Weekend (Part 1)

Since I have so many photos from this weekend, I think I'll make this blog post be in two parts, because otherwise I'll have to choose, and it'll be too difficult!

This weekend, one of my friends since Elementary school (Colleen) came and visited me in Lyon with one of her friends, Barbara.  After picking them up at the Part Dieu train station, we went back to my apartment to leave their stuff off, and then made our way to Bellecour (the heart of the city) to look around at all of the little stores and grab dinner.

Statue in the center of the Bellecour town square

 

Bellecour

 

We walked around Bellecour for a while, got some Starbucks, and finally decided on eating at a restaurant called Le Saint Joseph.  For dinner, I had a salad with chévre (goat cheese), and a Lyonnais specialty called "quenelle."  I was under the impression that this was fish, but actually, it is fish that has basically gone in a food processor with other ingredients such as breadcrumbs, and then boiled to make a dumpling of sorts.  It was interesting, but not something that I think I would want to order again.  For dessert, we had a chocolate cake of sorts- very dense, but not very chocolate-y, so it was a good combination- in a sauce, which I could only describe as almost a think melted vanilla ice cream.  The three courses combined were a total of around 18 euros, which was a pretty good deal.

 



Salad with chévre

 

Pike quenelle with rice

 

 

Dessert!

 

Me and Barbara at dinner

 

 

Me and Colleen outside Le Saint Joseph's

 

Afterwards, we went back to the apartment and went to bed.  I'll make part 2 soon to tell about Saturday's adventures!  - Beverly

Cheese Tasting!

First, I'll tell you a little bit about the farmer's market.  Lyon-Vaise has a farmer's market every Wednesday and Saturday (and perhaps Sunday? not sure) morning.  The market has many different farmers who bring all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and there are people with meat, bread, and even food such as olives and cheese.  The deals at the market are usually really good too; a few weeks ago I was able to get half a kilo of olives (a little more than a pound) for only 2 euros.  If you can't envision what a half kilo is, it's probably the amount you would get in three regular-sized jars of olives in the grocery store.

Small photo of a bit of the Vaise market



 

As you can sort of tell from the photo, there are lots of trucks around and then tables with umbrellas over it.  Unfortunately, the last few market days were fairly rainy so I didn't want to stand outside and snap a lot of photos.  Hopefully there will be a nice day soon where I can do that!  Especially on the Wednesday market- they often sell a variety of quite interesting things from clothes, to shoes and purses, to dishes, to household supplies, even matresses- basically anything you can think of wanting to buy, you can purchase at the Wednesday morning farmer's market.

 

Last night, I went to a cheese tasting at a fromagerie (cheese store) in Masséna, Lyon.  I really thought I was a cheese fan, but I can honestly say that out of the seven or eight cheese that I tried, I really only liked the first one, which was still probably not one of my favorite cheeses ever.  All of the cheeses were VERY strong.  The cheeses that I remember having tried were a certain variety of brie, roquefort, and Saint Marcellin.  Saint Marcellin is the cheese of Lyon, and it's a type of goat's cheese.  I was convinced that I liked goat cheese until I tasted the goat cheeses at the cheese tasting and now I am not sure if I am a fan!  haha.  We also had some cheese that was made from ewe's milk. 

 

While I did not particularly enjoy the cheeses there, it was definitely really interesting and educational to try some cheeses that I would not usually eat.  In fact, apparently the cheeses we tasted we would never be able to try in the United States, because none of them were pasturized and almost all cheese (over 99%) in the US is.  (Which, they claim, takes all the flavor out of the cheese.  That's probably why I thought all these other cheeses were too strong.)  It was also interesting to learn that certain cheeses taste better with certain types of bread.  We had classic French baguette, a type of French "cornbread", and a French nut-wheat type bread there to try with the cheeses, depending on which flavor of bread would best enhance the cheese flavor.  All in all, it was definitely an interesting evening!

 

The group of us who went to the fromagerie!



Zoo Photos I Promised

 

Here are the photos that I couldn't load from the zoo but promised:

Deer/antelope type things

 

Meercats!!

 

Crocodile

 

Some interesting looking cattle-like creatures

 

I don't know what it is, but it was cute!

 

As you can see, I really don't know what most of the animals I was looking at at the zoo were.  Of course, the signs were in French and whatnot, so if I did not know what the animal was in English, there was not really any way of knowing what it was from reading the signs.  The zoo was a nice thing to do though during the day, and free, so even better!

 

 

 



The Zoo!

