Slainte! The fighting Irish brought St. Patty’s to France despite the glares from…well everyone else. Actually, France was relatively supportive of the Irish shenanigans and we found an Irish pub who had a band playing U2 covers for the entire night (imagine Bono with a French accent). It was a wonderfully strange experience.
The next morning I wrapped up midterms week with a sociology test. Midterms were not fun—not as bad as ND, but still. That evening, a few of us went to a soufflerie (where they make soufflés) and it was AMAZING.--so amazing that I asked Chantal to teach me to make one tonight! So cooking lesson number two commences in t-minus 17 minutes.
I went to bed early so I could be up in time for my 7a.m. train to Lyon and could start my weekend of French exploration. We checked into our little hotel which was likely filled with members of the French mafia who were sipping espresso, but they were all very friendly so thumbs up to them. Then we began wandering Lyon, which is the third largest metropolitan area in France.
Lyon is really interesting because it is divided into several different sections, mostly because the city is naturally divided into three by the two rivers that run directly through it. To the west, you have old town. There, after climbing a giant hill, we found some Roman ruins. Apparently, Lyon used to be a Roman town.
Then we went to Notre Dame de Fourvière, a large cathedral that puts the Basilica to shame.
We also found Mary, who was spending spring break in France.
Then we wandered through the small, winding, cobblestone streets. This is also where guignols were made. Creepy right?
There are also underground tunnels here because Lyon was also an important area in weaving and producing silk and they were used to transport silk. They were also used in the second world war to avoid Gestapo invasions. Unfortunately, we didn’t really find them.
After our brief history stint, we hit the shopping/a la mode district in the center. There we did some shopping and then decided to see an opera! For 5 euros, we could stand in the back and see “Le noce de Figaro” which was AMAZING!! It was in Italian, but there were French subtitles being projected on a screen (you have no idea how good your French is until Italian is the only other option). We only stayed for half because we hadn’t eaten but I would love to return to see the entire opera.
To soothe our aching stomachs, and to fully experience Lyon’s cuisine (it is the capital of gastronomy in France!) we went on a hunt for a bouchon. In old-time Lyon, chefs would come to these bouchons (inns) to practice their culinary skills. Then Lyon realized the inns were worthless and people just wanted to eat, so now they are just incredibly good restaurants. Now the thing with French menus is, you don’t usually know what you’re ordering. We usually guess and almost always we end up with decent results. We decided to fully experience the cuisine, we should get three courses—because that’s how Lyon does it. I got the best salad France has ever seen..mostly because it had what tasted like American bacon on it. Then I had ordered an andouilette because it was the only thing I was sure was not fish. Quelle surprise:
Looks interesting, but it was actually very good. Then we followed that up with our third course, dessert:
After we waddled home, we fell into a deep coma. The next morning, we asked for directions to the closest Catholic mass, which our concierge insisted started at 10. At 9:58 we walked in as the priest was finishing up his homily…awkward. After mass we found the closest boulangerie and got a loaf of bread and coffee…I have no idea how we were hungry again but we were. After wandering back to the old village, we made the 40 minute trek to Parc de la Tete d’Or (Park of the Golden Head…yeah..idk).
This park was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It had a rose garden and a zoo and a lake where you could canoe or paddle boat and it was simply the best place to spend the first day of spring. We spent two hours roaming around the gardens and then finally headed back to Angers.
On tap we have a light week for studies, then Normandy next weekend. Hope all is well at home…miss you all!! xoxo
Haha love how you found mary! Your blog is so good Tara; I'm really enjoying reading it!
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