Chapter 93: Roar

nerd blog post #98

This nerd blog post is about Lyon.

I arrived on Thursday at 10am and quickly found my way to the metro and bought some tickets. From there, I went to the old city and took the funiculaire (uphill metro) to Fourviere. This is the location of the city's basilica. Like the sacre coeur, it's atop a huge hill, but Fourviere makes Montmartre look like an anthill. This was a mountain. The basicila was stunning and has topped all other churches I have visited in France. The only other thing atop the mountain are the oldest theatres in France. Dating back to 14BC, these outdoor amphitheatres are still in great shape. Seeing them was free and you are welcome to walk up and down and sit or act or eat your lunch. I ate my micmic lunch there. It was one of those moments that I wished I could have shared with someone else. It was pretty magical. I stayed up there for awhile. One nice thing was that there were only a couple of other tourists there.

Actually, that's one thing that I really liked about Lyon. It lacks a lot of the tacky glitter that Paris puts on for its tourists. No street "performers" dressed up like mommies, no traps, very few postcard stands.. It was refreshing to visit a city that was very big, but less chaotic.

It was also hot. 23 degrees both days and sunny. I was sure to get a base tan and will continue to update you on my progress.

After the church and theatre (bff), I went back down to the old city and spent some time walking around there. It dates back to Renaissance times. There aren't many spots in Paris like this, and it is really beautiful. Narrow, pedestrian streets, great architecture, and one other thing that I had never heard of before! The 'traboules' are a bunch of secret passageways that are almost impossible to detect from the street, but that lead out to other streets or alleyways. They were used in the olden days as hiding spots and quick getaways but that are still open. They are spooky halloween and detective-like.

I didn't want to be late for my interview so I went to the area of the school very early and had a coffee as the time approached. The school I interviewed at is one of four ENS schools in France. They are the top tier school, and the next tier are the public universities like Rennes. So I had to buzz in and leave id and wear a visitor's necklace. The interview was quite long - 1.5 hours and was half in French and half in English. The director of the program was very nice and I think it went well, but of course it's hard to tell. She asked a lot of interesting questions. Interviewing is one of my fave hobbies and I had a good time. It is a pure sciences universities but an English class in the final year of undergraduate and the first year of Master's is mandatory. I was proud to drop that I have taken a university-level Math course. I didn't mention that it was a 0-hundred level course and that one chapter was entitled, Division: The Mathematics of Sharing, and we learned about how Jane and Tom and Peter would share a pizzer.

In the early evening, I met my friend, Guillaume. By friend, I mean that I met him at a party in Rennes and we talked for a few minutes. His best friend is also named Guillaume, and is the husband of the woman who used to live in my old apartment. Guillaume (in Lyon) is a really nice guy, and we had a good time drinking a beer and then going out for a meal. Lyon is supposed to have the best food in France, so I was happy to splurge a little and get a really good dindins. I tried escargots for the first time and ate a delicious fish dish called 'quenelle.' Couchsurfing fell through earlier in the week, but Guillaume was nice enough to let me stay with him.

The next morning, we ate chocolate cereal and then went to this big park. It's the biggest urban park in France and included such attractions as a lake and a free zoo. The zoo had elephants and giraffes and crocs and pink flamigos and monkeys and leopards. No lions, though. But it was still really neat. He made a good lunch back at his place and then I left him to do some work while I visited the cathedral, city hall, and another neat neighbourhood called Bellecour.

Lyon is on two rivers that run parrallel and the rivers are lined with beautiful and colourful buildings. It is a really pretty city and the people are friendly and slower-paced than in bustling Paris.

I only encountered one mean person and he tried to pickpocket me! I was going down the stairs to catch the metro, when I felt something behind me. Turning around, there was a boy who was holding my wallet and looked like a deer in headlights. He tried to get away, but I got the wallet and gave him a swift backhand across the face before running to get my train. It was the first time that has happened to me and had my heart racing! I later felt guility for hitting him, but it was an uncontrollable reaction and had something to do, I think, with the fact that I was so shocked that I couldn't express myself. Anyways, that was kind of exciting.

Now I'm back in Paris and will be until next Monday. Hoppy Easter. I'll write about my week-end another time.

Hope everyone had a nice week-end!

Much love,
Hincks.