A Week in Lyon

Wow, in less than a week I will be on an airplane flying toward American soil. While I can't honestly deny that I'm glad to be on the final stretch, I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it is all coming to an end. I will be glad to see my friends and family back home, but there is so much here that I will miss so much. My host family, my friends, my amazing and helpful teachers... I think we can all agree on one thing: 10 months is a long time. I am so incredibly grateful for this adventure and all of the great experiences I got to have, but 10 months is pretty long. Rather than dying to go home, I'm just happy to be concluding what I would call a really successful year abroad.  I did completely pack up everything in my room into my suitcases and weigh it, and I'm happy to report that I got everything to fit with 1 kilo to spare in my big suitcase, in case something comes up. So, that did help me realize that I will soon actually be flying home. You know, seeing the room with everything sorted and packed was just kind of a weird feeling. But then I unpacked most of it(since I can't really justify wearing the same outfit for this whole last week just because I'm too lazy to repack) and I settled back into the feeling that it was "my" room, even if only for a few more days. Anyway, enough about these thoughts of leaving. Let's first talk about my great week last week in Lyon.

When I last posted, I believe I was headed toward the train station to go to Lyon. Except for the train company messing up and giving two people the exact same seat(but since I got there first and had the ticket to prove that it was my seat, so I got to stay) my train ride was nice as I got a last look at Marseille before heading northward. There is a joke that the people in Marseille consider Lyon to be "The North" and anything further north than that is just ridiculously north. In the movie "Bienvenue Chez le Cht'is" which pokes fun at the north(the north north, like Valenciennes where I live) and shows all of the stereotypes, the main charecter lives in the south, near the sea, and is told he will have to work in the north. And he says "Lyon?" and the boss says "No, the North," and he says "Oh no, not Paris, not Paris, please." And the boss says "No, not Paris, further North." And the character says "Wait, there's like nothing else except Belgium then." Anyway, I was just laughing because my host in Marseille had often said a lot of those things about the north like had been in the film, and she said she hoped it wouldn't be too cold in the Lyon, so much further north.

When I arrived in Lyon, it was nice and sunny and warm, while it was apparently still pouring in the real North. My host mom's mother met me at the train station, and we headed off to her home. Even in that first car ride, I got to see a fair amount of Lyon as we went from downtown to the suburbs, crossing both the Rhône and the Saône rivers.

This is the Rhône, one of the two rivers that runs through Lyon. When the rivers were the primary mode of transport, this river would constantly been very busy. Now, with the trains having taken over, the only traffic on the river was tourist sight-seeing boats. Other boats, like the little barges you see in the photo, have been transformed into cafés with tables both on the stationary boat and on land right next to it.

In general, our days passed in this manner. In the morning, after leisurely breakfast, we would go out and run errands. We went grocery shopping, went to the apple store, went to the super fancy butcher's shop, went to the market, ect. It was actually really fun doing the errands because I got to see the city and just hang out with my host grandma. She really treated me like a grandkid. We would come back for lunch, and then in the afternoons, we would head out to do touristy things. Once we got back, after a quick snack, I would go swimming in the apartment complex's pool. Then it was time for dinner, then the news, and then a movie or show on TV. We watched a documentary about the Age of Reason, an American movie called "An Unfinished Life," and I watched the Italy-Germany soccer game.

So, the first afternoon, we did the more modern Lyon, the part in between the two rivers, called the Presqu'île(almost island,) on foot. My host grandma knew all about a lot of the buildings and who the artists were and the symbols, so she gave me a guided tour, which was super interesting. I learned so much more than I could have had I just gone wandering on my own. 

This is the "Hotel de Ville"(City hall) of Lyon.

The next day, we wandered through the old Lyon. Lyon was a city even before the age of the Romans, so there were some really interesting things to see.

This is a clock in one of the cathedrals we visited. It dates as far back as 1383 and still gives the right hour today, although the mechanisms have been repaired over the years. The top clock face in front gives the hour, the day of the month, the month(in roman names), and the position of Lyon in relation to the constellations. The bottom clock face in front is currently programmed until 2019 and gives the dates of the national holidays(the roman holidays.) The clock face on the right side counts from 1-60 and gives the minute. Every hour, the clock chimes and the figurines at the top move, with a rooster crowing, an angel coming to announce to Mary that she will give birth to the savior, and some other actions. We went to the cathedral the first time on Tuesday, and after a week of trying, we finally made it to watch it chime on Saturday afternoon.

