Up until this weekend, my week was a pretty quiet one. I spent the weekend recovering from Toulouse, finally managing to catch a lie in without the infernal school bell waking me up every hour or so!
I also managed to get to the cinema a couple of times this week too. Like I said in my last post, I went along to see La Grande Illusion with Alfredo and Emma last Sunday night, and then on Tuesday night, Emma and I took the rare opportunity of the cinema playing a VO/ST (version original/sous titres– so basically in English!) film to have a night at the cinema which didn’t end with our heads hurting, and went an saw Looper. Both films were great. I had forgotten how good La Grande Illusion was, as it has heroism, humour and a great modernity to it. I was glad I had seen it before, and with English subtitles, as I think Alfredo and Emma got a bit lost at points… Looper was also fantastic, if not a little too implausible (I can handle time travel, but time travel and telekinesis in one film is pushing it a bit!). Definitely the most original sci-fi film I’ve seen since Inception, and it was great to see Bruce Willis back on form too.
As for my actual job, after the shock of doing a full 12 hour week last week, I was back to the old reliable cancellations, and only ended up doing 7 hours. Even better, thanks to having booked one lesson off, and some very convenient cancellations, it ended up being the weekend for me at 12:30 on Wednesday afternoon! I love this job!
With the weekend, came the main event I’ve been looking forward to for the last month and a half, my trip to Lyon!
Lyon is my favourite city in the whole of France, (yes, it just eclipses Paris) and I knew I wanted to visit again sometime this year. I had actually debated putting it down as one of my choices for Académies for my assistantship, but due to the risk of not being in the city itself, I chose against it. Anyway, the perfect excuse to visit came when I remembered something I’d read in a tourist book when I was there last summer, the Fête des Lumières.
The Fête des Lumières, or Festival of Lights, is a traditional, citywide Catholic festival, which gives thanks to the Virgin Mary for delivering the city from a horrific plague way back in 1643. Tradition states that on the 8th December, the actual day of the festival, the lyonnais put a small, coloured glass candle (called a lumignon) in their windows and the whole city is lit up in this offering of thanks. However, this has evolved, and nowadays the festival runs for several days, with the city of Lyon putting on huge light shows, firework displays and event for the millions (yes, millions!) of visitors that descend on the city each year.
Due to the way my week panned out, and the fact I had to be back and teaching on Monday, I could only manage to get there for the Thursday and Friday nights, thus missing the main events on the 8th. However, this wasn’t so bad, as I have had today to recover from my weekend, unlike after my visit to Toulouse!
Thanks to the millions of visitors in Lyon, accommodation is incredibly difficult to find, and this is why I turned to a service I have never used before, but had heard good things about; Couchsurfing. Originally, I found a host pretty easily, and she actually asked me if I could come so she could learn and practise her English. Obviously I accepted and thought myself lucky. However, this all went to pot when, a week before I was due to set off, and a day after I had cancelled my reserve hotel and hostel, she emailed me saying that due to ‘family reasons’, she was not going to be there that weekend.
Naturally, I panicked, and sent of loads of requests that night to other hosts, hoping someone would save me from being an SDF on a cold winter’s night in Lyon. Fortunately for me, one of my requests was answered by Carl, a young musician and host, who welcomed me to come and stay with him and his roommates for the weekend.
So off I went to Lyon on Thursday morning, via Paris. The journey took its time, but was made all the better by being on a couple of TGVs- my god they are good! I arrived at 6pm, and thanks to Carl’s instructions managed to find meet him after taking a metro and a tram to the 8eme Arrondissement. On my journey, I did notice some people on the metro handing out leaflets about a strike. Naturally, I ignored them, but little did I know, this would cost me the following day…
Anyway, I spent the evening hanging out with Carl, his two flatmates Simon and Guillaume, and a fellow surfer from Argentina called Serafin. Serafin spoke no French, only English, so most of our conversation was in English, but whenever he wasn’t involved, or I was alone with the others, I was talking French, which was great practise for me.
Seeing as Simon and Guillaume are both students, we talked a lot about the differences between our university systems. They couldn’t believe how much we paid for how little time we spend in class, and I couldn’t help but agree with them! The three of them are also musicians, along with four more of their friends, so we talked about music and things like that too, all of which was very interesting.
Later that evening, Sergio and Francis two more surfers arrived. Both were from Paris, but originally Sergio is from Spain, so now our conversations were in three languages, which was pretty cool! Sergio put us all to shame though, speaking fluent Spanish, French and English, and switching between them effortlessly. It was pretty amazing…
When I had arrived, I had originally intended to dump my stuff and capitalise on my limited time in the city by heading into town to see the first night of the lights when it was quiet. However, because Couchsurfing is not like going to a hotel, you trade a bit of flexibility for good company, so I couldn’t rush straight out. Fortunately though, despite it being late after everyone had arrived, Carl took me into the city to show me around a bit so I could get a taste and see some of the lights. I hugely appreciated this as it was really cold, and took us ages to get in and back as the metro closed whilst we were out.
Floating fish things.
