Fall Break Part 1: Lyon

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Welcome to the first of a three-part series about my fall break. First of all, how cool is it that I can go to a new country for fall break?? And on the weekends? My life, ladies and gentlemen.

SO. On Saturday morning, I woke up and packed for my flight later that day. I left my house earlier than planned because there was nothing to do, and I was antsy. I mean, France. C'mon. I had to buy new phone minutes because I'm responsible and stuff, and then I took a million forms of transportation to get to France. Tram to the Metro to the Bus to the Plane. I sat in the airport FOREVER.

Here's the thing I've learned about European airports. In America, what do you see in airports? FOOD. EVERYWHERE. McDonalds, Panda Express,
Starbucks, and a million other places that I'm pretty sure only exist in airports. European airports, on the other hand, are like 5th Ave. It's just full of designer clothes and jewelry. First of all, I'm pretty sure they didn't even check my passport at the Budapest airport at ALL. Then I went to get some food because I was a million hours early for my flight. The entire first floor of the airport has no food. The second floor is a food court plus a bistro. I was looking for somewhere to sit. Bistro it is. I had a very overpriced meal, but guess what. They took Erzsebets. For those of you who don't know, my job basically gives me food stamps called Erzsebets. They are pieces of paper that are worth either 500 forints or 1000 forints. You can't get change for them ever except for, like, 2 places. They work in all grocery stores and some restaurants. I still haven't decided how I feel about them in lieu of cash.

Anyway, France. I watched a little plane land outside my bistro that said "HOP!" on the side and thought, "I bet that's my sketchy little plane." First of all, I wasn't fully sure this airline was legitimate. It's a sub-airline of AirFrance that no one has seemed to ever heard of ever. Sure enough, an hour later, we're boarding this very same plane I saw out the window.

The flight to Lyon was GORGEOUS. I spent all two hours looking out the window (except when I was playing KenKen. Math is fun I swear). We flew over the Alps. My first time seeing that mountain range, I flew over the whole thing. So cool. I saw this giant lake at the foot of snow-capped mountains. I'm definitely going to live on that lake someday. I'm not sure what country it's in, but I will live there. Promise.

I landed, got off the plane, and someone said "Bonjour" to me. My first thought was "Omg people do that in France!" Giddygiddygiddy. I found my way to the Rhone Express, and met up with Carine. We threw my stuff in the car and drove through Lyon to find a parking spot. When we got out we walked around and I took a thousand pictures of buildings. We walked on cobblestone pedestrian streets through all these little squares and outdoor cafes, and I had just landed, and it was all so surreal to me. She took me down this one street where every French stereotype came true. She told me this was the big tourist district in Lyon.

Here's the thing about the tourist district in Lyon. In Lyon, the tourist street is antique book stores, bakeries, pastry shops, cafes, and street-side crepes. In Budapest, the tourist district is Hard Rock Cafe, H&M (to be fair, everything in Budapest has H&M), Rolex, and souvenir shops. Nem jol (no good). We went to a rooftop garden that was on top of a museum, saw some trinkets from the French Revolution, and stumbled upon a huge church that held an atomic clock.

Fun fact: some (drunk?) guy a few weeks ago (?) came in and decided it would be fun to smash the atomic clock with a hammer. Because that's a normal thing. So we couldn't get too close to it, unfortunately. Still pretty though.

There's also this enormous square in Lyon that doesn't have a whole lot in it. Imagine if Faneuil Hall in Boston didn't have Quincy Market in the middle. Now make it bigger. And more concrete. Right in the middle of this square was a statue of Louis XVI (I think. There are a lot of Louis's (I don't know how to properly pluralize that name)). I ate quiche because I was hungry, and...France. Carine and I walked forever and I took a million pictures of buildings and bridges and sunsets. Lyon is like the Boulder of France. If Paris is Denver, Lyon is where all the students come. It's really nice, clean, and young. And beautiful. On the side of the river are all these steps that people just hang out on and drink and have picnics and play guitar. It's really cool.

Eventually Carine and I got hungry and tired. What solves those things? WINE. We had a drink and met this really nice waiter who wants to open up a restaurant in New York City. He told us about a delicious restaurant near us for dinner. We walked over, and OH. MY. GOD. First of all, we sat down and were served an amuse bouche. Whatever that is. Something to...whet the appetite? It was a cold poppyseed mushroom soup served in what was basically a shot glass with a tiny spoon. I probably couldn't have eaten it faster.

We got a delicious bottle of wine to split, and had what was to be the first of (Spoiler!) many incredible meals in France. We started off with a salad that had lardons (thick bacon) and a poached egg and other deliciousness. The best was the entree. A typical Lyon dish, Carine told me. Except it was the best version of it that she's had. It was pike in a large dumpling COVERED in creamy lobster cheese sauce and a side of seasoned rice. We ate it so slowly because 1) wicked hot, 2) huge meal 3) savor it forever. No desert. Too good. We walked back to the car at the end of the meal because we definitely needed to walk it off.

We went home to Carine's flat and went to bed. Immediately.

Sunday morning I woke up and had a breakfast of cereal and coffee. Carine and I went grocery shopping. Everyone in France walks around with baguettes. It's a thing. The stereotype is true. Never again will I judge a movie/cartoon for portraying every French character having a baguette in his/her grocery bag. Carine then took me to a little park that had a gorgeous view of the whole city. Look at the pictures. It's really pretty. Except for the ugly Radisson, which they call "the pencil." I mean, who decided it was a good idea to build that? Blech. The rest was really pretty, though.

Then we went to see these Roman ruins. Who knew??? Makes sense, though, since the Holy Roman Empire controlled ALL OF THE THINGS at one point. It was so cool to be able to touch columns and stones that were forever years old. We wandered around there for a while and then went home for a light lunch of cheese and baguettes. Because France is all about the stereotypes, and I love it.

After lunch, Carine took me to the city park. It was HUGE. And GORGEOUS. I'm talking intricate gates when you walk up, giant fields, forest, a pond with paddleboats and rowboats, and botanical gardens. We went into the botanical garden, which was really cool. The architecture of the garden itself was definitely the coolest part though. Then we walked around the more and found a cactus garden because...sure. We got back home and had to drop Carine's son off to see his grandfather and cousin. On the way back we stopped to get Kirs. This guy came over and started doing card tricks for us. I swear it was real magic. The first one was slight of hand, sure. The second one...I can't even describe in a blog. Basically he showed us the deck, and it was different cards. Then he showed us the deck again and it was entirely one card. But the card I randomly picked. But way more impressive than that. We were BLOWN AWAY.

We went home and ate quiche lorraine for dinner, which was absolutely delicious. I slept soundly that night, got up the next morning, and took a train to Toulon.

And that concludes part 1.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Toulon. Coming your way...tomorrow!

Au revoir!

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Comments

[Jeej]

Lyon
Loved your Lyon blog. Love you. jeej