Lyon, at last!

It's been a crazy past couple of days!

Sunday was our last day in the south of France. We toured the small city of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, where Jo lives, before heading east to Menton for lunch. In Menton, we had Indian food - it was so delicious! I had been missing my regular dose of ethnic cuisine so it was nice to have something other than French food (as delicious as it is, of course). We had dinner at home: polenta with sautéed zucchini and eggplant, fresh cheese on the side. It was one of the best meals I've had in Europe - the ingredients so fresh...

View from the castle

(French) Indian food! YUM!

Monday, we hopped on the morning train to Lyon. We got to our hotel in the early afternoon and met up with my host dad soon after that. He was extremely friendly and gave my mother and I a tour of their (big) apartment. Afterward, we walked into the Centre-Ville and explored town. We window-shopped and restaurant-browsed until we got to the square in front of the Hôtel de Ville where we sat down for a drink, which turned into dinner.

Standing over the Rhône River

Today was much more exciting than yesterday. We woke up early and went to the old town. Even though it was raining, it was fun to explore St-Jean, see the cathedral, and find all the secret passageways built within the buildings. These "traboules" are found behind regular looking doors and are paths from street to street through the buildings themselves - it's cool because you can see a bit of a hidden world.

Side view of Cathédrale St-Jean-Baptiste de Lyon

Courtyard inside a traboule

After walking around the old town, we had lunch at Chez Hugonierre where we had a very traditional Lyonnaise meal.

Salad lyonnaise, saucisson chaud

Following lunch, we went to the train station to get my mother's ticket for Paris tomorrow. Then, we got my things together and brought over my big suitcases to my host family's apartment. We met my host mom and her son, both who were extremely kind and welcoming. The family was kind enough to let me leave my things there while I have orientation (we technically don't move in with our host families until Saturday).

We then took the bus up to the Parc de la Tête d'Or, which was beautiful but felt a little pointless. We just walked around the lake before hopping back on the bus and going to the Centre-Ville for dinner.

Parc de la Tête d'Or view

Lyon at night

Tomorrow is the first day of the program! Can't wait :)