I will no longer speak English until August(except calling home). I feel weird typing in it now! This program involves complete immersion... I will only watch French TV, read the French newspaper, and of course speak in French.
Last night, the whole group went to dinner at restaurant le Nord, which is only a walk away from le residence.
The walk to dinner
We were treated to a typical French meal which includes seven courses: l'apértif or pre-dinner cocktail, une amuse-gueule, l'entrée, le plat principale or main course, le fromage/cheese, le dessert, le café (generally espresso), and finally un digestif which is a drink like whiskey to "aid in digestion."
The restaurant!
Our aperitif was a liqueur, crème de cassis (black currant and a white wine).
The entrée was a certain type of sausage with pistachios baked in a brioche:
Today we had our first classes. One of my professors will give 3-4 assignments per week where we must venture out on our own and ask a resident of lyon certain questions or discuss something with them. Sometimes, we must go somewhere specific and analyze the customs or complete a task.
This professor was born In Lyon and she certainly wants us to branch out from our comfort zones!
After class, I paid a visit to the grocery store.
Today, it was over 90 degrees in Lyon, and currently we are having what the French refer to as "la canicule" or a shocking heat wave.
The walk home from the grocery store, or anywhere I go in lyon, involves climbing one of the steepest hills up to our hotel. I'm enjoying the extra workout! Certainly, this makes one reconsider how many bottles of wine you want to carry home in your arms, and throughout the city, In whatever plastic bags you can find. These are great problems to have :)
I had the hardest time finding milk because, although I understood the instructions of the store employees, I didn't understand that the milk would be stacked in cartons alongside the crackers. In other words, I never expected to find the milk outside of a refrigerator.It's funny to realize the ways you're naive about another culture.
I love tea, all flavors and types. There were many unique teas in the store, including mango&lychee and rose&mint. I purchased the rose and mint along with some detergent for washing my clothes by hand.
Street art!!!
Wednesday
I returned to the nearby street market again to buy some fruits and do
some grocery shopping. This time, I was much more enthralled by the
people and animals. Below you can see a typical French dog. Before you
even meet the dog, you can tell his character. I've noticed the dogs
here generally are more wiry, and therefore have particular beards. The
dogs look French! They have a particular air about them and seem to want to be sophisticated.
This little boy was playing the air guitar on his baguette and skipping at the same time
This is the view out my window
And again
Later
we went as a class to buy unlimited metro passes for our stay here, as
we will have to frequently travel to watch a play or search for a
monument. The walk there along the river was gorgeous.
walking across the city 
We
then returned for a guided tour of the Croix Rousse, or the area where
we're staying. The area is extremely hilly, and is the where the world
renowned silk making of Lyon happened. Our tour guide took us to see the
roman ruins of the croix rousse
Roman ruins overlooking lyon
Our class, and professor Dorotée on the far right
To
my surprise, my day was not over yet! The professors each take several
students to dinner in the first two weeks, and it was my night. So,
immediately after the tour I crossed the city again for dinner at a
little restaurant named the Georgette, which has 60's decor. Dinner took
four hours!!!!!!! I got there at 8 and didn't leave until after
midnight.
My
appetizer was a melon soup which, surprisingly, was actually a melon
slushie. This is the first time I've had anything including ice in
France. It was served with more melon, meat, and cheese of course.
Friday the whole program went as a group to the Parc de la Tête d'Or and it was the most magnificent:
The entrance gate to the park and what lies behind it
There
are paddle boats for the lake, rose gardens, a botanical garden
including a vast amount of carnivorous plants, and my favorite...a zoo!
You
can see the giraffes on the left (a baby giraffe if you look
carefully!) and this primate who was just "hanging out" like this the
whole time we were there (and making funny faces at us).
The adorable red panda
Rose Gardens and Lavender
No comments:
Post a Comment