Right Out of a Storybook

Today, my friend Danielle and I visited Annecy, a small town near the border of Switzerland. We got to the train station at 7 in the morning, just as the sun was rising, and took a bus to the small town two hours northeast of Lyon.

When we arrived, it was chilly and quiet. We walked from the train station, where the bus had dropped us off, to the center of the town where we found a café to have breakfast. After some hot coffee, eggs, and bacon, we were ready to take on the town! By then, there were more people wandering up and down the canals and the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds.

Breakfast time!

First, we headed to the big farmer's market. It was absolutely incredible! Several times bigger than the one I've been to on the quai in Lyon, there were producteurs selling all kinds of things. We passed a stand that was selling at least 15 different types of olives, another with fresh produce and zucchini bigger than my forearm, and another with a huge variety of sausage/salami that you could taste-test! Having a hard time resisting all the delicious foods, we decided to buy some tomme cheese, strawberries, and salami we could eat for lunch.

Olive stand on one of the bridges of the canal

Fresh produce at the farmer's market

Les saucisscons!

Our most exciting find was a beautiful, small bakery with supersized pastries! There, we bought some warm, fresh bread and an enormous meringue.

We spent another hour wandering the streets, marveling at the beautiful doors and adorable houses we passed.  We met several friendly storekeepers, an old man who worked at a tea store and a proud macaron-maker (he made ancien macarons, which are made out of just almond paste, fruit, and honey). We also came across a street artist who was painting canvasses with spray paint! His methods reminded me a lot of Theo's so I had to stop and admire his work, which opened a conversation between us. He was extremely kind and curious, excited to hear that my brother did a similar type of art.

After some more exploring, the sun had come out and it was time to enjoy our farmer's market finds!

Our little picnic

Following our picnic, we rented a pedal-boat and made our way out into Lac d'Annecy. The view was breathless, to say the least.

Before we knew it, it was mid-afternoon and we had to catch our train back to Lyon.

Annecy is one of my favorite places I have ever been to. With its beautiful and old buildings on the canal, its flower boxes hanging from windows, and the town's seemingly leisurely way of life, it is not only charming, but quickly gives you a familiar sense of homeyness. I hope to return many more times before the end of the year to this mini paradise.

Santé!

We're finally done with our ILP! After our final presentations and tests, we are as ready as we'll ever be to start the semester next Monday.

Celebrating the end of ILP!

Commentary

France is an interesting country with interesting people.

I have been in France for exactly a month now and I have had the privilege to see Paris, several parts of the south, and Lyon. Each place has it's own personality and spirit, but they all share similar traits such an incredible public transportation system and beautiful, old buildings and squares. However, being the person that I am, it's the people I find most interesting.

To begin, I'll mention a few superficial things I have noticed. First, many more French people have tattoos than I expected. Second, what is with all of the suped-up sneakers? Colorful tennis shoes is one thing, but I do not support the high-heeled/platformed Nikes movement. And last, there is a little bit of truth behind the stereotype that supports the idea that some French people should be using more deodorant. To be honest, I really think it is the type of deodorant they're using. A perfume spray is not going to eliminate body odor, it is going to mix with it. Anyway...

As I previously stated, the public transport system is phenomenal. The train, the bus, the tram, and the metro are all extremely organized and efficient. Here, in Lyon, I take the tram every day to go to and from class, as well as around town. The first thing I noticed was the readiness with which people gave up their seats for seniors. Whenever an elderly woman or man steps on to the tram and there are no available seats, a young man or woman gets up immediately and offers his/her own. Not to say people in the U.S. would not offer their seats too (I wouldn't really know since I rarely use public trans at home), but there is a distinct respect for the older generation that is regularly observed here in France that I truly admire.

Another thing I have seriously learned since arriving in France is there is a pronounced difference between politeness and friendliness. At home, we (or, at least, I) think that the two are one and the same - how can one be polite without being friendly? Well, in France, I have learned that you can most certainly be polite without being friendly. When you are in a restaurant or store in France, the unwritten law (yes, I would definitely say law) is that you say bonjour the moment you step foot inside, and when you get to the register when in a store, and au revoir the moment you leave. However, these greetings between the client and store-person are often cold. Watching the French do this exchange is the most bizarre and I, being a foreign "client", am often uncomfortable with the frosty politeness.

