Before jumping on the TGV (bullet train) to Paris, I spent a Saturday in Beaujolais for a group excursion. Beaujolais is a wine region that consists of many vineyards, lots of greenery and beautiful, beautiful hills. Not only did we see such a beautiful place, we met the sweetest family, ate the yummiest food and had the best weather possible for a day trip like that. Honestly, nothing could have been better...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had a little housewarming party the night before and my friends slept over and we made breakfast. Then, we headed off to the meeting place to jump on a bus and head out to one of the most beautiful places I've ever experienced. The bus ride was about an hour long. I popped in my earphones, listened to soothing music, watched the hills of France pass by and knocked out. Before I knew it, we were driving up to a huge house with a vineyard, chickens, children and everything that you would think of when you hear the word "happy."

[Me & Jess when we first got there]

[I hate posing by myself]

[Learning about various grapes and their tastes]

[Father of the family, owner of the vineyard]

[Where the wine is made!]

[Before complete fermentation]

We went to the vineyards to learn a little bit about the various grapes and what exactly is wine from Beaujolais. The father of the family then led us to where the grapes ferment. He had these huge silver tins where he stores the wine. After 15 minutes of more learning and observing, we made our way into a room with 3 long dining tables which could only mean one thing: FOOD! His son poured us (all 45 of us) a glass of wine that we examined, smelled, held under the light, put against a white surface and finally tasted. We familiarized ourselves with what we're supposed to look for in various types of wine. Then, after about 30 minutes, the food began to come out. Bread, more bread, pâté, wine, more wine, more bread, beef, pork, rice, dessert (time to loosen the belt) and dessert wine. I was so miserably full that I literally thought I was going to explode. The food was absolutely delicious and lunch lasted THREE hours!

[DELICIOUS herb bread]

[Learning about wine]

[My delicious food gone before I thought to take a picture]

[Hanging out and enjoying each other's company]

[Dessert!]

[Jessica helping the family pass out cafés...so sweet!]

[Chris--director/discrete-photographer...also his birthday!]

After lunch (or should I say breakfast/lunch/dinner), we headed to the back of the house where the wife showed us where they bake their bread. We all gathered around this brick wall that looked like it had a painting of an oven. And then, she opened this little iron black door and everyone instantly felt the heat. The little door provided an opening to a HUGE oven. Her wooden stick/pole thing to get the bread from the oven was at least 15 feet long. It was a lot of fun to watch her make the dough, put the dough in the oven and then, take out a beautiful golden ball of delicious bread. When she finished her demonstration, I walked around the back and talked to their puppy, chased their 15 chickens (reminds me of home) and stood in awe as I tried to register just how beautiful their property was. Then, I noticed everyone was walking away with little bags of hotness so I ran back in to claim mine and to my surprise and utter joy, it was a hot, fresh loaf of bread. It was so fresh we couldn't eat it right away because the middle was still doughy...it had to cook through with its own heat.

[The most perfect looking grapes ever...and the juiciest!]

[Picking the grapes to eat 'em]

[Another picture of the perfect grapes]

[Absolutely breathtaking]

[Me, Jessica & Jessica]

[Me & Cyan]

[The oven!]

[Preparing the bread to put in the oven]

[How to make the dough...cutest couple ever by the way]

[Chickens! I miss ours :-(]

[Their lovely house!]

Then, around 7 pm, all of us happy, satisfied, and slightly plump students made our way back onto the bus. Needless to say, I took the best food-coma-nap ever!

As we drove away, I thought about how wonderful/beautiful/magical the simple life must be. When you simplify your life, you have the opportunity to appreciate things that actually matter--the things that are absolutely necessary. Your perspective isn't tainted by fluffy junk...It inspired me to simply my life as much as possible. For example (as mentioned before), I temporarily deactivated my Facebook. I don't need to spend hours on FB, trying to keep up with everyone's lives while I'm here. I'm in France for 4 months (a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity) and the time that I'm not out exploring, I should be bettering my language skills by reading articles and such, right? Or blogging, of course ;-) Time is really flying here and if I don't keep my eyes open and stay aware at how beautiful and blessed my life is, I can really be missing out on some life lessons, experiences and memories.

