Le Lion Lyonnais

Bonjour tout le monde!
Sorry this is a few days late. I seem to be getting lazier as the semester passes.
Last weekend, BU took us on a trip to Lyon. Lyon is famous for one particular thing: it is the capital of gastronomie. In a country known for food, going to the city known for being the best at food is rather thrilling and, as it turned out, delicious.

We left at around 9 Saturday morning, and it only took about an hour to get to Lyon from Grenoble. Lyon is rivals with Marseille for who holds the title of second city in France (no question about what the number one city is). It certainly felt big after cozy Grenoble, and it is definitely more elegant--those shop windows! I swoon and cannot afford. We dropped our bags off and headed off to a guided tour by our very own Patrice. First stop we took a tram type thing up this steep mountain to this very cool church, called Notre Dame de Fourviere. It was built in the late 19th century, after the Franco-Prussian war, as a thank to God for the Germans not invading the city. Obvs not thanking God for France's embarrassing loss--this was not mentioned at all. The church is striking even from afar as it is built in the Byzantine style:

 

These are the doors to the church. Note the lion--Lyon's symbol (It took me a good while to realize the connection between the name of the city and its symbol. Embarrassing)  We unfortunately couldn't go inside the actual church because they were doing construction, which was frustrating, but we did get to go inside the crypt bottom part. 

As you can see, its pretty elaborate and not at all like the normal church you encounter in any twon in France. I apologize for the poor quality, but there is only so much one can do without flash. 

I also particularly was fascinated by the walls of dedications of soldiers who returned from the front thanking Mary for their survival. The wars feel so much closer to the people here, especially here in eastern France where a lot of WW1 took place. 

 After wandering around the church we went to the ruins of an old Roman amphitheatre. I don't think I've ever been in one before, and it was rather incredible to see, especially after studying it multiple times in different theatre courses. I could really see how the audience would feel, crammed in to steep stone benches, staring down at the actors in the sunshine. The atmosphere changes things--I felt like reenacting last year's Medea there for sure!

After that, we re-descended and then were free to eat lunch and wander. For lunch I went with a group of other students to a traditional lyonnais bouchon, a term that only refers to these little restaurants in Lyon that serve delicious food. Everything was absolutely divine, especially with the nice Beaujolais. In Lyon they say that there are three rivers: the Saone, the Rhone, and Beaujolais. I am a fan. 

After that and wandering around the cute area (and encountering a manifestation, bien sur: this is France), I went to the textile museum. Lyon was for a long time a capital of silk manufacturing, and the beautiful museum has textiles dating back over a thousand years. Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures as they are all too delicate but if you are curious here is the website: http://www.musee-des-tissus.com/ I loved this museum of course, being the sewing/costumes fan I am. There are also examples of full costumes from about the 16th century onwards. There was so much elaborate embroidery and beautiful weaving from all over the world; I was in awe! Definitely worth a visit.

For dinner the program took us to the restaurant of one of the most renowned chefs in France: Paul Bocuse. We had a lovely white wine and of course, more Beaujolais. The appetizer was a bread with sausage thing that was super yummy, and for the main course:

MMMM juicy chicken with some sort of yummy gravy type sauce and pomme de terres a la lyonnais. For dessert:

 

I could get used to this. 

The next day we started off on a bit of a walking tour around Lyon, going through different neighborhoods. One of my favorite things was this building that is decorated with trompe l'oeil of famous people from Lyon. 

 NONE OF THAT IS REAL including those little stores at the bottom. SO very cool. Also:

Saint-Exupery was from Lyon too! (the Little Prince is, of course, from his planet, but he is honorary Lyonnais because of his friendship with Saint-Ex). Again, NONE OF THIS IS REAL including the moldings and the windows.

After this we had a quick lunch in a pub and then went to wander around a bit. We discovered this book market thing that had millions of old French books and I may have bought a present for a certain sister there but I'll never tell. I like old book markets, so this made me happy.

We got on the bus and headed off to the museum of the Freres Lumieres, the inventors of cinema. It was a a very nice museum, and a decent tour (in French, with Marie-Eve, our program director, translating) but I was so tired from everything I was not always paying full attention. The house was beautiful in full Art Nouveau style and the old film fragments were absolutely fascinating. I particularly liked the films taken around the turn of the century all over the world--fascinating to see people moving about ordinarily so long ago, when usually you just see the stiff, still portraiture.

