The Hills Have Wine

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THURSDAY (02/10/2008)--The Little Lions Welcome us to Lyon

After playing cards for the majority of our 10 hour train trek, we arrived in Lyon, the third largest city in France, just before midnight on Thursday 2 October. Much to our dismay, our hotel reception was not open when we got there. Twenty minutes passed of persistent banging, when (voila!) a middle-aged woman with hardened eyes and graying hair revealed herself. In a severely groggy state, she reluctantly checked us in all the while murmuring in French. The window to the reception counter opened, rising up like a garage door. Accompanying her were two cats named "Pikachu" and "Bisquick". We had a feeling that we were in for quite an interesting weekend.


FRIDAY (03/10/2008)--Stumbling Upon Amphitheaters

We started our day by wandering through downtown Lyon, heading upwards toward the top of the city. Distracted by stunning views overlooking the entire city, we stumbled upon two ancient amphitheaters dating from 50 BC that marked the former center of Roman Gaul. Massive slabs of stone were positioned impressively facing a stage made of several different kinds of marble that were imported from all over the Mediterranean. The backdrop of Lyon was quite a spectacle. The three of us hung out there for an hour or two, observing some French children on a field trip and a man lying in one of the rows reading a play aloud to himself.

We then headed down the winding trails in the park back towards the center of the city. Eventually we wandered back to our hotel to make some dinner in our handy kitchenette. We grilled some crepes with cheese and tomatoes, drank some beer, and relaxed for a while before heading back into town.


FRIDAY NIGHT--Underground Lyon

After an hour or two of unsuccessful bar hunting at night, we made our way into an intimate bar called "Bar"; how fitting, indeed. A beer or two in I struck up a conversation with a guy named Romain who was very friendly, which I did not necessarily expect from a Frenchman. He told us that he received his Bachelor's degree in American politics, nodding approvingly when we told him that we were from Boston. We then had a really insightful discussion about the French view of America, and our American perspective of our country's reputation. He told us that many French fail to disassociate liberal-minded, level-headed Americans from the stereotypical American model. I was appreciative of the fact that he was willing to have a fair and intelligent conversation about our great American mess. Instead of feeling alienated as an American, which I had anticipated being in France, I was relieved that Romain channeled his disgust towards specific elements such as the Bush Administration itself, rather than at the overgeneralized, homogenizing term like "Americans". Basically, it was refreshing to feel understood and welcomed as a young American student, and to not be associated with people and politics that I do not agree with, or associate myself with in the first place.

Anyways, enough of my political rant. We also discussed traveling in Europe, French culture, and wine of course. Romain's eye's lit up and his language became more romantic when he began talking about the experience of having "a good piece of meat and a good red wine. The way it..." He titled his head slightly searching for the right words to comment on the magical way in which quality meat and choice wine complement each other. After a short pause, and with a sense of undeniable joy and pride, he said, "...symbiosis." Enough said.

As the bar was closing, Romain asked if we would be interested in going to an underground Jazz club. We said yes without question. After a short walk from the bar, we approached an unassuming apartment building; we went in and opened an otherwise ordinary door that revealed a set of stairs that led downstairs to "Hot Club": an intimate bar and adjoining stage and seats. There were about a dozen people around, and a lone man fiddling with the piano. I ordered some wine (en Francais, sort of) and was then encouraged by Romain and his friends to get up on the stage and play something on the piano. I usually don't respond well to being put on the spot, but a combination of the ambiance and Romain's befriending attitude, I jumped up on stage and mustered the only song I can play on the piano: that of "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star". Even after messing up a few basic notes they all applauded and cheered afterwards. That was a very fun moment, regardless of my nonexistent piano skills.

After hanging out for a little while and talking with one of Romain's friends, we decided to call it a night. We thanked him for taking us under his wing and showing us around, especially because his friends had been, however jokingly, making complaints as to how he was "talking with the enemy". He amusingly refuted their comments, and had enjoyed our company, as did we. We said goodnight and headed back to the hotel, discussing how incredible it was that a Frenchman befriended three Americans who spoke very poor French amid an American-caused, worldwide economic crisis. Perhaps initially my expectations of the French attitude towards Americans was skewed, but that was quickly readjusted. What a great night, indeed.


SATURDAY (04/10/2008)--Lumiere Brothers Museum and Couchsurfing

Wasting no time following a quick breakfast (by which I mean, walking with a croissant), we made our way to the Lumiere Brothers Museum on the outskirts of Lyon. Just to give those of you readers a quick head's up who haven't taken Film History, the Lumiere Bros. were among the early pioneers of film, developing the cinematograph and being some of the first to have public screenings of motion pictures.

So as a film student, I was very excited about going to the museum. But what I didn't know is that the building that the museum is in was the residence of the Lumiere Brothers. Also, next store to the museum is what once stood the Lumiere Factory, where the short film "Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory" was shot. This film along with nine others was a part of the series famously shown at the Grande Cafe in Paris in 1895, which is considered the debut of the motion picture to the general public. So, in simple terms, it was really awesome to be at the Lumiere Museum to ascribe an actual place in front of me to some of the most significant pioneers in all of film history.