Paris pictures coming soon. I love and miss you all.

Ciao...bisou <3

Let me just say this...

I haven't even slept here one night but already my life seems to be in order a little more. Suddenly, days are brighter, classes aren't so unbearable. What has been unbearable, however, is the transportation strike that supposedly, will be continuing for 99 days...

This strike has affected all of us in the program as we have to find different ways to go to class, or at the very worst, not go to class at all. Trams, metros and buses are either completely stopped or partially running, with a circulation of about 40 minutes. I take the furniculaire to my apartment which is basically a metro connected to cables that takes you up a very steep hill. Well unfortunately, the furn (I'm shortening it for convenience and it sounds cool) ended at noon yesterday. I didn't realize this until I woke up at 10 am...I immediately rushed around trying to get everything repacked. I figured I should at least get ONE bag up to my apartment so later, I only have to worry about one other. I made it on to the last furn of the day but once I got into the apartment, I explored a little and moved some stuff around. I obviously didn't make the furn back down but the walk down isn't difficult--it's actually really beautiful.

I had class and right after, I went to a "Godfather" event where we international kids were paired up with a godfather/godmother (French student) to show us around, meet new people and learn about Lyon. It was really cool and helpful. My godfather is Renaud--a 20-year-old French student with a British accent. He's very nice and helpful.

I was so exhausted by evening time so I stayed in Bellecour with Emily for one more night. I figured that I would go to class the next day and spend the rest of the afternoon moving in...which is exactly what I did. I moved all my stuff, took everything out of the suitcases, went grocery shopping and had some friends over to celebrate me no longer being homeless :-)

[My kitchen during the day]

[At night with a few friends just hanging out...how cool is that flower light?]

[The living room with a winding bookshelf...sorry for the blur--it was really low lighting]

[Kitchen at night...Nicolas coming out of the toilet on the left]

[Dancing :) ]

I'm really happy with the way everything turned out. It was all a blessing in disguise..but isn't that how everything that appears negative at first turns out to be? I actually wrote my first travel column for the New University on the adventures of being homeless. When it gets published, I'll post it here.

I'm going to record a video and take you all on a virtual tour of my lovely place very soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

I'm also going to be busy for the next couple of days. Tomorrow morning, I leave on a train at 7:30 am for Paris to visit with Mark's dad. Then, he's staying in Lyon for one night so I'll be busy at least until Wednesday! But I have a lot to update you on--I had a beautiful trip to Beaujolais today (region of Lyon) and great pictures.

I know my posting has been sporadic but now, hopefully, with a new home and more consistent lifestyle, I can post more often. Plus, I've deactivated my Facebook for an indefinite amount of time so now, my focus can be more on this blog...yay!

Ok I really need to get to sleep if I plan on waking up early tomorrow.

Ciao!

Homeless No More...

You guessed it. After 4 long weeks of knowing that I have a beautiful apartment waiting for me but not available until September 24th, the time has finally arrived where I can call a place "home." From the hostel to my director's apartment to my friend's homestay, yours truly has surfed a lot of couches.

HOWEVER, I can't complain. The places that I've stayed at have been absolutely beautiful and amazingly comfortable. It's been tough, though, living out of my 2 suitcases for the last month. I haven't found my "groove" yet here in Lyon and I think a large part of that is not having my own place. I couldn't really cook, store fruits and vegetables, decorate my little French nest, etc. But now, well actually, after tomorrow morning, all of that will change. Hopefully, I will find markets and restaurants that I can call my own.

