Salut!
This past weekend I branched out from Issoudun and went to Lyon for a weekend of friends, festivities, and fun! You might remember (assuming you are a faithful reader) that I visited MaryKate Wagner in Lyon for an afternoon/evening back in March as the first stop on my long vacation. Well, this past weekend I returned to Lyon to see her and two other good friends and fellow French major Wake Forest grads, Carolyn St. Cyr and Kara Pederson, who took time off work to visit. The four of us has a FANTASTIC time together, and we squeezed a lot into a very short period of time. Here is a nutshell of our weekend:
Friday:
After traveling 5 hours via train, I arrived in Lyon where MaryKate picked me up from the train station. We wanted to rest up for the girls arrival the next day, so we went to an Irish pub and listen to a local band play music which was great fun. We ended up returning later than planned, but it was time well spent.
Here is a video of the band.
MK is singing along.
Here is a photo of the band.
Saturday:
We woke up early and went shopping since there aren’t any clothing shops in Issoudun. After buying some super cute brown espadrilles for 10 euros (H&M), we picked up the Carolyn and Kara from the train station. The two of them ended up being very jet-lagged, so MK and I did some grocery shopping for the weekend while the girls slept. After eating and showering, all four of us went to “Vieux Lyon” (the old part of town), walked through the narrow and packed streets, sat by the river, and then found a traditional café for dinner. Lyon is known for their culinary delights, so we had a traditionally Lyonnais three course meal- salad (ham with a poached egg) followed by meat and potatos (the fanciest meat and potatoes I’ve ever had) followed by a dessert (we each got a different one and shared). Here are photos from the day:
Kara (left) and Carolyn (right), jet lagged and trying to nap.
MaryKate demonstrating how the sleeping accommodations would work.
There's a reason I slept on the floor.
Our pasta brunch.
Those are chocolate bunnies that I bought...I went a little Easter crazy and got one for each of us.
All the girls before leaving for the night...normal on the left, more like us on the right.
Kara, MaryKate, and Caroyln in the Place Bellecoeur on the way to Vieux Lyon.
An "assistants" picture
Kara, Carolyn, MaryKate with Vieux Lyon behind them.
Carolyn walking in a passageway. These passageways connect streets that run parallel to each other.
Originally they were used to move silk through these passages to keep rain from getting on it.
They were also used during World War II to move the jews to safer areas.
On the left, the girls inside one of the passageways. On the right, stairs inside the passageway.
Speculoos flan that we shared.
Carolyn and Kara walking along the river.
On the steps by the river.
When I say by the river, I mean right by the river (the Rhône).
MaryKate wanted to show us the social life of Lyon, so we all went out to a few bars after dinner. MaryKate’s friend, Katurah (who is also an American assistant in Lyon), joined us for the social portion of the evening. The first one we went to was supposed to be like a New York bar and the second one was supposed to be like an Australian bar, so both were very stereotypical but fun! We started the dance floor off at the Australian bar…us Americans, we have no shame.
The 4 of us on the "Lyon" sign.
(left to right- MK, me, Carolyn, Kara)
MK, Carolyn, me, and Kara
The Lyon assistants, Katurah and MK
Following this, the Kara and Carolyn were really fighting jetlag, so they returned with Katurah to MK’s apartment, but MaryKate and I decided to go down to the river for their “boîtes de nuit” (night bars or clubs). We went to two down there that were a lot of fun. Essentially, they are boats or shipping containers that have been converted into a bar on the main level and a dance floor below deck. It was really cool! There were a lot of young people there (which I’m not used to in Issoudun) and we hung out with MK’s French friends, so I quickly learned how to shout in French over the music. After a solid 5 hours of dancing in the boats, we got back to the apartment during the early morning hours. Here are pictures taken during the day of the two boats we went to Saturday night:
This little boat is surprisingly big underneath.
This is a cargo container that is now a boat. Isn't that cool?
Sunday:
The process of 4 girls showering and getting ready in a small apartment is really something to be studied. Somehow, we all did it successfully on Sunday morning and then ate brunch at MK’s apartment. Sunday’s weather was much windier than the day before, but it was nice and sunny, so we rented bikes and rode around the city and saw the sights during the afternoon.
Renting the bikes by MK's apartment. She's at the machine and Carolyn and I are picking out bikes.
They have stands like this all over the city so it's easy to pick up and drop off bikes.
The girls on the bikes riding into the city.
Carolyn on the left, Kara on the right.
The bike lane.
Carolyn was really getting into this biking thing, look at that smile.
The girls on the bike.
Looking towards Vieux Lyon on our bike ride.
Old habits die hard. I'm just waiting for the mocking emails from my family for this one.
The girls at the fountain.
Part of the street art festival taking place by the hotel de ville was for graffiti, so they put up boards to show of the artists' work. Look how well done this is!
MaryKate is sitting on another piece of "street art"
Throughout Lyon, they have paintings on the side of buildings.
We stumbled across a book market.
One of the book stands along the river.
Old building in Lyon.
Cathedrale de Fourvière on Easter Sunday.
That evening, we had a nice Easter Sunday dinner at Katurah’s apartment (which is larger and has much more room for cooking than MK’s). Everyone had a hand in the meal in one way or another- Sarah (Katurah’s French roommate) gave us free reign of the kitchen; Katurah made a green bean and ham casserole; MK, Carolyn and I worked on the chicken with mushroom sauce (we added curry to the crème fraîche since that’s what Mireille always does here and everyone loved it); MK and I sautéed some zucchini and red/yellow/green peppers; Tuki (an Australian assistant) put together a fruit salad for dessert; Tuki’s girlfriend (visiting from Australia for a week) was in charge of pouring wine which Kara would open; Kara was in charge of pictures; and Carolyn was the music master. All 9 of us (MK, Carolyn, Kara, me, Katurah, Sarah, Tuki, and Tuki’s girlfriend) sat down for a wonderful dinner around 8 and finished around 11.
MK fixing the cake, I'm caffinating, and Katurah's setting up the music.
MK, Carolyn, and Katurah hard at work.
MK and I with the chicken and veggies.
Tuki fixing the fruit salad.
The food cooking.
The Easter dinner table.
Left to right, Katurah, Kara, Carolyn, Kara, Me, Tuki, Tuki's girlfriend
Not pictured because obviously we needed a photographer- Sarah
Katurah, MK, and Carolyn with the empty dishes and clean plates.
Katurah serving the cake.
The Wake girls with our host.
After dinner we returned back to MK's apartment to pack, and packing turned into story telling. Here is one of the videos we took of our story telling from the weekend, and it recounts a story of Kara moving at lightening speed to buzz MaryKate and I into the apartment building on Satuday night/Sunday morning, and how apparently she had a "false alarm" when Katurah's cell phone rang rather than the intercom system. I'm including this video (1) for when I look back and remember this trip and (2) to show the size of MK's apartment...how we squished 5 people + suitcases in on Saturday night, I'm not quite sure. But small quarters = bonding time!
Monday:
MaryKate has her vacation now (I have mine at the end of the month) so she went to Paris with the girls while I returned to Issoudun. Since going to Lyon, I have been catching up on sleep because, as my Dad says, I’ve been burning the candle at both ends. And while Monday was a holiday, I have a work-week here in Issoudun!
So keep in touch!
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