This being said, I would not call the French hostile people. As I have met many French people the last few weeks, I would say that though there is rarely a sense of amiability between strangers, there is a warmness shared between friends (I say this in relative terms because to judge the French by American - or more specifically, my own - standards of warm and friendly would not be very fair).*


There you have it, my first few remarks on the French culture.


*Of course, there are always exceptions. My host family and a few waiters I have encountered are very open and kind, as well as a few administrative people and professors I have met at the university.

A Lyonnaise Weekend

I had a wonderful time buying produce yesterday at the farmer's market by the Rhône. It was so much fun to see what all the producers had to offer that morning: cheese, honey, fresh fruits and vegetables, homemade paella, fresh flowers, rotisserie chicken... 

The best 17€ I've ever spent

Today, I...(drum roll, please)...hung out with French people! For the first time since I have been in France, I spent an afternoon with French people my age. Essentially, a few of us Americans went with a French girl one of us knew to a park outside the center of Lyon where a DJ was playing music for the afternoon. The grounds were packed with mostly French high school and college students with a few families here and there. 

The bustling park

To be completely honest, we mainly hung out with the one French girl. (Side note: young French people are not extremely curious; besides initial introductions, they were ultimately uninterested in us Americans.) Nevertheless, we had a great time drinking overpriced beer and rosé at this free music event and practicing our French.

Opening Week in Lyon

I just finished my first full week in Lyon and, I have to say, I love this city. It is so alive with its two rivers, its old and new town, and its bouchons. Every day, I discovered something new: a different metro stop Monday, a candy store Tuesday, weather trends Wednesday... The list goes on.

The days of the week were filled with classes (oral, writing, and "technique universitaire") that are as tedious as they sound, but, in fairness, helpful in preparing us for the upcoming semester.  And, as we have started taking French classes at a French university, it is amazing to see how (no offense) inefficient the system is here. You don't receive an email when your class time or location changes (which happens much more often than you expect) and there is no specific office where you can get this information because even the secretary doesn't know. It's definitely going to take some getting used to.

On Wednesday, a few of us Americans attended the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Lyon by the Allies. We saw original jeeps used for the operation, veterans, and American flags everywhere! My favorite part about the celebration was the mini concert put on, featuring a French woman singing some American songs from the 40s and all the old couples swing dancing. 

Place Bellecour on the day of the celebration

And on Thursday, my friend (who did the same program last year and is technically the peer advisor for us abroad students) showed me my new cafe! 

Today, everyone was relieved it was finally the weekend. A few of us grabbed some lunch at "Crock n Roll", a croque-monsieur place, and shopped around Presqu'île, the heart of Lyon, before going home for dinner. 

Le Croq'Urbain (mascarpone, pepper, country ham, fresh mushrooms)

Place des Jacobins

So there, week one down!

A bientôt, Meera!

Meera left this morning! For her last dinner before returning to London, we visited Vieux Lyon and enjoyed another delicious Lyonnaise meal with friendly service and table-neighbors. 

Nous sommes sur le pont d'Avignon!

We visited Avignon today! Our train from Lyon left at 7, yes 7, in the morning and arrived in Avignon around 9:30am. We had an extravagant "French breakfast" before exploring the town.

Once you get to the square where the Palais des Papes is, you are overwhelmed by the building's size. It is huge! As we approached the entrance, a young man dressed as a jester (we later found out his costume was an original Pope's guard uniform from the 1300s) looked at us in awe. "Are you Tahitian? You're very beautiful," he said to us. He had clearly never seen a Tahitian before because neither of us have ever been mistaken for that in our lives, but it was very nice of him (and extremely funny for us).

The Palais des Papes from the square

Anyway - the 'palais' was incredible. It was an enormous fortress in the middle of the city where six papal conclaves were held from the early to late 1300s. It's actually made up of two buildings: the old Palais of Benedict XII and the new Palais of Clement VI. It took us a good two and a half hours to see it all. 

View from the top of the palace

What was interesting was that there was a modern artist being featured in the palace. His unusual works were hung all over the wall. It gave the big, bare walls color but the nude female subjects seemed extremely out of place in the religious landmark. 

Some of the art on the palace's walls

After our tour in the Palais des Papes, we walked to the Pont Saint-Bénézet (better known as the Pont d'Avignon). We had a great time, despite the wind blowing extremely aggressively.

 

By the time we finished up at the bridge, we were exhausted. So we went and got some ice cream, naturally, and then made our way back to the train station to wait for our ride back to Lyon!