Thursday 22 December 2011

Familiar Faces In Foreign Places


So get this, I’m now FILLING IN time. Wow. Miraculous. The last ten days have been pretty insane… As they seem to be these days.

 Last week I passed all of my tests for the end of the semester. This was preceded by a number of STINKY cheese parties that Aziz (my housemate) was throwing. Apparently in France during the winter months it's common practice to buy a ridiculously foul-smelling cheese called raclette, invite all your friends around and eat it melted with potatoes. Admittedly it's not that bad - but it stinks out your house. I, for example left all the windows open during the night to air the place from the smell - regardless, the stinky cheese smell lingered. Here's a picture of Aziz being enthusiastic about his cheese.


On Friday Julia joined me in Lyon (I may have squeezed all of the air out of her tiny lungs when I hugged her on the platform). Really, life without miss Hastings wasn’t quite as bright. It was awesome to have her in Lyon. Saturday evening I picked up Dominic from the airport with Julia and my friend Jérémy (who kindly drove us).

Sunday we set out to Fourvière, went to the basilica, visited the old Roman theatres (I’d been to La Croix Rousse with Julia the day before, so we didn’t go back). We went on the ferris wheel at Bellecour (fantastic views of the city. Mother, don’t freak out… I’m still here). We walked along the Rhône river and ate a bit of pasta that day…. It was good. It was all very nice.


IT SNOWED ON MONDAY! So, there wasn’t much… but I saw snow falling from my window when I woke up! That was pretty cool. The cars in the parking lot were covered lightly and when we went to the park there was a bit of snow around. It was all very exciting for me, my Malaysian friend and Julia…(we haven’t seen a lot of snow in our lives).



 On Monday evening Julia and I said a sniffly goodbye and Dominic and I took the train to Paris. The hotel we stayed at wasn’t exactly how I had thought it would be… meaning that it was in a pretty dodgy area that was difficult to access via metro. OH WELL. It was $30 a night anyway and was in Paris, after all. Tuesday we climbed Notre Dame (which was my first time up there!) and there were great views of Paris. We could see the Eiffel Tower, Sacré Coeur… many fantastic things. We also saw the famous bell (which, by the way is nearly 850 years old!).
After Notre Dame we had lunch at Hôtel de Ville (we walked past the ice skaters zipping around on an outdoor ice-skating rink. To my disappointment, Dominic couldn’t be convinced to give it a try). We went to the outside of Le Louvre, to Place de la Concorde, Les Tuilléries, then walked across the bridge and went to the Eiffel Tower. Many photos were taken here. Again. We then met up with my dear friend Nettra and had tea on a cute street before walking to the Champs Elysées. Dominic and I then saw l’Arc de Triomphe and Dominic did a bit of shopping at H&M. It’s funny. I know that this all sounds really cool and amazing, but I feel like I’ve done it so many times now that going to Paris seems like going to Melbourne. Is this bad? Maybe I’m just becoming a bit French.



 This brings me briefly to the funny thing about being surrounded by your second language 24/7. It drills into your mind (in no way is this negative)! The other day, for example when praying in English with my Brazilian housemate, I said ‘aussi’ instead of ‘too’ systematically. I had to stop praying while we just laughed. Then late last night when I wanted to sleep, I spoke to him in French. I was half asleep. Does this mean that French has entered my subconscious? I often find myself thinking in French, or imagining situations or conversations (with people who can in no way speak French at all) and they’re conversing with me in French. Wow. Language is weird, but cool! It’s kind of like a magic power. No, I’m not mad – perhaps a slight abstract thinker though, yes.

So where was I? Ok, so after the Champs Elysées we went to eat a crêpe. It was good. Montparnasse did not let me down.

Yesterday we did Versailles. This time I got to see Marie-Antoinette’s estate that was really amazing. An ancient, twisting wooden staircase that is no longer accessible was particularly intriguing. We then went to the city again and then went on an adventure trying to find a Chinese restaurant. We eventually ended up down a small, dark street in one. Dominic had rice and was happy. I was just relieved to be able to stop walking.