One of the coolest things in the old Lyon were the traboules. These were passages built through building that allowed pedestrians to go from one street to another in going right "through" the building. Back in the old days, it allowed people to get to the river to get water to bring home quicker than if they had to go around a lot of the buildings instead of through. I liked to think of them as "freeways for pedestrians." The people living in the apartments now have allowed the traboules to remain open to the public as a historical monument, so we had to be quiet. But I could imagine, in the days when everyone was using them, those must have been very noisy passages.

The door leading into a very long traboule.

Inside a traboule. There were doors and staircases leading to apartments all along the traboule.

Another afternoon was devoted to visiting the basilique of Fourvière, which sits on a high hill and looks over Lyon. 

Here's a view of the basilisque de Fourvière from just above the river. The church looks over the city, just like Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseilles.

This is the view from the basilisque de Fourvière. You could see the whole city of Lyon, including both of the rivers. It was really funny for me because we were there at the same time as a tour of little English ladies. They were all taking photos together and listening to the guide, making commentaries on the French people in their cute English accents. I loved being able to listen to all of them without them knowing I understood.

Here's the view of Lyon from up high. The first river is the Saône, and the one in the background(you can tell by the line of green bushes) is the Rhône. The space in between is called the Presqu'île, or the "almost island." The runny redish tower you can see in the background is nicknamed "le crayon" because it looks a bit like a pencil.

We also went to see some of the murals in the city.

This is one of the biggest murals in the city. On a fair number of once ugly and plain walls, the city painted murals to brighten up the city. This one shows a lot of different famous icons of Lyon all together, as if they all lived at the same time and really could have chatted together as one went out to do his shopping and another came in from a day of work.

These are the "frères lumières" who invented the movies.

Paul Bocuse is the chef in the doorway, a famous Lyonnais with restaurants all over the world.

One afternoon, we drove through parts of the Beaujolais. The Beaujolais is an area that spans a section of two of France's regions: Rhône-Alpes(which Lyon is in) and Bourgogne. It was really beautiful, and really peaceful to drive along the roads and through the calm villages. The southern part of the Beaujolais is called the 'Pierres Dorées' which means golden stones. It is because many of the houses and even entire villages were built completely out of these yellow bricks, the 'golden stones.' Apparently, you can only find the yellow bricks in this area.

This was wine country but not on a large scale. It was lots of little plots of vineyards, rather than the huge, sweeping vineyards you would find a bit further north in the region of Bourgogne, or near Bordeaux.

The villages in the Pierres Dorées were really calm, since they were nestled in the middle of the countryside. But, there were still some fun signs of life. In one little village, there was a tiny market with just three stands: 2 cheese stands and a produce stand. Since these were the direct farmers, the prices were super cheap. We bought amazing cherries, raspberries, and  peaches for so much less than if we had gotten them at one of the big markets in Lyon.

In the Pierres Dorées(Golden Stones) section of the Beaujolais, entire villages, including the churches and even the castles were all built out of the golden bricks.

We went to visit several medieval castles while in the Beaujolais. The majority had been bought by rich English businessmen and turned into luxury hotels. We weren't even allowed to come inside the outer wall of one of the hotels. But in others, we could walk through the garden and admire the plants.

This is a "jardin à la française," a garden in one of the three medieval castles we visited in the Beaujolais. The garden was a group of footpaths that all came together at the statue behind me, as well as a few that went around the perimeter. The paths were lined with little bushes and flowers. The tall bushed, carved into shapes, are called topiaires and were all over the garden.

And finally, you know it comes up in every post: food. I got a few special treats while in Lyon.

A "choco framboise" from the local bakery. It was a thin layer of light and fluffy spongecake, topped with a layer of raspberry filling, topped with a bunch of chocolate mousse, completely covered with a thin chocolate ganache, and garnished with a raspberyy and 3 mini raspberry macaron halves. It was definitely a special treat.

Praline brioche, a specialty in Lyon. During the week, we tried them from 2 different bakeries, and this one was the winner. The brioche was light and fluffy and the nuts were yummy and sugared and spread throughout. I might try to bake this once I get home.

So, that's it. I think this will be my final post before heading back toward America. For anyone wondering how the journey homeward is planned:
I meet up with the other AFSers in my region on Saturday morning at the train station. We take the train to Paris together, where we will be met by AFS volunteers and driven to the hotel where we will spend the night with the 300+ other kids all heading home. We will do debriefing activities in the afternoon, hang out and party at night, then head to the airport Sunday morning to catch our flights. I hope you all have enjoyed reading my blog throughout the year, and I'll be sure to post an update once I touch down in the U.S.A.