Blogs from Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France, Europe - page 22

So school finally started. But the social life here in Lyon continues. It seems like every night there are at least four different places you could be, each with plenty of wine and people and smoke (apparently the French don’t believe in opening windows). Every time you enter a room it takes a while to make out people through the thick cloud of smoke, and it’s not just in pubs and bars but at peoples' places as well. I am really looking forward to the no smoking in public places laws to come in (this month I think) but to be honest I can’t see anyone here taking any notice of something as trivial as the law if it interferes with their right to enjoy their night. While I am hoping the laws make some difference ... read more

Ok, so this is an additional entry to the upcoming one as I feel it deserves some much needed attention! So we were in a pub on sunday night called "Johnny Walshe's" watching the Superbowl. This place is about a 10 minute walk from our residence, is pretty quaint, and attracts a lot of Brits - due to its English staff and live music in the evening. So as a bunch of french customers start to filter out, we manage to grab a couple of the very few available seats in the pub (the place is packed to the brim, which surprises me because no one likes NFL here), but to our surprise, we are quickly told that the seats are reserved by this English group - they entered the pub about 5 minutes after some ... read more

Bonjour mes amis! Well, the last time I posted I had just been on a tour around Vieux Lyon and to the Roman Amphitheatre. Last night - saturday - a few friends and I got to go see Olympique Lyonnais at Stade Gerlande! First of all, i'll give a little bit of background information on Olympique Lyonnais for those who don't pay attention to soccer. Lyon has won the french league title (the french league is called Ligue 1) 5 years in a row. Everyone in France HATES Olympique Lyonnais because they've won the league so many times, and have such a stranglehold on the french league, so it's rather interesting to hear other french people complain about Olympique Lyonnais. Also, Olympique Lyonnais are known for their crowd which is extremely colourful and loud! While it's ... read more

Hey Everyone, Well...today I officially got a french cell phone! Don't worry, nothing too spectacular, pretty normal cell phone. I was informed by my Finnish friend Tero today that there is an indoor hockey rink in town near where I live! There is also a hockey team here, but the quality is understandably questionable. But because admission is 2 euros, it might be worth pursuing. Today my dutch friends Ezri, Luuk, and I did a bit of sight-seeing as most of our friends from residence decided to jet over to Geneva for the day. I think Luuk and Ezri and I are going to make a trip over there one weekend, but for more than just one day (we found a hostel that is 80 euros a night for 4 people - including breakfast - so ... read more

Just testing to see if this sends out an e-mail to you guys. Everytime I post on here, you should get an e-mail notification. Let me know if it works please and thank you! Also...I messed up on the order of the blog entries, so "Introduction" should be before "Party night" but i'm sure all of you are smart cookies and can figure that out on your own without my help! ... read more