Paris // Lyon // Nice // Le-Puy-en-Velay
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TODAY was a fun day. Spoilers, today was a great food picture day. Let's start from the top. I had a very comfortable sleep (thanks Gaspard and family). I had a typical French breakfast of bread ("Oui oui baguette"), coffee (long), jam (standard), and butter (much tastier). Today was all about Lyon. Last night, Gaspard's parents taught me about how Lyon was founded and progressed as a city, traveling from the left of the Saône River and extending past the Rhône River. I may botch up the history (and I also don't feel like typing it out), so you can lookup the history and development of Lyon if you please. I assure you, it is very cool. After eating and getting ready, the chill crew (aka Ty, Gaspard, Gaspard's lovely girlfriend, and I) traveled via metro to what is known as Vieux Lyon. According to Gaspard, there are two famous hills in Lyon, the first one being Fourvière and the other being Croix-Rousse. Fourvière was our first stop and it had a beautiful view of the city. I loved looking at the red and orangey roofs over the hilltop. We then entered the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière. It too was a beautiful sight - I don't see too many grand churches or cathedrals in Jersey. After that, we walked down some hills and approached Théâtre antique de Lyon, otherwise known as the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière. The theatre was actually built by the Romans way back when and has lasted since. We transitioned to the shops and eateries area afterwards. Already, Lyon had such a different vibe than Paris. By midday, I realized that I do appreciate Lyon more, though Paris is also a great city. I am probably biased because I actually had a guide in Lyon, whereas I was alone in Paris. Gaspard and his girlfriend did give helpful commentary. Not to generalize France, but Lyon definitely looked more quintessential France to me - cobblestone paths and roads, eateries everywhere, tallish warm-colored buildings, lots of walkers. Lyon also had a slower pace than Paris, more laid-back and relaxed. For lunch, we stopped by a random shop and I had a sandwich, a carbonated beverage, and a raspberry tart. All quite delicious - the sandwich actually had brie cheese, unbeknownst to me when I purchased it. Brie is my favorite cheese. After eating, we did more walking and visited some secondhand stores. Gaspard's girlfriend knew all the good places, so I enjoyed the selections we browsed. Allegedly, René Nardone is known for great ice cream in Lyon. I had a scoop of chestnut (supposedly amazing, according to Gaspard & co) and a scoop of hazelnut on a cone. We walked to the nearby Saône River, sat down, and enjoyed the view. It was cool to see so many other people sitting by the river, smoking, talking, eating, etc. It all seemed so natural. I took some very ~aesthetic~ pictures. Again, great views. More walking, more walking. We eventually ended up at a cafe where I ordered a cappuccino. It was a long day, so the trip to the cafe was more for relaxaing, recharging, and relying on their free wifi. Gaspard laid out some ideas for Ty and me to pursue for the rest of the day. He and his girlfriend then dipped and we were on our own. As per their recommendation, we searched for Opéra de Lyon. Great recommendation. We elevatored up to the 7th floor of the renowned opera house (for reference, the bottom picture of the building with the black arched roof is the opera house) and witnessed a rooftop view of the city as well as a good view of City Hall. Gaspard and his girlfriend mentioned there was a bar on the rooftop of the house, but I didn't think much of it. It was honestly so stunning. Ty and I purchased glasses of red wine and nested ourselves in a comfy table overlooking the city. The sun was starting to peep from behind the clouds and the whole experience was very picturesque, very quintessential France? Good wine, good conversation, good view. As mentioned previously, there are two famous hills in Lyon. We tried to find Croix-Rousse, the other hill of Lyon, in time for the sunset. After many stairs and random graffiti, we successfully found the hill, as well as the famous rock that accompanied it, Gros Caillou. However at the time, I did not realize the rock was important. It is. By this time, it was around 10PM or so. We were hungry, and most places were only serving drinks. After blindly searching for food, we stumbled upon a pizza shop that was still taking customers. At this pizzaria was my first English-French Google Translate experience. The owners were quite nice, but knew limited English. With the power of Ty's high school French, my Reddit and YouTube research, and Google Translate, we communicated just fine. Ty randomly chose a pizza and we ate it pleasantly. Twas a good experience, overall.
After taking 3 different lines of the Lyon Metro, we finally made it back to Gaspard's place in one piece. The day was incredibly long and tiring, but also full and valuable. I definitely have a deeper appreciation for Lyon and its origins as well as France as a whole. And I think I finally feel comfortable being in France. I want to learn more French! Bonsoir.
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New blog, who dis?Hello! My name is Minhee and I am a packaging student. I am documenting my travels at these places: ArchivesCategories
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