideways and about an inch from the next car she stopped the car and we had no idea what to do. We kept digging hoping maybe we could get her out when the people in the car next to us came to their car to leave. The guys helped shovel that car and push it out so we could finally have some room. After 2 hours of the guys shoveling and pushing the car, she was finally able to get her car out. I honestly wasn’t sure if she’d ever make it. After those two hours of getting drenched again in the snow, everyone but Frankie and Ben were ready to head back home. Frankie and Ben stayed while the rest of us headed back. We stopped in a little town to find some lunch, but of course everything except a bar was closed. We tried to go to the bar for food but they weren’t serving any type of food because it was Sunday. We went all the way back and ate in Vichy at a place called “Kankies” (spelling?). It was amazing. I finally ate rice! I was satisfied. Then we came back, rested, and I went to the grocery store. It was so relaxing going alone for the first time. I was able to enjoy my time in the town a bit more and do some window-shopping since all of their big sales are going on right now. I had a nice leisurely walk then came back and watched Nick cook me dinner. Haha I meant to help, but he was doing such a great job and it was looking and smelling amazing. He boiled potatoes, carrots, and onions, then sautéed chicken in garlic and onions. It was absolutely amazing and the first time I’ve actually really enjoyed onions.

To put the final end to my first week in France, my friends and I are having a glass of wine in my room. Nothing like French wine to remind you that you’re in France.

Cheers to New Beginnings, New Memories, and New Friends!!!

A Weekend to Adapt

After all of that packing it was time to head out. Upon arrival to the airport I was pretty sure my bag would be over weight, although my mom wouldn’t believe me. The time came to put my packing skills to the test on the scale…. 53.2 pounds yikes! Immediately I took out my shampoo, laundry line, & a skirt and put it back on the scale…. 50.0 pounds on the dot! Heck yes! Thrilled, laughing, and cheering with my parents we said goodbye to my bag & they hugged me goodbye. After passing through security I found Haley waiting on our flight. The airport was full of people from all over & I started to feel a bit more excited for my new adventure. The time came to load the plane & I was settled in my seat preparing for takeoff when the pilot came over the loud speaker to tell us that the door had been shut and we were ready for takeoff… EXCEPT that we had been grounded for 2 hours and were all going to have to get off the plane during that time. I realized my layover was only for 2 hours in Chicago & began to worry a bit. I spoke to the flight attendants and they said there was a later flight I could take with Haley to London and from London to Paris and just get in later than I had planned. I was fine with that as long as I had someone else with me. About 30 minutes later they put us on the plane and told us we may make our connection. As soon as we all settled in, the pilot announced we had to wait for something else for another 30 minutes. Finally, we were on our way & I was almost positive we would make our flight & was thanking God! Upon landing, the pilot then told us that there were no gates open and we would be waiting another 30 minutes…. Great so I had 30 minutes before my plane was supposed to take off after that wait. At last, a spot opened and we started to pull up to the gate, only to be stopped for another 5-10 minutes because there was no one there to open the door for us…. Talk about anxiety going crazy!! With 20 minutes left before my plane took off, I realized I had to still wait on my carry on luggage that was too big to fit on our tiny plane to come up….. Oh boy! By the way, Haley didn’t have to wait for anything so I told her to go ahead so she didn’t miss the plane as well. 10 minutes later I grabbed it and began to sprint to my plane…. I had to make it to gate K13 in the same terminal when I was at G5. Another lady was in the same situation as me except she had to make it to H. I saw K and began praising God when I realized I had a long ways to make it to K13 & then I heard my name being announced on the loud speaker that it was last call for me and they were about to close the gate… ugh this was probably worse than my run in the Amsterdam airport 2 summers ago. I had a backpack weighing over 30 pounds plus a carry on roller that was heavy to even roll & I was wearing my dress boots which are hard to even walk in. I began running even faster & once K13 was finally in my distance I began screaming “K13!! THAT’S ME!!! DON’T CLOSE THE GATE!!!” Completely out of breath the lady told me to calm down and that I had just made it! I walked to the plane and they closed the door right behind me. The plane seemed completely empty but I found out many people had connection flights cancelled or delayed like mine and couldn’t make it. Luckily, I found Daniel right away and since the old man in front of me was a bit angry and didn’t want me to sit in my seat, I sat down next to Daniel and we talked just about the whole way. I think we each slept for like 3 hours and then woke up to find out our plane was arriving 2 hours early! Hooray!!!! Ali, Daniel, Haley, and I made our way to the “RER” that Ali told us we needed to take. We bought the wrong ticket at first but finally found the right one for about 10 euros and got on the train to “Chatelet les Haules” where we switched trains and took another one to “Bercy.” From Charles de Gaule to Bercy it was about 40 minutes in the train. We exited the Bercy Metro station and walked to the Bercy train station to buy our tickets to Vichy for about 55 euros. We had 3 hours to kill before our train arrived so we went to a small café a block away and enjoyed some coffee and croissants while we all got to know each other a bit better. When our train finally arrived we found our seats, placed our big luggage at the end and they began to talk more to get to know each other while I took a 2 hour nap. The train ride was 3 hours long. We finally arrived in Vichy and found Nick with a sign reading “America.” Crazy guy but he took us to our residence and helped us get settled in. Our rooms were much bigger than expected! I had my own bed, desk, mini kitchen (one stove burner, sink, and mini fridge), and a bathroom with a shower. I was pretty thrilled! We took a trip to the store “Mono Prix” to stock up on groceries and cleaning supplies then ventured through the town a bit.

This was my weekend to adapt to everything including the time change and food. I bought all of the French foods I remember my host family having including saucisson, cheese, butter, and ham (yes weird I know) and headed back. I attempted to stay up late with everyone to adapt but at about 8pm, I fell asleep & slept for 16 hours. Woops! The next day I was ready to go! I woke up earlier than just about everyone in the residence and headed back to the grocery store with Arandi and then we got the entire group and ventured through the town. We saw our school, the river in the town, a world war 2 soldier statue (vichy is known for the Nazi takeover in world war 2), and just explored a bit. It was fun getting to know everyone and to see the town a bit. That night Arandi & I cooked Steak Quesadillas (delish!) and then most people hung out in my room playing games and we left for the club around 2 am. We had a fabulous time dancing and hanging out together. It was 10 euros to get in and 2 euros for your coat check but it was totally worth it. Finally, about 6 am we left the club and walked back. I got to speak to a guy from Libya in French the whole way back because he didn’t speak English and it was so exciting to finally speak French again! Everyone I’ve met is awesome! I’m in love with everything here! Throughout the day we all hung out, I bought a crepe with Nutella, then Arandi and I cooked Curry, couscous, and broccoli for dinner. The curry wasn’t the best ever but it’s all a learning process. Everyone plans to stay up to watch the Super Bowl tonight since it will start at 2am our time, but I plan to head to bed with school being so early in the morning. I can’t wait to see what this adventure holds in store for me! So far it has been nothing but perfect!