Blogs from Rhône-Alpes, France, Europe - page 95

hi everyone, well finally found the uni computer lab but this will have to be quick cos ive gotta go meet my roommate back in the courtyard to walk home. she's called torse, like wars, short for victoria and is australian but very lovely! i think it's gonna be good living with her. our appartment is pretty cool, quite central and a good size room. tiny kitchen, just an alcove off the path past the bathroom towards the nmain living/sleeping area. we went grocery shopping this morning, everything is so different and cool. lyon is absolutely beautiful. cat a girl from french at otago and i went shopping at la Part Dieu yesterday, this huge shopping mall right by this huge tower called le crayon. very ugly. its really hot here, especially in this lab....im sweltering. ... read more

We are now in Lyon, which is a fabulous city with the exception of the fact that it is so hot here I feel that I may die of heat stroke any moment. It is I think about +35 degrees here but also it is a lot more humid so that when you step into a particularily hot spot it feels like your lungs may collapse, whew. Our trip from Paris went well, we had a delicious lunch (I had some meat that I hope was beef...) and of course some more dessert and then said a nice farewell to our wonderfully nice landlord-guy and went to the train station. Turns out we havce to buy reservations (6€) for TGVs so we ended up having to wait awhile. Right now I'm reading Rob Roy by Sir Walter ... read more

Before leaving Flights direct from Dublin to Lyon used to be a dream. Until 28 or 29 March, and then it became reality. Suddenly you can go a whole lot of interesting (but previously awkward to get to) places and Lyon is one of them. I think the first time I heard of Lyon it was in some novel I read when I was about 13, about a family silk company. After that, it was mainly football, and some of my college friends spent their year abroad there. I've never been there though. I'm going there this weekend. I've been planning it a while. I went to Paris something like six times last year, and now, I'm broadening my horizons slightly. So this time Lyon. I know little bits of information about it: obviously it was ... read more

I have learned the true difference between vacationing and touring. I can barely walk my legs are so sore. My feet sting with pain, and my ankles each have matching bleeding blisters from my most comfortable boots! I took a minute to understand why and mapped out what I walked today (a typical day thus far) it's somewhere between 12 and 15 miles, plus standing around in lines, churches and museums. I'm on my feet at least 12 hour/day. Ouch! I feel a lot better now, I can clear my camera memory which was stressing me out. My laptop's back working, and everything's going to be ok. Where did I leave off? After writing you I went back to my room to change my socks, I'm going through 2 pairs a day. I reluctantly left my ... read more

Happy Easter Everyone By now you would have all made it back to work (except for those lucky souls who are still on holidays) and be wondering no doubt how I go on in France. First things first.......I have never, ever seen mountains so big and I have never ever seen so much different terrain. OK here is a rough acount of the trip: DAY 1 - Meribel Valley We skied from about 11:00am to 4:30pm and were well and truly stuffed by the end of it. It was a day of reaquainting oneself with the two planks and getting to know the Mountain......this may sound dumb, but believe me if you ever go the France and ski Les 3 Vallees you will understand what I mean. The lift network is amazing and the amount of ... read more