I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am of everyone's hospitality. Not only did they open their apartments to me but they were welcoming and happy to have me. Shout out to Chris and Emily!!! :-D As much as I complain about not having an apartment for the first month, this experience really forced me to stay out and explore Lyon. Here are just a few pictures of the places I stayed...

[A cozy little kitchen]

[The first thing I ever cooked! American coffee, over-easy eggs, baguette and yogurt..mmmm]

[Beautiful view of Place Bellecour from the living room]

[Apartment #2- high ceilings, fire places and everything grand]

[The living room]

[One of the many bookshelves that frame the house]

Tomorrow is the big day and worry not because a picture (maybe even a video) of my beautiful place will be coming very soon. I'm so excited :-D Except for one thing: there's a transportation strike tomorrow. This means that I may have to lug my 50+ pound bags up a huge hill to my apartment. Gah! Let's hope not...

Until next time (in my NEW apartment)...ciao <3

Just a teeny bit homesick...

After 3 jam-packed days of fun and complete exhaustion, one of my best friends, Candice, is gone and I have to admit, I'm feeling slightly homesick. You know, that tugging feeling in your chest or that little lump in your throat. Yeah, that :-/

In the midst of all the chaos of classes starting, finding housing until Thursday and getting an itinerary ready for Candice and Mark's dad (next weekend in Paris), a familiar face provided a lot of consistency and comfort. I'm absolutely in love with the people in my program and I'm ecstatic about all the new friends I'm making, but to hang out with one of my best friends who knows me inside and out was heartwarming, awesome and just fun.

Candice spent a few days on the coast of Italy with a high school friend of her's from Germany. With no internet accessibility, she made her way to the beautiful city of Lyon, hoping we'd meet somehow...some way. I knew that she was flying into LYS at 6:20 pm on Wednesday night. I tried to go meet her at the airport so she wouldn't have to figure out how to call me/get a hold of me and make her way through Lyon by herself. But in a rush, I jotted down the wrong directions to the airport (apparently, there is a Bron airport but the bus stop is no where near the actual airport). After a 30 minute trek to Bron (the outskirts of Lyon), I realized that I was in the middle of nowhere. I had a mini panic attack and then, God sent me an angel. At the bus stop, I asked this man how to get to the airport because I'm supposed to meet my friend. He suggested that if my friend calls back, ask her to come meet me at Gare de la Part Dieu (a main train station in Lyon) and then, he'll show me the way to Gare de la Part Dieu. If she didn't call back, I'd have to take a cheap bus to the airport because there was no metro or tram that would take me directly to the airport. Thankfully, Candice called and I asked her to write down Gare Part Dieu and try to find a bus that goes there. Right then, the phone clicked. Her credit ran out. At the same time, I was going below ground for the metro.

Who knew if she was trying to call?
Did she get the name?
Is she actually going to come or do I need to meet her?

These questions went through my mind as the angel man directed me from one metro stop to the next. When I finally got to Gare Part Dieu, I had no idea what to do. By this time, it was 8 p.m. (2 hours after she arrived) and I had absolutely no idea if she was meeting me or if I was meeting her. I decided to stay...I waited for an hour and a half and really began to panic. When I finally heard, "LIZ!!!" and looked back and saw her, I wanted to cry--the relief and the excitement of seeing Candice was sooo overwhelming! Thankfully, we had finally be reunited.

Off we went for our 4 day adventure as if none of this just happened. We had a delicious dinner, met up with some friends and went to the international students party. It was fun but we were so exhausted, we decided to call it an early night.

The next day, I had a 2-hour class so Candice went to a nearby museum and took a nap along the river. After class, we went grocery shopping and had a wonderful picnic in Le Parc de la Tete D'Or. It was beautiful--despite the raining weather predictions, the evening was nice and warm. We talked for hours on end and it was beautiful :-)

[Blurry picture but yummy baguette and cheese!]

[Also blurry but beautiful entrance to the park...Candice blends in!]