That night, the eight of us (one of the band members stopped over the night so he could record something early in the morning in the soundproofed recording studio the guys have in their flat) crashed in the small flat. Most of us slept on a bunch of mattresses and blankets thrown down on the mezzanine level. Although it wasn’t perhaps the most ideal situation, everyone was so tired it didn’t matter, and plus, it was free!
The next morning, we awoke to the beginnings of some snow. After not really seeing much the night before, I decided to brave the elements and went out early to see Lyon again properly. I was meant to be meeting Sonia, fellow Poitevin assistant at 1.30, but her train was already delayed because of the weather. Little did we know that that was just the beginning of her problems!
So I tried to occupy myself until the afternoon, and I think I succeeded. I saw everything in Lyon again, from Place Bellecour, to Vieux Lyon, to Fourvière Hill and Place des Terraux. It all came flooding back to me from last summer with Matt, so much so that I didn’t use the map I had procured at all, remembering everywhere from our impromptu bike tours.
Vieux Lyon
Croix Rousse from the banks of the River Rhone
Notre Dame de Fourviere
It couldn’t have been more different to last summer though, as when Matt and I were there, it was baking hot. We even ended up sunbathing for a little while at one point. This weekend, on the other hand, was well below freezing, and the light snow that had started in the morning, had become a full scale blizzard. Still, despite the weather, I pressed on and carried on being a tourist!
Vieux Lyon in the blizzard
Thankfully, the weather cleared up in the later afternoon and I took this opportunity to go to the top of a very snowy Fourvière Hill and get some decent photos of the city, as you can see here:
Snow covered Lyon
Soon enough, around 5pm the night crept in and the Fête des Lumières started. Seeing as Sonia’s train was delayed even more by the fact it had a little accident involving two dozy cows, she was only just arriving, a good 5 hours late. Also, the strike had begun to manifest (ha, little french pun there for you!) itself, meaning the metro was completely closed. Seeing as it was now going to take a while Sonia had to meet her Couchsurfing host on the other side of the city, I went and explored on my own.
Before…
After
The festival itself reminded me a little of bonfire night back at home, but on a massive, massive scale. The whole centre becomes pedestrianised, and huge crowds of people walk aimlessly between shows and different installations all around the city. There are security people everywhere, ushering and herding people in the right direction. On every street corner, there are vendors selling winter treats like vin chaud, or snacky food like Kebabs and toffee apples. Even the restaurants have joined in on this, with most bars setting up their own stall, knowing few people want to spend their time sat down and eating when there is so much to see!
Finally, 8 hours after she was meant to arrive, I met up with Sonia, and showed her the lights. We picked up food from a vendor (as was the done thing) and wandered around for a while, taking more photos and ‘umming’ and ‘ahhing’ at the spectacles.
I then decided to ring Carl, as he had mentioned a night out, and I wanted to know what was going on. He sent me the address of a bar called Blogg, where there was a Couchsurfing gathering going on. It was a way away, but was on a metro line, so we thought it would be easy. However, once again we were foiled by industrial action and no metro lines were open…
This meant a very, very long walk. Finding the place was made even more difficult by the fact that both of our phones had died. Luckily, some kind passers by took pity on the lost tourists, and lent us there phone, and I was reunited with my hosts and the other surfers for a few drinks.
Dancefloor full of Couchsurfers
Sonia left early to get the metro, but despite my tiredness (I had been on my feet and walking for 12 hours straight at this point) I stayed out drinking with my hosts. There was a great band playing, who had a brass section, a load of drums and a rapper, and were, as Simon put it “soooooo funky”. It was impossible not to bop along.
Soooooo Funky
After some cheap beers (you know I’ve been here for too long when I consider 4 euros a pint cheap!) and some more chatting, we headed back to their apartment to carry on for a bit before bed. Simon made me an interesting cocktail with spices, orange juice, vodka and whiskey, which was nice, but very strong.
Finally, after an exhausting day, it was back to the mattress for a well deserved sleep. Unfortunately though the sleep wasn’t for long, as 5 hours later I was up and getting reading to catch my train back to Niort. Everything went as planned with the journey, despite me worrying I wouldn’t get home thanks to the snow, and I got back to Melle at 6:30pm, legs aching and dead. I am so glad I had today to recover!
It was a great trip, and something really different. I definitely want to go back to Lyon again, and I really want to live there at some point. Maybe I will try and find a job there over the summer, or maybe, if I do another assistantship (a very real prospect at the moment) I will apply and cross my fingers! Carl, Simon and Guillaume have all invited me back, so I may well take them up on the offer, as we never got to jam together (on their request, I took my harmonicas specially!).
Cold, wet, worn out, but very happy!
The trip was also a great trip for my first experience of Couchsurfing. In hindsight, for exploring a city, the a central location of a hotel, and the freedom and flexibility it gives is probably better. However, Couchsurfing is a great way to meet different people and see a true side to the city you’re visiting. I mean, I got to hang out with students, speak French and learn new things, and all for free. I definitely want to do it again, but maybe only for the one night next time!
Next week is going to be another not-so-exciting week. However, it is now less than 2 weeks till I am back in Blighty, so that’s all very exciting. Lets just see what these last weeks hold in store!
À bientôt!
Melle du Jour 
I was in Lyon this weekend, and had the same problems with the metro! However, on Saturday there were so many people you couldn’t even get through the streets!