Here Comes The Sun (do do do do) (Featuring Geneva, Switzerland)

Over the last couple of weeks, we've all been woken up early from Mela's meowing at 6 in the morning. Last Wednesday, enough was simply enough. A sign was made and the rules were laid out.

The explanation in the video below to our little cat goes something along the lines of
'No cuddles here before 8am. Thank you for your cooperation, the direction.'

At 2am the following morning, Mela was at my door, demanding a hug. Eventually I gave in to make her calm down... I think we all need to be a bit more disciplined with ourselves.

Throughout the week I had several delicious culinary experiences. Firstly, look how amazing this lemon meringue tart is!

Along with last week came the amazing discovery of a French frozen food chain called 'Picard'. Now, Picard is a lot like a supermarket, only it specialises in frozen meals, ice-creams, vegetables and hors d'oeuvres. Don't be put off. A lot of it is organic and it's all free of nasties! The meals that I've bought there have been fantastic (and you all know how much of a food snob I am, so you can trust me on this one). So far I've had curries, lasagnes, pastas... It's been great. I'm not eating meals from Picard every day, but when I arrive home from class at 9 pm it's so easy to just throw a Picard meal in the microwave.

 Here's a link to their website for further culinary exploration: http://www.picard.fr/

In other news, the sun is still shining! Still! While I walk around the streets of Lyon I can't help but continue to be amazed at how much of a beautiful city this is... And to think that it's more than 2,000 years old is just so cool! Sun makes everything wonderful! That's another thing that I've noticed here in Europe... The seasons are all so obvious. When Spring came.. BAM! It was Spring! The birds were out singing, the smell of flowers was in the air, the sun was out... It's all just so exciting!

Yesterday I went to Geneva in Switzerland with an Australian friend, Jess and her Spanish housemate Sara. Geneva is only an hour and a half away from Lyon by train, so we made a day of it! It was simply beautiful. 

We picnicked by the lake (after walking by goodness knows how many Rolex stores and the Four Seasons Hotel). We hesitated walking across the grass because, as Jess put it 'it looked like grass not to be walked on'. It turns out that yes, it was simply parkland... Just.... Swiss parkland, which means clean and very well kept. The jet d'eau (fountain) being Geneva's landmark was actually very cool. We had initially thought it would be kind of lame... But water being shot up 150 metres into the air is actually pretty impressive.

We walked around the old part of town, bought some Swiss chocolate (an obvious must), admired the magnolias that were in full bloom and then made our way to the Pocket Watch Museum (not my idea). On arrival at this particular museum, the lady at the front desk was particularly impressed that we had chosen to visit on our only day in Geneva. Although I didn't think I was going to enjoy this excursion too much, I was pleasantly surprised. Some of those watches were very impressive! Rubies, diamonds, enamel... Some dated back to 500 AD! I couldn't take any pictures inside, so here are some magnolias:

We stumbled across a little market on our way back over to the other side of town (while enjoying a view of the Alpes), and then enjoyed walking by the ENORMOUS lake. 

The lake was so big that it felt very much like the seaside and I was missing the beach a little (I need to make it to the coast sometime soon!) We even had ice-cream (the most expensive ice-cream in the world. Switzerland is rolling in it). 

We walked out to the jet d'eau (feeling a little concerned about the lack of hand railing, its slipperiness and the number of people walking along this particular stoney path out there) but made it in one piece! From there it was back to the old town and up to the cathedral. Here's the view from the cathedral.

We then started the short walk back over the bridge, before eating some pasta for dinner and jumping on the train home - where we all slept.

I'm going out to enjoy the sun now. 

-Alice

La Vie Quotidienne

I thought I should perhaps fill you in on the last two weeks. There weren't too many events that occurred that are blog worthy.

There have been a few days spent at home cleaning, eating Greek salads and watching Gilmore Girls.

There have been a few evenings spent in the bathroom (with blasting music to my own taste) as an attempt to drown out the continuous playing of 'Green Sleeves' being strummed by Thomas down the hall and the hysteric sobbing of a friend of Caroline's. (OH the joys of communal living!)

There have been afternoons spent at the park, looking out over the lake and writing/reading.

There have been days (too many days) where I have had to walk home, as protestors have been blocking the streets. People of France, I love that you're passionate. I really do... But please keep it better contained!

I had a lovely conversation with Nicole on Skype. This time my favourite thing that she said was

"We should abolish time. The world would be a much happier place. Probably a disorganised mess... But much calmer." 


Thank you, Nicole for your philosophical insights. She also made me giggle as she talked enthusiastically about her 'Cats of the Apocalypse' calendar. If this interests you, feline/science fiction lovers, you can check out the site here:

http://catsoftheapocalypse2012.bigcartel.com/


I ordered a couple of books for my political science class, 'The United States Faced By Latin America'. The extent of my feelings of excitement and happiness about the arrival of these books has truly made me realise how little I'm challenged academically here. University of Melbourne - HOW I LONG FOR YOU!

So another quiet week planned. A few 'Rendez-vous' noted and a potential trip to Geneva on the 24th in the mix.

Life's still very good! I'm enjoying most moments!

I hope you're all well! Those of you in Melbourne, you should go to the French Film Festival that is on at the moment!

Talk to you all soon,

Alice

Sun, Salads, Sandals.... SPRING!

The sun has made a comback over the last few days. You read correctly. I've been sporting sandals! Fact! There have been lunches on the balcony and days in t.shirts. There are even flower buds on the trees!

On Friday the weather was a beautiful 23 degrees. It felt like summer. It was so, so lovely.
I started my 13 KM walk at the Parc de la Tête d'Or. I love the Parc de la Tête d'Or. It's common knowledge that it's the most beautiful park in all of France, and if you saw it you would completely understand why. It's everything really that makes it so wonderful... The lake and the birds, the rose gardens and statues, the children on bikes and the old men sporting berets. It's the thin, eccentric French women sporting high heels and struggling to move in those things while feeding the ducks... The deer and the fairy floss venders. It's perfect. On Friday there was an absolute explosion of colour, as people from everywhere came out of their homes. Lyon felt like Lyon again and no more an icy ghost town.

I then made my way out one of the beautiful entrances to the park, into an unfamiliar neighbourhood and then skipped my way along the Rhône river.

I walked over the bridge and into the centre of town. There were people everywhere. Colours everywhere. People playing music, people in t. shirts, sunglasses, shorts, skirts, dresses. Cafés spilled out onto the streets while hundreds of people sat in the sun. Place des Terreaux which had been frozen just a few weeks before hand had undergone and extreme make over. Bellecour was also beautiful when I later walked along Rue de la République (Lyon's main street) and made it there.

Have I recently mentioned how much I love living in this city? I LOVE living in this city!!!!!!! I DO! Look! Flower buds and sandals in the park!

There were also salads...

On Friday evening the Relief Society had an activity where we all got to pretend to be florists! We did our own flower arrangements! It was a lot of fun and we all discovered hidden talents!

Here we all are together

So as you can see, I'm much happier, more active and a bit blonder thanks to this beautiful weather. It's supposed to cool down again this week... BUT! I am now hopeful and happy for what's to come! SUMMER, PLEASE DON'T DELAY!


Enjoy your last days of summer, Aussie dears... It's time for it to head North now. You've had your turn. 


Have a great week!


Alice