After that, bus home! And exhaustion!

This Friday I'm leaving for my week long break where I will be going to Paris, London, and Manchester. I may blog if I find the opportunity, but if not I will speak to you in a bit! A bientot!

Bisous,
Miriam

Geneve et Fondue

Bonjour! I let myself get a little lazy with this one; talking about last weekend's trip whilst prepping to go away for this weekend! But anyways:

Last weekend I went to visit my lovely friend Val, who is studying with BU in Geneva. Grenoble and Geneva are only about two hours apart by train, and it was only about 20 euro each way. It's incredible how easily one can switch countries here! I took a train early Saturday morning and was there by 10. After purchasing some very necessary Swiss chocolate and having a nice lunch of grilled cheese (made with Gruyere, bien sur) we decided to wander up to the Carouge neighborhood, a nice artsy little place with lots of cute shops (none of which I could afford, naturally, this being Switzerland and thus the most expensive country ever).
 
After wandering around a bit, we made our way over to the old part of the city, which is elevated. It is all in a light tan stone, and there's a big cathedral there. The cathedral is actually where Calvin taught when he was in charge in Geneva and definitely feels different than the big Catholic cathedrals I've been in--much plainer, for one! But it is still very beautiful and lots of stained glass and such. The old quarter is nice, and very scenic, but Grenoble's is much more lively, with more old shops and such. Of course, I'm a little biased since I am living here!

 After all that we were very tired, but within a few hours were ready to head out again for fondue! The first place, which Val had already been to, was absolutely full, but luckily it is not hard to find fondue in Geneva and we quickly found a little restaurant and ordered fondue and wine and had a really lovely dinner.I have had real Swiss fondue  before, when the fam all went to Switzerland when I was a senior in high school, but it was even more delicious than I remembered, and it's fun to be able to order wine in a restaurant and no one even checks cards here! I guess I look like an adult or something? Or probably they just don't care.

The next morning we went for a walk around the lake, or as they call it in French, Lac Leman. I enjoyed all of the swans and the beautiful scenery, with the distant mountains (much more loom-y in Grenoble) and the beautiful buildings. Some photos:

Some lady decided to feed the swans and ducks, and this was the result.

After that, it was back to Grenoble!

Geneva is a beautiful city, but expensive! For example, here I pay 90 centimes for a pain au chocolat. There, in an ordinary bakery, one pays 2.50 francs! The only thing that I could get cheap was the chocolate, and even so if I'd wanted I could have spent 50 francs on a box easily. I would love to explore some of the museums some time as well--but save something for next time I suppose.

This weekend BU is taking us to Lyon, the capital of French gastronomy. I expect it will be fun.

Love,

Miriam

La Vie Quotidienne

So I have been here for about a month now, and thought I might share with you a bit of what it is like living in this country of bread, cheese, and wine. Thus, a record of an ordinary day in the life complete with commentary on the French and their bizarro world.

So one wakes up in the morning, showers, dresses, and for breakfast I am given baguette, jam, butter, and maybe some tea (or coffee, if I drank it). I leave for the tram, which is a lovely system here in Grenoble. I'm only about six stops from the University. The tram system here is that you swipe your card outside but there is really no way to prevent anyone from just hopping on for free. This is probably often taken advantage of.

My morning classes are always French, taught by my lovely Bretonne prof and the class is half Americans, about half Koreans who sporadically show up, one Australian, one Chinese girl, and one Saudi Arabian guy. We are currently learning about FRENCH FOOD and hopefully this will lead to eating said food. I mentioned to my prof I had been to Bretagne and tasted Kouign Amann and dreamt about it ever since and she said she might bring some back if she goes home for Easter so CROSS FINGERS everybody. The level I am in is B2.5. To give you an idea, C1 is considered bilingual, A1 is just beginning, and C2 is when it is your native language. Hopefully by the end of the semester I will be really "bilingue".

For lunch I usually get a sandwich and fruit or yogurt which is all in all about 3 euros at this little sandwicherie. There are multiple cafeteria type things, but nothing like what we have at BU, mainly because the students aren't residents. One can also get a full meal for about 4 euros but then one has to wait and also the food isn't that great.

