Wanderlust: The One Where I'm in Lyon

Things have been sailing pretty smoothly for the past couple of days. I finally got my metro card (just like my uPass back in Vancouver) and my student card (free entrance to museums all over France and other sweet benefits!). I’ve also settled in to my apartment at Le Moliere. Here’s a photo of my room and other parts of it:

School has started already… sort of. Our orientation day (August 29th) was nothing compared to the UBC’s Imagine Day or Sauder’s Frosh. We pretty much just had two information sessions, which were pretty helpful. There were so many errands I still had to do, but I have finally finished at least 90% of them. All I can do now is wait before I continue on finishing my other errands since I’ve done my part. Our French Culture and Civilization course has started already as well. It’s actually quite interesting, except I have a ton of information to memorize before our final exam this coming Friday. Wish me luck.

I’ve met a couple of interesting people in the program as well. People from Australia, Scotland, Hawaii, China and even from Canada! There actually seems to be a lot of Canadians in the program. Some of the Chinese girls I met even gave me the definition of my Chinese name. Apparently, it means smart and precious/treasure. I love my Chinese name now. HAHA.

I am also trying to be as stingy as possible with my expenses. I can’t withdraw any money from my French bank account yet simply because they still haven’t given me my debit card (long story, waiting for them to send me something). So, I have created an excel spreadsheet (let’s go COMM 290 skills!) to list down all my monthly expenses and to count how much I have left for the month and such. It is quite handy and I love it because it prevents me from making impulsive purchases. It’s nice to be more cautious of your expenses. 😀

I’m beginning to love my location even more. It’s so close to so many things. It’s pretty close to school, very close to the river (where they farmer’s markets on Thursday’s, Saturday’s, and Sunday’s!!), the huge mall (La Part Dieu), and main areas such as Bellecour and Vieux Lyon. These places are easily accessible by the metro, bus, and even walkable. I also found a Catholic church that’s 10 minutes away from my place. It’s always nice to walk to church on a Sunday morning. 🙂

Speaking of church, I attended my first French-speaking mass awhile ago. I tried to follow the responses with the help of the English-French translated version of the mass given to me by my sister-in-law. It’s so helpful, but I have to work on my French pronunciations. Sadly, it’s hard to sing along with the rest of the mass attendees and I don’t really understand the gospel, the homily, and other parts of the mass. I hope I will eventually understand more things.

I am madly in love with the food here in Lyon. There are so many good pastry shops, cheeses, meat, etc. all over the place. My friend, Diana, and I were doing a bunch of research awhile ago and we found so many awesome places to visit for food. I cannot wait for more gastronomical adventures!! 😀 There is quite a few number of Michelin-star rated restaurants too. I would love to try Paul Bocuse‘s restaurant, but man, it is just too expensive. One day, maybe. However, there’s a place here called Les Halles de Paul Bocuse. I paid that place a visit yesterday and I just fell in love. There were so many things I wanted to try. All the pastries, cheeses, chocolates, and etc. Any foodie would love that place. I will post pictures soon… maybe when I actually buy something there already. So excited!!

Some of the pastries I’ve had in Lyon: (L to R) Tarte Normande (I think.. or some flan?), Nutella Muffin, and Paille Nutella.

The weather was definitely better today, compared to the past few days where it was raining, windy, and cold. Diana and I went for a jog by the Rhône River and also took a long walk to bask under the sun. It felt so good. I love the sun. <3 I have to make the most out of it before Fall weather officially kicks in.

Click to enlarge!