first visitor! :D

After about three days of waking up early, it was nice to sleep in and not have to worry about going anywhere. After just staying around for most of the day, I decided to go do my grocery shopping because it was such a nice day. I ended up going for a longer walk and checking out my school, which is about a 10-15 minute walk away. Because it's been holiday and doesn't open until Monday, the 29th, the whole campus was closed off. After grabbing some groceries, I went home, relaxed and talked to friends and family back home :) Also, because it was my 'relaxing' day, I didn't make anything to eat, but just ate a whole baguette and some cheese for breakfast, lunch AND dinner :S so delicious :P

My new school for the semester!

The next day, Sunday, I had planned on visiting a new church, but my jet lag set in again. So, I decided to sleep in again, which was a good idea because I was supposed to hang out with my friend from UW, Nicole, that day. So, after sleeping in, I went to pick her up at the train station, Part Dieu, which also happens to be where the mall is. After picking her up, we dropped off her suitcase at my apartment and made some salads for lunch with some very unripe avocados and other vegetables.. Then, we headed off to explore! :D

Because we had no more coins for the metro (they only take French credit cards and coins), we decided to walk from my place to Place Bellecour, the center of Lyon. It was about a 45 minute walk, but it was such a beautiful day, and we weren't rushing to go anywhere that it was just a really nice and relaxing walk. Since it was a Sunday, pretty much all of the shops were closed (except McDonald's..), but there were a lot of families riding their bikes around. 

Guillotière - named this because of the guillotines from way back when..

Looking south on the Rhône

North on the Rhône

'Only Lyon' in Place Bellecour - reminds me of 'I amsterdam'..

Théâtre des Célestins - used to be a convent from the 15th to 18th century
Napoleon used to attend shows at this théâtre!

After crossing the Rhône and walking around Bellecour and the Presqu'île, the 'peninsula' which is cut off on both sides by the rivers Saône and Rhône, we decided to rest for a bit. So, we found an open café and sat down for a glass of wine. We'd ordered coffee frappés from their menu, but for some reason, on this very warm day, they weren't serving any smoothie type drinks. So we settled for some wine.

Some wine at La Chapelle Café

After an hour or so if just relaxing and talking, we continued across the Saône to Vieux Lyon. This day was pretty similar to the second day that I spent with Caroline, but much more relaxing and nice because there was no rain and nowhere to go later in the day!

View of Basilique de Notre Dame from Passerelle de Palais du Justice.
The building on the bottom right with the columns is the Palais du Justice, sometimes called the Palace of the 24 columns. They started renovating it in 2008 and it won't finish until 2012 or 2013. 

View of the Croix Rousse, the artistic district, from the Saône

Metallic tower of Fourvière - Looks like the Eiffel Tower
People used to be able to go to the top in the first half of the 1900s, but now it's just a tv tower.

In Vieux Lyon, we walked around shops and looked for traboules again! (Seriously.. SO much fun!) Although, we got kicked out of one traboule that some French guy told us we couldn't go in there... Still confused by that one.. But it was still fun going through one door on one street and coming out in a completely different street.

 One of the more than 200 traboules in Lyon! 

One of the exhibits in a miniature museum in Vieux Lyon. The details in each exhibit are crazy!

Look how small it is!!

Another miniature exhibit

Close up of the exhibit in the picture above this one.

Side of the Cathédrale Saint-Jean - seat of the archbishop of Lyon
The front is being renovated, so the side has the best view at the moment.
Apparently, most of the construction in France happens in August because that's when most people in France are traveling, so they don't have to see the ugly construction sites of their cities...

Inside the cathédrale

After walking around Vieux Lyon, we bought some crêpes so we would have coins for the metro, then we took the funicular (cable railway) to the top of Fourvière. We stopped by a small shop to get some drinks and then went to the Roman amphitheatre to sit and relax. 

View of the Gallo-Roman museum (the window things) next to the amphitheatre.

Relaxing at the Roman amphitheatre :)

From the amphitheatre, we climbed up the short distance to the Basilique de Notre Dame. Since it was already around 20h00, there weren't very many people in the church, unlike the other day when I had come earlier in the day. The priest there came up to us and started speaking to us in Chinese, telling us that he'd just come back to Lyon from a month in China. After looking around the basilica for a while longer, we headed outside to see the view. 

Stained glass windows of the basilique.

Inside the basilique.

View of Lyon from outside the basilique.

After exploring, we took the funicular back down the hill and the metro back to my apartment. The next morning (this morning...), we woke up early because Nicole had a train to catch at Part Dieu to head off to the Swiss Alps for three days! So jealous! It was so nice to have her visit and be able to catch up since I hadn't even seen her in Seattle since probably some time in winter quarter! I'm sad to see her go, but it was wonderful to have her here :) Today is just another relaxing day, went and bought a hair dryer after I sent her off, because I couldn't bring my American one here in case it blew out! 


I've been asked many times when school starts, and I honestly have no idea! My school just opened up today after having holiday for the last month. So far, I haven't gotten any emails about orientations or classes. So, I guess I'll just keep waiting and see! But it IS France, and if they're not good at anything, it's being organized and on time... In the meantime, I'm okay with enjoying the beautiful weather here :) It's definitely a lot more consistent than the weather in Seattle! Phew, I need to get more efficient at these blogs... 


Missing all my friends and family! Hope you're all well! Bonne journée! <3

My lunch - salad with tomatoes, avocados, cucumbers, olives, mozzarella, and feta topped with herbes de Provence and olive oil :) (for Sammy boy)