My afternoon classes on Thursdays are classes with normal French students. First, I would like to say if French students behaved like they do here back at BU they would get kicked out of class. About half are paying very intense attention and the other half literally just talk the entire class. The prof will occasionally snap his fingers or shush them, and they will be quiet for about two seconds before starting up again. I was told this would happen but I still find it really jarring. Additionally, lit classes are just lectures--no discussion. I do miss that about American university. Plus it is harder to stay awake when the prof is just going on in a foreign language about a text that most of the class probably hasn't even read. Perhaps the students feel that they can just do whatever because they are not paying for this the way we do--they don't value the education the same way. Probably each hour I spend in class at BU is a couple hundred dollars, so if I were to really blow it off it would mean something. For these students, university is almost free.

I did actually have a mini conversation with one student though! Its a girl who is in both my university classes and seems very studious and attentive. She told me she liked my Alice in Wonderland bag and I told her about Etsy. Very exciting. Hopefully I can get to know at least one or two students a little bit, but its a bit intimidating.

In the evenings I either eat  with my host family or out with friends, sometimes just something casual or we go to a restaurant (the other night I had a delicious onion soup!). When I eat at home there is usually salad (in France this means just lettuce) and a main dish. The family often has things with potatos, as this seems to be a staple in this region. One popular dish is gratin dauphinois, which is basically potatoes baked with cream and cheese. For dessert I usually have some fruit and cheese--recently I tried and very much enjoyed fromage de brebis--ewe's cheese! I think my family are surprised I like such strong cheese, as many foreigners don't, but I could probably make a meal of chevre and bread. Mmmm.

My family watches this series every night called "Plus belle la vie". It takes place in Marseilles and is basically a very popular and ridiculous French soap opera. There are at least 20 characters and they all have weird storylines and someone got shot but also this guy is trying to steal the cafe and I'm not always sure what is going on because TV French is harder than French people actually talking. Then we watch Le Grand Journal which is when stars of sports, TV, movies, music, whatever come on this talk show and do ridic things and chat. Bradley Cooper was on it once and he speaks French so I am now a big fan.

My French is getting better, or at least my comprehension has improved, I think. I can understand most anything people say to me, and I can express myself pretty well. The only time people try to speak English to me is when I am in a group and we are all speaking English to one another so that bodes fairly well, I think.

This weekend I am off to Geneve to stay with my friend Val, who is studying with BU there. I will be back and recount to you my tales of fondue and milk chocolate!

Bisous,
Miriam

Raquiflette and Vin Chaud (again!)

Bonjour tout le monde!
So as you may or may not have heard, I had a bit of an eventful week where I spent the night in hospital due to an allergic reaction to my antibiotics. I am fine now and no harm done so no worries! No details here as I am sick of talking about being sick! And anyway, no fun to read such things.

Instead I shall tell you about the lovely weekend I had here, my last weekend here for a couple weeks as next weekend I'll be in Geneva, then the program is taking us to  Lyon, and then it is our February break (more on that to come). Saturday I ended up meeting some other students down town and we checked out this museum, the Musee de l'ancien Eveche, which is in the old bishop's house and is mainly an archaeology museum.There was however an exhibit on this photographer who took lots of photographs of the area from the 30s to the 80s. Lots of Alps and skiiers and such, very lovely. Also in the basement you can explore some of the Roman foundations and see the remains of a really early church, ,which I enjoyed. We all went to a little bar for some drinks before dinner and I had a nice glass of (legal! hasn't gotten old yet) wine, then got Italian for dinner.

Sunday was a much anticipated day as it was our first trip with the program! We went snowshoing up to a chalet for dinner then sledded back down in the dark. The snowshoing was fun, but a bit tiring especially going up hill. When you snowshoe you have these clunky extra weights on your feet plus you have to lift your leg up extra to take a step. it was quite cold as well, high up as we were, but very beautiful and white--huge expanses of snow lined with trees and distant lights of the village.

As you can see, very snowy! There was probably two feet of snow, though of course we were walking on top of it. It started getting dark as we approached the chalet. Once there, they fed us DELICIOUS vin chaud, probably the best I've had so far. The lady told us it had cinammon and orange and "other spices". For dinner there was this traditional dish of tartiflette which has potato and cream and cheese and lardons, which are kind of like bacon, and for dessert this DELICIOUS red berry crumble with ice cream. We were VERY full. We got to sled part of the way back, alternating between snowshoing and sledding down. It was very beautiful and dark, lit with our cute little head lamps, and very quiet and isolated feeling. By the end we were all exhausted and sore and cold but it was well worth it--lots of fun! Definitely a unique experience.

Til next time!

Love,
Miriam