Annecy + Brunch

I think I already told you all about the Monday dinners that my landlord has been hosting at our apartment for almost 20 years. Basically, international and French students from several of the universities in Lyon come by on Monday nights to get to know each other over dinner. Everyone brings a dish to share -- we've had everything from McDonald's chicken nuggets to homemade chocolate mousse -- and we pretty much just have a huge dinner party. The number of people varies week to week depending on who is free. We had 12 students here for my first Monday dinner, 14 for the second, and then 24 at the third! (The last one was especially well-attended because everyone wanted to wish my landlord "bon voyage" before she left for India.)

 Diner du Lundi before MJ left!

I've met some wonderful people through the dinners, and we frequently hang out outside of Monday nights. A few weekends ago, for example, a couple of us rented a car to visit Annecy on Saturday and then met at the park for brunch the next morning with a few others.

Annecy

We arrived in Annecy around 11:30 or so, and after a quick stop at the tourist office to pick up a map, we began to pull together some provisions for lunch. We stopped at a boulangerie for some fresh bread, and then went to the cheese shop next door to buy some camembert and comte to go with our bagette. I'll admit I made a faux pas at the bread shop. I asked for a baguette sliced, figuring it would be easier for our picnic lunch since we didn't have a bread knife with us. I knew right away I had said something wrong because the woman behind the counter stiffened and just stared at me. Apparently this is absolutely, positively not a thing (am I the only who didn't know that?) Mercifully, my friend jumped in next to me and clarified that no, we definitely didn't want the baguette sliced!

We picked a spot in the magnificent park next to the equally gorgeous Lake Annecy and laid out our bread and cheese, along with some fruit and dark chocolate. Lunch was delicious, and it was especially nice because the weather was great. It might have been October, but it felt more like early June or mid September - warm bordering on hot in the sun but with a breeze coming off the lake. We really got lucky!

First views of Lake Annecy

 

Lake Annecy

Lunch!

Enjoying the sun after lunch

Lakeside shot (Leila, Steffi, Laura, and me)

 

After a leisurely lunch, we strolled around the old part of the town for a couple of hours, and as promised, Annecy was completely charming. The canals running through the city were lined with restaurants and shops on the ground level and colorful facades up above, and several old churches and a cathedral dotted the streets.

 

 

 

  

Once we'd wandered to our hearts' content (it didn't take long to see the town because it's fairly small), we went back to the the park to soak up the weather a little longer before the ride home. All in all, it was a completely wonderful day. If you are ever in the area, I'm joining the chorus of people recommending a side trip to Annecy!

Brunch

Since not everyone was able to make it to Annecy, some of us also made plans to go to the Parc de la Tete D'Or for a picnic brunch the next morning. I had promised to bring croissants and some bananas, so I woke up early to go to the market to buy produce and some more flowers and then stopped at a boulangerie down the block from my apartment to buy a dozen or so mini-sized croissants, pain au chocolat, and other pastries. The minis were perfect for the brunch since everyone was bringing something to share and this way people could try a little bit of everything.

When I got to the park around 11, I was completely flabbergasted to see that it was packed with people! I learned quickly that the park is apparently always that crowded, especially on nice weekend days like that Sunday. Since it had been almost empty the three or so times I had been there on my runs, I thought for sure there was a race or other event going on that day! (There was, in fact, a pumpkin festival at the botanical gardens, but I don't think that was the main draw.)
 

Our group found a nice place to sit and ended up hanging out there for several hours, enjoying the sunshine, food, and the company. Afterwards, a few of us decided to stick around longer and strolled around the lake along with the rest of Lyon. I had brought my notes from class, planning to a do a little homework at the park after brunch, but I ended up talking with a girl who is here in Lyon from Argentina for a few hours. It was really interesting hearing her perspective on living here. One thing in particular that struck me was that while I was talking about my frustrations with how long it takes to set anything up here (bank account, phone, etc), she said that compared to Argentina, everything here works so well and is so...stable. So I guess everything is relative!

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, by far the best time I've spent so far in France!

Lyon: La Confluence Edition

Bonjour! So much for my wish that time would slow down while I'm here...the days are still flying by, and I’m already getting behind on these posts! I’m determined to catch up though to show you what I’ve been up to but also to document them for myself before I start forgetting the details. With that in mind, I’m finishing up a couple more posts for you all and I’m hoping to get them up soon!

