Bonjour, it’s been quite a while since i’ve given an update. In fact, it’s been so long that the two week holiday is over! But i’ll just fill you in on what I did in the holidays and our little trip to Lyon.
In my last blog post, I said that we were going to a salsa class that night and we did! We went with the Spanish teacher from Daniela’s school and it was so much fun! It took some getting used to but we all managed to keep up, I think we did pretty well. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I didn’t expect to ache as much as I did the next day!
Anyway, the school holidays for me started early as I don’t work on Fridays, my classes on Monday were cancelled and then Tuesday was another induction day for the assistants. Tuesday was also the day I finally got a French sim card so i was extremely happy. For anyone who doesn’t have my new number it’s +33 7 83 67 86 41, but my whatsapp is still my english number.
On the next Friday, I took a train in the morning to Lyon where I was going to meet Libby, Sarah and Ellie, my uni friends! I arrived into Lyon Part-Dieu at around 1:45, and after waiting at the wrong tram stop for nearly an hour, I got to our air bnb at about 2:45. Sarah and Ellie were already there and it was so great to see some friendly faces! The apartment was amazing! We weren’t that far from La Rhône (river) and we had easy access to shops, restaurants and the city centre. It was on the fourth floor and the style was so cool, mainly because of how the host had decorated his apartment. It looked quite old inside but he just had so many cool things, and he left us a bottle of red wine and a hifi system so I was just too excited.
Libby didn’t arrive until around 8 as she had a longer journey. By this time me Sarah and Ellie had already started drinking the wine and bought three extra bottles. Safe to say we had a fun night. We actually went on a péniche, which is basically a barge, in La Rhône, which was so much fun and so much bigger on the inside. However, when we left the struggle was real as there were no takeaways open like we’re used to after snobs. Instead we just went home and ate lots of Brioche that the host had left us!
The next few days were really exciting and we did some sight seeing in Lyon. On Saturday after we finally got out of bed and ate, we went to see La Notre-Dame de Fouvrvière. It’s on top on a hill so we had to take a mountain train which was interesting. When we got to the top, the views were unbelievable. The cathedral itself is insanely stunning, and they were taking mass inside which just made it so much more beautiful. At the side of the cathedral, there is a wall where you can see the whole city. We stayed here during sunset and the view was something I had never seen before and pictures can’t do it justice.
After, we walked down instead of taking the train, and it was now dark. The walk down took us into Vieux Lyon (the oldest part of the city). It was more touristy, but still beautiful, especially as it was the evening I think the small streets looked particularly nice.
The next day was Sunday, and as everything closes on Sundays we decided to prepare a picnic (mostly consisting of cheese and bread) and we went to the park. The park is huge and there is also a free zoo, so after our picnic feast we spent the rest of the day strolling around the zoo.
Monday was our last full day. We went for lunch near Vieux Lyon, and met up with my friend Adam from home. Again, it was nice to see another friendly face and catch-up. After lunch, we went the Musée des Beaux Arts. It only cost 4 euros each and I think we spent around an hour and a half inside so it was interesting.
I got home on Tuesday night at 7.30 and for the next few days I was home alone while my house mates were still away. I wish I could say I did more in the holidays but I didn’t really. Although, it was nice to relax after a few busy days in Lyon.
In France, the day after Halloween is a holiday called Toussaint. Me and Daniela went to the cemetery as it is tradition that all the graves have bouquets of colourful flowers upon them, and she told me there is a similar tradition in Mexico as it is a holiday for the dead. In our apartment, she made a lovely altar for the dead, similar to something she would have at home. So at night, we all placed things on the altar that reminded us of someone close to us who has passed. Then we switched the lights off and lit candles. It’s a tradition i’ve never heard of before, but it was really beautiful and humbling and i’m glad Daniela let us be apart of it.
Yesterday was the first day back at school, and now I am off again until Monday. It’s a hard life! I worked at Collège Lumière for four hours and it was the first time I took half a class into another room on my own. I really enjoyed it and I think they did too.
So next week will be my first full week teaching on my own and i’m really excited to get back into a routine. The holidays were good and i’m so glad I got the chance to see my friends, but it will be nice to get stuck in at work now. My best friends Neetu and Hilary are also coming on Thursday until Sunday so that’s something i’m really looking forward to. Not sure when i’ll have time for my next blog but I can’t wait to write about it 🙂
À bientôt,
Emily x
Besançon 2016-2017 