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Published: November 6th 2006
Just got back last night from a little tour of Lyon and Grenoble. Things have been going well. Fall finally decicded to reach Montpellier. About a week and a half ago it was still 70 degrees. So here is the breakdown of my trip:
Last Wednesday: Leave for Lyon around 9:30 am. Felt nice to get a little vacation because I had just turned in my dreaded Essay for my multiculturalism class. Yeah, it wasn't so hard to write about the Rwandan genocide and whether it was an ethnic conflict or the result of tribalism or the result of a complex network of political, social and economic factors, IN FRENCH. Quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself. We will see what the prof thinks.... Anyway. We arrive in lyon around lunch time and check into our little hotel. ( the hostel was full the first night). Oh, yes, the We I refer to is Me, Genevieve and Anita, two of the people I spend the most time with here. We get settled and go find some lunch. Ate at a jovial italian restaurant with a very nice, family vibe. Oh the Italians. After that we walked around near the Rhone river ( two rivers meet and flank the side of Lyon)> Now it gets fuzzy because it was a whirlwind tour. We ended up seeing a movie because it was so cold and some of us weren't properly dressed. Ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant. went to bed early. Thursday Morning we changed locations and went to the hostel. the book describes it as superbly located in Vieux Lyon ( Old Lyon) but we disagreed initially because we had to hike up this huge hill to get to it with all of our baggage. We discovred later on that there is a funicular ( tram type thing ) in the metro station where we had been that takes you up to the top of the hill. We used that from then on. The hostel was bustling. We were in a 6 person room with your basic bunkbeds, "shower" type room and sink. toilets were on the hall. hte view down the hill toward the city was beautiful. My friends were less than pleased with the hostel, but I think its all part of the experience. We also got breakfast included in our price, so we stocked up on baguettes, jam, butter, cereal and coffee/juice every morning to try and spend less during lunch. Nobody threw a fit or anything so that was good. So, Thursday morning we went down to old Lyon and had coffee and baguettes and found this cool miniature museum. What is a miniature museum? Well, its a three story building with little doll-house like scenes that different artists have made. One guy was incredible. We made models of real buildings in and around Lyon to scale. He included every tiny detail. it was very impressive. After that we went into a cathedrale and then went further down to the newer part of lyon which is pedestrian friendly and still had your standard beautiful European buildings. We walked around and saw an exhibit that described the resistance during WWII.Lyon and its people were very involved. It was interesting. After that we walked really far north and found the Cinema museum which was inside the house of the Lumiere Brothers ( the fathers of cinema). It was so cool. We didn't get to stay long there because it closed early. We found dinner in the same little area where we had eaten our other meals. Saw another movie ( such a good language exercise) and went back to the hostel early. Friday Morning We went even farther uphill to see the Basillica Notre Dame. It was very ornate and sparkly and detailed. Genevieve wasn't feeling well so Anita and I went shopping for warm clothes while she rested. I had to buy gloves, a hat and long johns and more socks because i hadn't packed very well for the cold. ( Anita, the pro-organizer of the grtoup was perfectly prepared). There's always a good excuse to go to H&M., but i didn't abuse my money, only buying winter necessities that I didn't have back here in Montpellier. So. After some limited shopping, Anita and I navigated toward the Musuem of modern art. We ended up on a hilltop rather far away but eventually found it and even stumbled across a huge park that was pleasant to walk through. There was a really neat photography exhibit that focused on daily life, a whole floor devoted to random japanese anime cartoonish stuff, as well as a room filled with string. literally, there were billions of balls of string/thread just lying around on the floor. After that we went to the fine arts museum. We got to see some Picasso and Matisse and Gaugin and Raol Dufy (my favorite French artist) Very cool. Also saw your standard religious paintings and such. We went back to the hostel for a rest, then had an early dinner at an Indian restaurant followed by a drink at a very local brasserie ( bar/café type place) in Old Lyon. Overall it was a very lowkey trip. I think the cold weather deterred us from going out late. Saturday Morning we left for Grenoble ( a little bit south, by the Alps) We got there and found the hostel which was way outside town. luckily it had great facilities. very clean, organized, new. We headed into town after depositing our stuff, ate lunch, saw a church, rode the TELEPHERIQUE! Now, the telepherique is probably the coolest thing ever. There is an old fort on top of the mountain on one side of grneoble and you get to ride up to it in an egg shaped ball suspended on wire that goes above the river. Its like a little spaceship or something. it was awesome. Once again, we had great views of the city. We also saw another art museum, and another movie. We squuezed in the natural history museum before leaving yesterday ( sunday). overall impressions of Grenoble: kind of a sleepy place, not as pedestrian friendly as other places, lots of old people, someplace i don't feel like I need to visit again, but worth the trip. It was great to see different areas of France and get out of Montpellier for awhile. Montpellier can start to feel rather small after awhile.
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Mom
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Sounds wonderful!
Elizabeth: Your excursion to Lyon and Grenoble sounds great! We are glad you are getting to see more of France. I hope your sisters will add an entry comment to your blog one of these days. Love Mom