One thing I wanted to make sure to write about was my afternoon exploring a narrow triangle of land just north of where the Saone and the Rhone merge, aptly named La Confluence. Until a few years ago, it was really industrial and pretty seedy (wholesale markets, slaughterhouses, prisons, and issues with drugs and prostitution), but it’s in the middle of a huge transition. The city of Lyon has been completely redeveloping this area over the last decade with sustainable buildings and eco-friendly landscaping to bring in more people and more businesses. It seems like this project is a pretty big deal. I’ve seen a few articles saying that this is one of the largest urban renewal projects in Europe, ultimately doubling the downtown area of Lyon, and that the neighborhood is intended to be completely carbon neutral when it is finished!

A few people had recommended checking out the area, so I decided to walk over to explore a little since I don’t live too far from there – just on the other side of train station. At first, the neighborhood seemed like just a very low-key neighborhood with some sidewalk cafés, a nice church, and a few somewhat dusty-looking stores. But as I went further south, there was a pretty dramatic shift in the architecture and the feel. There is a brand new marina area encircled by new apartment buildings and a shopping center (sort of an open-air, covered mall) that are all very modern! 

Pretty church on the way to La Confluence - still pretty traditional.

The new mall - way more modern!

The mall from across the marina

New apartment buildings across the marina from the shopping center

I walked through the marina area and a little through the mall, but I ended up walking along a path that curled past them, following the bank of the Saone. I hadn’t really planned where I was going and I wasn’t sure if there was anything to see (I didn’t know anything about La Confluence before I went – I read up on it afterwards), so I was really surprised when I came across these buildings!

!!!

Yes, those are frogs hanging off the balconies

Another one!!

Old shipping warehouse-turned-conference center

Another cool building...this one is all glass

Whoah, right? They were awesome!

I did find it a little jarring, though, to look across the Saone from the La Confluence and see ancient roman walls dotting the hillside. It's such an incredible juxtaposition between the (really) old and the hyper modern. Lyon is surprising: on the one hand, it has been labeled a UNESCO World Heritage site and feels old and slow-paced, but on the hand, people are doing cutting edge work here in biotechnology, software design, and cancer research. It’s a cool place that doesn't get as much attention as Paris and Provence and other parts of France but definitely still holds its own.

At the end of the marina. See the Roman wall in the background?

Just across the river!

Lastly, just one more thing I have to share. On my way back, I passed by one of the little eco-friendly wetlands areas that they've added as part of the redevelopment project. Guess who I saw?

So cute (and so unexpected!)

 

Now I can check La Confluence off my list of places to see here, but there are several more areas I need to explore properly! I haven’t spent much time in the 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th arrondissements, but I’m saving them for some mornings or days when I find myself with nothing planned. More posts to come!

Two Weeks In!

Salut! I don't know how a whole week has already slipped by since my last post...I hope the rest of my time here doesn't go by this quickly! I mostly did some more exploring and met several people, but I've also been working through some business-y things and getting in the swing of things with class.

One of my favorite ways to get to know a new city is to go jogging, since you can generally see a lot more in a short period of time than if you walk or take the metro. I think I mentioned it before, but Lyon has a fantastic running/cycling path on the bank of the Rhône literally two minutes from my building. Last week I decided to run north along the river to the Parc de la Tête D'Or because I had heard it was really beautiful. Whoever told me that wasn't kidding - it was gorgeous! There is a huge lake in the middle, lots of trails crisscrossing the park, and botanical gardens. There is also a zoo, a merry-go-round, the "African Plains (??) area, and more. I went back this morning and managed to take a few pictures this time to show you all!

The main entrance to the park

Trail along the lake

The "African Plains"

When I first got here, I went to the supermarket near my place and a Target-like store up in Croix-Rousse to stock up on food and a couple of supplies. Now that I'm a little more settled in, I'm determined to shop more like the French, stopping at the boulangerie for bread and picking up produce at the market every few days. My landlord (that sounds too formal for how our relationship works...maybe I'll just call her my roommate) took me around to show me her favorite shops (the best butcher in the neighborhood! the store that sells only frozen foods!), and she pointed out her favorite vendors at the large market she goes to on Saturdays. There are markets in different locations every day of the week, but this one is less expensive and has a better variety than some of the others. We bought flowers, bread, vegetables, and fruit, and a few other things. My favorite vendor, though, sold all different types of spreads, tapenades, and olives. He let me sample several flavors, and I ended up buying a sun-dried tomato spread that is out of this world. Seriously, I've been putting it on everything I can think of!

            

            

 

Freshly cut dahlias!

The view on my walk home from the market!

 
I've also met several cool people. For the past twenty years, my landlord has hosted potluck dinners almost every Monday for international students to have a chance to meet, make friends, practice French, and share a meal together. We've had two since I've been here, and they are a blast! About 12 people came last week and again yesterday (about half this week were the same, the other half were new), and I've met students from Venezuela, Argentina, China, Hungary, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the US! How cool is that? We've all exchanged contact information so we can make plans to go to the movies or dinner or whatever comes up!

