En route to Lyon

 Hello!

 Shortly after half-term, I travelled to Lyon to have my pastoral appointment with Catherine, the year abroad tutor for French at my home university. This would be a chance to discuss how my time in Avignon was going so far and ask any questions I had.

 I was really excited at the prospect of finally going to Lyon, a city that had been on my radar for a long time but which I had never had a chance to visit. I set out on a Thursday afternoon; I would see Catherine and then have the evening and the next morning to explore.

 The journey there marked the first time I'd travelled via Avignon's TGV station, which is slightly out of town. It turned out to be big and architecturally striking, and I was glad to have seen it. Once I was settled onto my TGV (fast train), happily on the upper level and by a window, I enjoyed the gorgeous views of the south of France flying by.

 I hope you enjoy my photos of the journey from Avignon to Lyon.

 In my next post I'll let you know all about Lyon, one of the most incredible cities I've visited. Watch this space!

 Thanks for reading.

 Liz x

The Girona Express

 Hello! 

 I hope this blog post finds you well. I have had a lovely week as my mother came to visit me in Perpignan. It was amazing having her here and I really enjoyed showing her around the city.

 She flew into Girona, in Spanish Catalonia, and I took the train up to meet her. 

 On the way, I saw some truly gorgeous scenery. I have cited the journey from Perpignan to Montpellier as perhaps the most beautiful in the world but the journey from Perpignan to Girona really did give it a run for its money.

Ivre on the beauty, maybe...

Some kind of ruins?

 It was a wonderful journey and I hope to explore Catalonia a lot more in the future.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

The centre of the universe!

 Salut!

 It's Sunday and it's nice and sunny but not uncomfortably so. I want to tell you about yesterday when I met some of the other language assistants for the first time.

 I had heard there was going to be a fete in Perpignan so I set out to find it. However, I then discovered that some of the assistants were at a restaurant in town so I went to them instead. 

 It was great meeting them: two people from the UK, four from Spain and one from Canada. We spoke a mixture of French, English and Spanish - it was good fun.

 Some of the group wanted to buy train tickets so we made our way to the station, said by Salvador Dali to be the centre of the universe.

 There is also a competition to win a piano by playing piano in the station! Nathan, one of the assistants, had a go.

 We then wandered to a shop and then to the apartment that two of the assistants share. I got to know Perpignan a bit better and it was lovely chatting and just mooching about. The evening was coming and it was nice and cool. The sky was beautiful.

 Five of us went to have a drink at a bar. As a non-drinker I was delighted by the variety of syrups available. I had peach syrup with water, Delicious!

 So, that was my first day with the other assistants and I really liked it. Hopefully we can see a lot of each other during our time in Perpignan.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x