We then walked around the outskirts of Lyon and got to see some of the more residential neighborhoods.

After a few more hours of wandering we headed to the apartment of our couchsurfing hosts, Pauline and Camille. If you aren't aware, couchsurfing is an online community in which people offer to welcome you into their homes for free; you can search by city all over the world, look at people's profiles, and send them a message to contact them. The community is based around meeting new people, traveling, sharing, and an overall good life philosophy. Here is the link to Pauline and Camille's couchsurfing profile:

http://www.couchsurfing.com/profile.html?id=5INDO60

So we found their flat with a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine in our hands for gratitude and they welcomed us with open arms. I can not even stress how friendly and hospitable they were to the three of us. They live in the part of the city that has a beautiful, panoramic view of all Lyon which was great; the metro climbed the fairly steep hill with impressive ease. After introducing each other, they showed us all around Lyon to many streets and places that we would not have otherwise seen.

We then went back to their neighborhood and picked up some groceries for diner. They steamed potatoes and had a heater that you could warm up and melt cheese (along the lines of fondue); we also had turkey, ham, tomatoes, and onions. After 3 days of bread and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, just the fact that this meal was warm made it great. But the combination of buying the food together, watching them cook and prepare it as we got to know them better, and sharing it with some excellent French wine (symbiosis!) made this meal very memorable. And for desert we had diced apples with cinnamon and this creamy, but salty caramel spread that's popular in the west of France. Everything was very delicious; we were very appreciative of this meal. I believe we talked about it on the train today for roughly 20 minutes.

After dinner, we took some beer and sat on a wall overlooking all of Lyon (if I haven't stressed enough, Lyon has incredible views from this part of the city). By this time, the sun was completely set and the lights were shimmering orange and yellow. It was amazing! We enjoyed the view for a little while and then headed to Pauline and Camille's favorite bar: L'abreuvoir (The Feeding Trough). The night life in Lyon, as referenced in my guide book of Europe, is "fast and furious" as it is a big college town; after a few minutes downtown, I could not have agreed more with that description.

L'abreuvoir had a great energy. There was a bouncer and a decent line waiting to get in, but since Pau and Cam are awesome locals, we bypassed the entire line. It seemed as if everyone in the bar were friends; definetly a neighborhood bar. They were playing French rock music and a few women were dancing on the tables. The bartenders, two men, took off their shirts, squirted beer all around, and took a shot for every shot that a customer had. We all did a shot together, putting our hand and fist over the top of the shotglass; then we slammed the shotglass against the bar, banged it up against the wood above the bar near the low ceiling, and then drank it. We stayed for a few hours and drank blonde Belgian beer, which I like very much. When we left, the tiny, winding streets were packed full with people. It was crazy.

The ascent up to the top of the steep hill was exhausting, but a lot of fun nonetheless. After we got back to their flat, Pau and Cam insisted that we try a shot of absinthe. They put the absinthe in the shotglass, placed a spoon with a cube of sugar, and then lit the sugar on fire. We then blew the sugar out, put it in the shotglass, and drank/ate it. I will not soon forget that distinct taste: burnt, coarse sugar trying to makes its way down your throat. It was memorable, to say the least. Pau and Cam were laughing hysterically at the sight of us. I imagined it's one of their traditions when hosting coachsurfers, basking in the hilarity of watching people attempt this maneuver for the first time after a night on the town. Nonetheless, it was definetly a highlight of our trip to Lyon.

Soon thereafter we divided the sleeping spaces between a blow-up mattress and a futon. Pau and Cam were very maternal in setting up our sleeping space, but it, regrettably, did not go to the extent of them tucking us in and kissing us on the foreheads. I could tell that they enjoyed our company just as much as we enjoyed theirs. It was definetly the best way to experience Lyon, to get a true sense of the city. Overall, I loved Lyon especially in the sense that we got the chance to experience French culture in a city roughly the size of Boston. It was manageable and less touristy than I anticipate Paris to be. Also, we had the chance to meet French people from the West and South of France, which was definetly an interesting experience. We are absolutely planning on doing more coachsurfing in the coming weeks and months.

Next trip (extended travel break): Thursday 9/10 to Split and Dubrovnik, Croatia; Tuesday 14/10 to Vienna, Austria; Thursday 16/10 to Prague, Czech Republic.

Note: My next post will not be until either 21 or 22 of October.

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Photos

Terrace
View from our hotel window

Jigsaw puzzle
Zoomed in on a bunch of houses.

Cooking
Crepes with cheese & tomatoes

Hot Club
Me playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"; Romain dancing

L'abreuvoir
Saturday night at L'abreuvoir!

Pauline et Camille
Our wonderful hosts!

Absinthe
Flaming sugar on a spoon, resting on top of the shot glass