I met a couple of anglophone girls during orientation last week, and we've hung out a bit since then. I have mixed feelings about hanging out with other people who speak English as their first language since we usually default to that instead of speaking in French, but it's just really nice sometimes to have other people effortlessly understand you and you them, so I'm going with it for now. One of the girls is already really plugged into the Lyon social life, and she told us about a concert last Friday at a bar that's on a boat anchored on the bank of the Rhône. There are actually several of these boat bars lined up in a row, and they are really popular on weekends. A few of us braved a crazy rainstorm to check out the concert, and I was so glad we did because the music was fantastic! (Check out "Thump the Table" and "Hummingbird"if you want a quick listen!)

La Marquise - the boat bar with the concert!

Aside from the music, I'm glad I went to the concert because we ended up talking to a group of French people around my age who grew up and now work in Lyon. One of them invited us to a get-together she was planning at her apartment the next night and then out to a club afterwards. I'm not much of a clubbing kind of person (shocking, I know), but it was a lot of fun hanging out beforehand and then dancing for a couple of hours! And one of them sent me an email the next day promising that she would "me tiens au courant," which basically means she'll keep me up to date on what fun things are going in Lyon.

I've also spent a good chunk of time over the last several days trying to sort out several remaining business items that are critical to making this year go smoothly: completing my immigration paperwork, opening a bank account, setting up a cell phone plan, and arranging for medical insurance for the duration of my stay here. Thanks to my time in Italy and warnings and stories from expat friends, I kind of expected that it would be a big hassle taking care of all of these. I didn't, however, expect to have made so little progress after almost two weeks!

The first big issue was finishing my immigration paperwork. Basically, I have to submit some documentation to the immigration office to validate my visa now that I've arrived. After receiving my documentation, they will send me a notice instructing me when and where to appear for a medical exam. After I complete that exam, I'll be able to legally stay for the duration of my program. The process is pretty straightforward, especially because my program helps students pull together the forms they need and sends the folder off to the immigration office for us. It took me several days to take care of this though because I needed attestations from my landlord establishing that I will be living with her while I'm here. She left for Paris for a week a day or two after I got here and then needed a few days to gather the required paperwork, so I just got the forms today. I sprinted over to the program office to turn in the paperwork before they closed for lunch at noon and made it with just four minutes to spare! So that's one thing off my list -- for now. I'll really be set after the medical exam!

The bank account is important because so much seems to revolve around it. In particular, I need to open a French account so that I can get a bank card with a chip and pin. The US has just started to roll these out, but they are not widespread yet. It's really tough to get by long-term in France (and most of Europe, I think) without a chip and pin card because you need it to buy pretty much anything online, pay at kiosks for metros and train tickets, set up a cell phone plan, and just generally pay in a lot of stores. A few places will accept a foreign credit card, but it usually takes plenty of quizzical looks, a few awkward moments of explanation, and irritation for customers in line behind me. It's like wearing an "I'm a Foreigner!" sign around my neck when I'd rather just blend in!

I also need to open an account so that I can pay my landlord rent while she is away in India and Singapore for three months - starting next week! The timing has made this tricky because each step of the process (waiting to get documentation from my landlord, applying to open an account, arranging for a funds transfer, waiting for each bank to accept the transfer, and getting my debit card) has taken/will take several days. I turned in the last forms this morning, so with any luck, I'll have money in my account, a chip and pin card, and an automatic rent payment ready to go by the middle of next week!

The cellphone is the least important item of the four but it's definitely up there in terms of convenience. I'm so thankful to have wifi in my apartment because I can email and chat whenever I'm home. It will be really nice, though, to have calling/texting capabilities and access to Google maps and a French-English dictionary wherever I am! Unfortunately, I have to wait until my bank account is fully functional and I receive my bank card before I can set up a cell phone plan. Alas.

My last major big ticket item is to set up my medical insurance while I'm here. I'm covered by my health insurance from ED until mid-November and I have traveler's insurance for emergencies, so I have a little bit of breathing room here. It's the main task on my list for the rest of this week while I wait for the bank stuff to work it's way through the system.

Baby steps and it's been a little stressful, but I'll consider it a coup if I have everything in place by the end of the month!

In other news, I finally started classes yesterday. So far so good. After covering a lot of administrative details (like, you know, our class schedule) during the first session, we dove right into studying "le subjonctif" today. Oh grammar, how I love thee. *Nerd Alert*

On that note, I hope you all had a great start to the week! A plus tard!