Exploring Lyon

08/28/16-9/4/16

View of Lyon from Fourvière

My first week in Lyon had been great!  I had two great flights and a train ride to get me to Lyon.  On my train ride from Paris to Lyon I met this wonderful family.  The mom was actually a Food Scientist that worked at a pasta company.  I got to color and chat with one of her daughters about dogs, horses, and dinosaurs.  The mom and I talked about my school in Lyon and Oregon State University.  My host Mom, Laurence met me at the train station in Lyon, and we went to my new home for the next three and a half months.

I have gotten to meet everyone in my host family.  Laurence and François are my host parents, and then their three daughters Camille, Valentine, and Constance.  They are all very nice and want to talk with me.  I also have had fun with their dogs Honey, and Brooklyn.  It has been fun to use french commands with their dogs! It has been really warm this week, and my family has a pool.  I went swimming with Brooklyn, however she would get scared and then try to use me as a flotation device.  This was not going to work for me since their pool gets up to 6 ft. deep!

On Tuesday I had the option to go on a guided tour of Vieux Lyon with other students that were studying in Lyon.  It was all in french, so it was a bit difficult to understand but it was still cool to see everything. We started at a Cathedral that overlooks the rest of Lyon called Fourvière.  I have not been inside, but the outside was beautiful.  From there we traveled down hill from the cathedral, and saw a roman amphitheater.  It was so big! Our tour guide had pictures of what it use to look like before some of the structures were destroyed.  It would have been do cool to have gone and seen a play there!  As we made our way toward the banks of the Saône.  We got to see some cool architecture.   After we were done I got to take the public transportation for the first time by myself, and it was way easier than I thought. There is two buses that I have the option to take from mt house to Place Bellecour (a plaza with metro and bus stops).  Which makes it super easy to get around.

The next day all the Centre d'Oregon students had a orientation meeting to go over final rules, and set up our bank accounts.  It was most of the day, but we got done early, so I was able to go and get my french phone set up with a group of people!  It was supper nice to have the graduate assistant with our group to help with setting up our phones.  I also got to get the numbers of other girls in my group!  Also I finally was told what all the green medical crosses ment.  P.S. They were not dispensaries, they were like Rite Aid or Walgreens!  A highlight of my day was taking the bus back home, and having a car run into the side of the bus right next to where I was sitting! No one was hurt.  The bus just had a small dent, but the other car had its passenger side all bent and smashed up.  I was a little scared at first because everyone was shouting in French and the bus driver didn't say that we needed to stay on the bus or get off.  Fortunately another bus came by and picked us up.  Apparently this is something that never happens in Lyon, so yah for me!

This week I have didn't have any school related meetings, so I went to find the school and time how long it will take me to get there in the morning.  To get to school I have to take a bus, two different metro's, and then walk a couple of blocks.  In total it takes me 50 minutes to get to school.  Taking the metro was new for me, but after using it just once I have gotten the hang of it!

Another part of town that I have explored in Parc de la tête d'Or.  I went there with another girl from the Centre d'Oregon group.  There is a zoo in the park which was great to go and see.  It was outdoors, and they had a savanna, monkey, lemur lagoon, and reptile exhibits.  We then walked around the lake, which was way bigger than we thought!  There was an island in the center of the lake with a statue that was called the island of remembering.  However, the entrance to the lake (which went under the lake!!!) was closed to the public.


The food so far had been great! I had this diner that was chicory wrapped in ham and then had a Swiss cheese sauce over it.  I have also had a chestnut moose, that is so so so good!  For lunch one day we had grilled ham and cheese, but here it is called Croque-Monsieur.

I now can't wait to start my week of orientation at ISARA tomorrow!!  Wish me luck :)

Fourvière

Roman Amphitheatre

Roman Amphitheatre

wooden terraces on apartments

A zebra a the  Parc de la tête d'Or