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Published: July 24th 2012
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Annency Last week (Yes, it's been that long since I wrote my last entry), the university had organized an excursion to Annency, a small town with a gorgeous lake surrounded by the Alphes, located 2 hours from Lyon. Although I must admit that the lake and the mountains surrounding it were absolutely stunning, I was slightly disappointed by the town itself, which was packed with tourists and tourist shops...not my favorite thing in the world. The part of Annency that is closest to the lake is filled with lovely old building and bridges, giving it a very romantic view. But then again, if you walk 5 streets further you see the normal part of Annency, which is not that interesting really. As I had enough of the pretty but typically touristy parts of town, I climbed up a to reach Annency's chateau which housed a museum. And where I was expecting interesting historical information about Annency and the gorgeous insides of a chateau, the museum actually housed a lot of contemporary art! Some of it was fascinating, some of it was too contemporary for me, but generally it housed some interesting pieces. However, I think the highlight of my visit
to Annency was swimming in its lake (a refreshing dive is one thing, a refreshing dive with an amazing view of the mountains is a totally different thing)!!
More Lyon... On Friday, after french classes, my recently arrived other friend Nas (yes, it's busy in my appartment nowadays) went to Fourvierre and Vieux Lyon for some more touristic sightseeing. What was new for both of us, was our visit to the Gallo-Roman museum located next to Fourvierre's amphitheater. It houses a lot interesting pieces from the Gallo-Roman time in Lyon and it's surroundings and provides a lot of information. Apparently, Lyon has been an important city ever since Roman times and many archeological pieces have been found there. While visiting the museum I also learned that besides the amphitheater, there also is small amphitheater, the odeon, next to the big theater! And, as the museum is build into the mountain and has a massive window overlooking both theaters, I also got to see it! Furthermore, while wandering around Lyon some more, we ran into Nizier church... a lovely small church hidden between uninteresting buildings!
Croix Rousse. The next day, we visited Croix Rousse, one of Lyon's
departments that is famous for its Silk industry history. Apparently, from 16
th century on, Lyon was the most important city for silk production, yet nowadays there is a lot of creativity going on in Croix Rousse. However, from what I've seen, I was kind of disappointed by what it had to offer (I was expecting pretty old buildings, but in that sense Croix Rousse is not that special). It does however houses a Silk museum, an incredibly small one with shop that sells silk products. Personally, I wasn't too impressed, but it did give me a good insight into the silkworkers horribly low wages, which led to the silk workers' riots. As for creativity, Croix Rousse does house some special bars, galleries and shops, but still I was expecting a bit more. However, as Croix Rousse is located on a hill, you do have a nice view over Lyon and the Fourvierre Hill! While we were at the roman museum in Fourvierre, we found out there is an amphitheater at Croix Rousse as well! Unfortunately, it is less impressive as the one in Fourvierre, as it is more damaged...
Tout le monde dehors!! In July, August and part
of June, there is a festival-like event called “Tout le Monde Dehors” (Translated: Everyone Outside) which organized free cultural outdoor events! We visited one of these events, called Les Dimanches d'Ile Barbe. Every Sunday in July, on an island in the Saone river (Ile Barbe), 3 Jazz/world music concerts are organized. As the island was at an, for me, unknown part of Lyon, the trip showed me a different part of Lyon... One with a lot more nature! As the island is not very big and there are no famous artists performing, the concerts had a very nice relaxed atmosphere and I had a good time listening to some Caribbean 50's inspired music! (And watching everyone dance...especially that! 😊
As I spend my Mondays and Tuesdays in class from 9am to 4pm, I don't generally have a lot interesting things to write about them, and today is not very different... Except for one thing...IN 1 WEEK I WILL BE BACK IN HOLLAND!!
I am realizing this more and more, and it seem very unreal to me. As I was writing this blog, I watched the sun set from my room and noticed that I will miss this place...
One month seems like such a long time, but it passed so quickly and in that short period of time I learned so much!
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