Finally now I'm in Denmark. It is dark. 4.15 pm now and I can't see anything. It's weird...I feel like I should be eating dinner and going to bed now.

Enjoy the sun, guys. Right now though, I'm not jealous. I'm with family.

Sunday 11 December 2011

Lyon Lights Up

There comes a time after having been away from home for a while where you start thinking that you're seeing people you know from back home.

I've seen European versions of cousins, close friends and people I know from Melbourne uni. It's quite fun, really. I can only smile and tell myself that it's impossible. This was until miss Lauren walked off a train from Paris and into my arms on Wednesday night. This was, of course planned, only it was so nice to see her!

On Thursday we went around Lyon. All over the city. Thursday was a special day. The 8th of December is a religious holiday here in Lyon (more on that later). It meant that people were out on the streets and the churches were even more beautiful than usual.

We went to La Croix Rousse (my favourite neighbourhood in Lyon), Vieux Lyon, to the basilica at Fourvière, the town hall, Bellecour, the main street... we walked a long way!

This is what we saw




 A juggling monk and a heart from paint spray cans. I'm proud of my little city.

The same picture I took in August looking down over Vieux Lyon, only this time it's wintery and the balloons are up in Bellecour for la Fête des Lumières

Fourvière




The sunset near my place, candles for December 8 in the basilica and a shrine to Mary in the St Jean CathedralSo where was I? Oh, yes. The 8th of December. According to the most reliable academic source, which of course everyone knows is wikipedia, the history behind the Lyonnaise tradition of December 8th is as follows: The origins of the festival date to 1643 when Lyon was struck by plague. The municipal councillors (échevins) promised to pay tribute to Mary if the town was spared. Ever since, a solemn procession makes its way to the Basilica of Fourvière on this day to light candles and give offerings in the name of Mary. The event thus commemorates the day Lyon was consecrated to the Virgin Mary. In 1852, it became a popular festical when a statue of the Virgin Mary was erected next to the Basilica, overlooking the city. Now a focal point of the festival, the statue was created by the renowned sculptor, Fabsisch and was sponsored by several notable Lyonnais Catholics. The inauguration of the statue was due to take place on September 8, 1852. That day, however there was serious flooding of the Saône River and this prevented the statue from being ready. The archbisop then decided to move the date to December 8. On the morning of the 8th, however a big storm stuck Lyon. The master of ceremonies decided to cancel everything and move the date to the following Sunday. In the end the skies cleared and the people of Lyon, who had been waiting for the event lit up their windows, went down into the streets and lit flares to illuminate the new statue and the chapel of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, later superseded by the Basilica. This tradition has been repeated ever since.So every year here in Lyon, the tradition of leaving candles on window cils still continues. And the crazy thing is that EVERYONE does it. And I mean everyone. Here's a picture of ours.

More recently, artists and engineers have flocked to the city to put together impressive light displays. People flood into the city (which makes it hard to move)! and there are holograms, sparklers, candles and impressive and spectacular shows which take place on famous Lyonnais buildings. This year the theatre looked like a pin ball machine, then it went underwater. The cathedral flashed different colours and sang opera... and at Place des Terreaux (where the town hall is, museum of fine arts and a famous fountain), the fountain came to life, horses ran onto the walls of the buildings, the buildings melted, were haunted by an opera singer and eventually fell down. Have a look at what we saw -











This is a video of part of the display projected onto the Museum of Fine Arts.

We stumbled across a pretty cool band -



View of the real city of lights (The festival in the film 'Tangled' was totally based on Lyon)

 We walked along the banks of the Rhône river


And went back to my cute little kitchen.

 The next day we went to Lyon's gourmet food market, owned by the world's greatest chef (no exaggeration), Paul Bocuse.

Saw a deer....at the park of course (yes, we did sing doe a deer...)

And then I dropped Lauren at the station... and made the walk of shame home as I had yet to have started revising for my upcoming exams and essays due this week... and wondered when my next Fête des Lumières would be.....better get back to it, guys. Until then!