Sorry I haven't made any posts lately!! I've been busy with school work and such.  Hopefully, I'll be making a few posts this week- Sunday morning I'm planning on trying a church nearby, Wednesday evening I am going to a cheese and bread tasting, and this Friday my friend Colleen is coming to visit for the weekend, and I'm really excited about that!!

Today, I went to the Parc de la Tete d'Or (The Park of the Gold Head) and visited the zoo.  The park is really big and I am hoping to go again sometime soon and spend some time there relaxing and reading or something.  The zoo was something fun to do- there were monkeys, zebras, lions, giraffes, and lots of other animals to see.  I was going to post some photos from the zoo, but unfortunately, the internet is a bit slow so I'll do that soon!

Afterwards, we went out to dinner at a restaurant called Hippo.  http://www.hippopotamus.fr/ (There's the link! hahaha).  The restaurant is fairly "American", and I had fries and grilled chicken.  They also give you bread and chips before your food comes, both of which are quite good!

Hopefully I'll make some posts this week that are more exciting!! Until then, Beverly

Annecy, France!

Last weekend, I went to Annecy, France for "Integration Weekend" for my college.  This was my first time seeing the Alps, and they are very beautiful!

The Alps

 

The place that we stayed

 

When we first arrived, they placed us into groups and we played games on teams.  At first, I did not enjoy myself whatsoever (it felt a bit like gym class in high school or something), but it became fun as I got to know some of the French students.  We played baseball (which none of them knew the rules to, so it was fun), as well as relays, sack races, two legged races, and other like games.

 



 

Afterwards, we got some time to relax, and then we had a time of appetizers/drinks before dinner. 

 

Some friends and I during the "apperatif"

 

Me and some friends with the Alps

 

 

 

French and American friends

 

Everyone who went on Integration Weekend from CEFAM (I'm very far in the back, so you probably can't see me).

 

The next morning, we went to the lake in Annecy where we went paddle boating.  It was really beautiful and the water was so clear that you could see to the bottom even when you were really far out.

 



The town of Annecy

 

 

 

 

 

All of the CEFAM students in the paddle boats

 

Le Pont des Amours (The Bridge of Love)

 

 

Sorry this post is so long!! There were too many photos to choose from.  Talk to you soon!

 

 

 



First Week Done!

I've finished my first week of school!  I think that compared to my workload at Siena I will definitely have less homework, but some classes appear as though they could be particularly difficult (particularly finance).  One thing that is interesting is that out of my five different professors, almost all come from a different countries; I have one from France, one from Australia, one from Great Britain, and two from the United States.

We had to make a trip this week to purchase books at a bookstore in Bellecour.  I can say that I officially know how to take the metro and get there successfully on my own!

The center of Bellecour

Today, I learned how to do laundry and washed some clothes for the first time.  However, what I didn't realize (because I neglected to read the sign!) was that the dryers do not work after 21:30 (which I believe is 9:30 pm).  Because of this I have wet clothes hanging all over my apartment!  You can bet that I will not make that mistake again.

This weekend I will be going away on a school trip with my school, and I will hopefully be making a post on Monday or Tuesday with some photos from the trip!  We are going to a city near the Alps and I am excited because it will be my first time seeing them.  Hopefully the weather is nice and I meet many other students!

Talk to you soon!  Until then, Beverly

Getting Settled In

Thursday morning was orientation.  There I learned about my class schedule, and got a tour of my school building.  This semester, I'm taking a French culture class, a French language class, a philosophy class, art history, and finance, as well as French for Business as an independent study. 

Later on Thursday, we went out to dinner with some of the professors and other faculty at the college.  The restaurant we ate at was called Le Resto, and it was really good.

Me and some friends at dinner

 

Dessert!

 

My appetizer- baguette avec la chèvre (bread with goat cheese)

 

 

My entrée- gambas avec les pommes de terre (big shrimp with potatoes)

 

 

Afterwards, we went walking with one of our professors for a little while (and he showed us his favorite bar!!), and then of course had to pose for a picture with his bicycle, very typical French tourist photo.

 

With the bike in front of Lyon's city hall

 

Yesterday, I went shopping at Lyon's Carrefour (similar to a Walmart's).  It was very crowded and hectic, but I was able to get lots of necessary supplies.  I found it funny that the cashiers get to sit in comfortable chairs at the checkout lines, and also that there is a special line for pregnant women!!

 

Hopefully the next time I post, I will have an update on how classes are going.  Until then, Beverly