France has been a whirlwind just within the first week. The same is true for class.
Highlights from Week One:
- Bike Ride through Lyon at Night
- Eating at a Bouchon (twice)
- Visiting 6 different Cathedrals
- Taking a Boat tour of Lyon on the Rhone River
- Stumbling upon a Farmers Market & eating lunch
- Having Mass at Fourvière
- Having Mass at St. Nizier
- Visiting Ile Barbe
- Spending every afternoon in Vieux Lyon
- Running through Parc de la Tête d’Or with my host mom
I would like to say I have mastered the incredibly efficient tram and metro system in Lyon, but that would be a lie. Each morning I take a tram to school for about 20 minutes, but multiple times I have gone in the wrong direction or taken the wrong line. On Friday I took the wrong tram, and I thought I almost missed my first French Exam!
Ile Barbe
I have class Monday-Friday, 10:00am – 2:00pm. Currently, I am taking French 56 which is an intensive language course solely taught in French. In the next three weeks, I’ll take French 57, another intensively language class, and then French 58 along with a Culture and Art History class (all in French). Two University of Lyon professors teach the course and they are both wonderful, which is refreshing because I have not enjoyed any of the French courses at UC Davis. There are only 10 girls in our class, all from different UC schools. While I love my French professors, classes are challenging. I often find myself thinking about the weekend and where I’ll go in France (particularly Normandy & Lourdes!) then I’ll get sidetracked. Just having to concentrate so intently in class, and only speak French is nothing that I am accustomed to.
Mass
Outside of class, most of my time has been spent exploring Lyon. If I have any of you on Snapchat, you’ll know that I’m a little obsessed with Cathedrals and love capturing their beauty (daily). Lyon in fact has 53 churches, and I have dedicated myself to visiting ALL of them. This week alone I’ve probably seen 6! One of my favorite things I did this week was ride through Lyon at night when the city was aglow. My host mom took us out on a bike ride, and I was left speechless at how the city transforms at night. Of all things, I have been so grateful to have such a hospitable host family. I was able to cross off another thing from my Lyonnais Bucket list: eat at a Bouchon. A bouchon serves traditional French food, and it is one of the number one things to do in Lyon. I actually ate at two bouchons this week, and they serve enough food that can last an entire day.
Bouchon
I want to write more in depth on the food, culture, and experiences I have encountered thus far in separate blog posts because if your attention span is anything like mine, you probably wouldn’t read much further. Posting more soon!
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