On Friday, we hung out in Vieux Lyon and checked out Saint Jean Cathedral, Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviére and Les Théatres Romains de Fourviére. Although I had seen it all during my 3-hour tour at the end of August, it was still breathtaking and stunning. Candice and I couldn't wrap our heads around the fact that something so beautiful existed thousands of years ago...that these ruins are basically in people's backyards. So interesting!

[Walking through the gardens to Fourviére]

[Couldn't find a way into Fourviére so I hopped the fence]

[Beautiful lookout of Lyon minus the man on the left who wanted to join in]

[Model.]

[Inside Fourviére and absolutely beautiful!]

[Théatres Romains de Fourviére- plays once took place at these theaters]

We had amazing food (as always!) in Vieux Lyon and after, we met up with my friend Brittany and her two visiting friends. We then went over to another friend's flat before heading out to a boat altogether.

[A crépe sucre (sweet) that we shared...mmmmmm!]

When Saturday finally rolled around, we were so completely exhausted from the jam-packed days that we decided to take it easy. We shopped around and found some cool vintage stores in Croix-Rousse. Because this weekend is the opening weekend for the Biennale festival (art/culture festival in Lyon that goes on for a couple of months), we saw a couple performances, including a young man and woman salsa dancing in a cobble stone alley of sorts. The afternoon zoomed past us and before we knew it, it was time for Candice to board her train. After a couple of tears and many goodbyes, she made her way to Charles de Gaulle Airport.

[Dancing...loved it]

It was an absolutely beautiful weekend. She brought a little bit of "home" with her and it was so refreshing to be around. I miss all of you!

Enjoy your Sunday and keep your eyes open for a new post coming soon :-)

Ciao..bisou.

Candi che <3

One of my best friends, Candice, is coming to visit! She flies in today at 6:20 pm. Lots of pictures of our adventures coming soon. So excited! :D



BISOU :-*

All the Marchés you can imagine.

Mom: "I am going to boycott your blog."
Me: "Why?"
Mom: "Because you don't post enough."

Ok, point taken. 3 days later, new blog...yay!

I knew that when I was choosing Lyon, I was going into a city full of hidden gems. It may not be the center of everything, like Paris, but it has things that Paris will never compare to. For example, Lyon has the most amazing marchés (markets) I will ever experience. Not only do they have farmer's markets almost everyday of the week, they have markets for cheeses, meats and wines. They have markets for clothes, books and postcards. Lyon has markets for everything. This weekend marked the 24th anniversary of Les Tupiniers du Vieux Lyon, a pottery festival that featured over 140 different artists. Saturday and Sunday, hundreds if not thousands of people, tourists and locals alike, crowded the cobble stone streets of Place Saint Jean in Vieux Lyon to purchase, look at and enjoy the works of talented artists. I went both days but after feeling completely exhausted on Saturday, I mustered up just enough energy to brave the crowds and purchase a few things on Sunday. I also went to Croix-Rousse for their ridiculously enormous marché.

[Saint Jean Cathedral]

[Nicholas & Alexa and the Fourviere in the back]

[Posing]

After Vieux Lyon, we headed to Croix-Rousse for their market. I had the idea that there was going to be more pottery stuff but I was wrong. Instead, there were miles and miles of stuff...lots of stuff. It was fun and an awesome way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Sure, I got claustrophobic but that's all part of the experience, right?

[2 hours later, 2349834 more people came.]

I was so overwhelmed and exhausted that I didn't take many pictures in Croix-Rousse. But anyway, the markets are great and although the pottery festival has come and gone, I still have the flea markets in Villerbeune and the 9 other farmer's markets scattered throughout Lyon to look forward to.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of class. I'm not exactly sure if I'll have class tomorrow but school has officially began! One of my best friends and old roommate, Candice, is coming to visit on Wednesday. She leaves Sunday so we have 4 days of fun, fun, fun. More pictures soon to come.

Until next time, ciao & bisou <3