Nightfall and food in Lyon

 Hello!

 After a scenic journey, I arrived in Lyon Port-Dieu Station. It was huge and very busy, and there was construction work going on, none of which helped me in finding my way around. Luckily I chose the right exit, and with Google Maps guiding me set off through Lyon. 

 The area surrounding the station is modern, with shiny buildings that worked well with the setting sun. creating some photogenic effects.

 I began to get closer to the city centre. The streets became very green and elegant.

 I've been travelling in and out of France and Spain for several years now, and sometimes there are moments when I feel an instant bond to a place, something strong and subconscious. Maybe it's some kind of instinct. I felt it when I first arrived in Perpignan and saw the red sunset behind the Pyrenees. 

 Now I felt it again, standing by the Rhône in Lyon. The sun had nearly set, there were colourful lights reflected in the river, big swarms of birds were swooping across the sky. It just pulled at me. I knew at that moment that I could live in Lyon very happily, if only for the river at twilight. It was powerful.

 Having crossed the Rhône, I headed along it on the other side, to get to where I would be staying. This area of Lyon felt like a mishmash of past and present, ancient and new, ephemeral and timeless.

 I arrived at my hotel, left my bags and headed back out to see Catherine, a tutor from the University of Manchester. We would be discussing how my year abroad was going so far. To meet her in front of the Cathédral Saint Jean-Baptiste I had to cross the second of Lyon's rivers, the Saône.

 Night had fallen by now. The dark hillside rose above me, dotted with lights and hints of old buildings. It was glorious. There were lots of people, especially students (hardly surprising as Lyon has three major universities) and there was a really nice vibe in the air, of hope and excitement. 

 I spotted a lot of people on Segways, then learnt that Segway tours seem to be a thing in Lyon. The guide will be at the front and will call back to the others in line about the city sights. I prefer a tour bus or train myself!

 I found Catherine and we wandered through the old town looking for somewhere to eat. Lyon is famous for its food, but a lot of the menu items were things I don't really eat, such as big hunks of meat, half-cooked meat or foie gras. 

 Fortunately we spotted a bouchon, a traditional Lyon restaurant, that did fish as a main course and had other options that worked for me. It was a cosy little place, with a friendly and bubbly host. 

 Catherine and I chatted about my classes, this blog and blogging generally, and other aspects of my placement. It was useful and I was glad I'd taken the opportunity to have a pastoral visit. 

 Here is the food promised in the title of this blog post - it was divine.

My starter: onion soup with cheese and pieces of bread. This was amazing

Catherine's starter: I think this was poached eggs

My main: cod with potatoes - a standard French dish just done really well

Catherine's main: a quenelle, a dish made from fish or meat, egg and breadcrumbs

My dessert: the poshest chocolate moelleux I've ever had!

Catherine's dessert: crème fraiche with croutons

 I made my way back to my hotel, feeling very happy with my first day in Lyon and looking forward to doing some more exploring in the morning.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

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

Origami and Harry Potter

 Hello!

 My half-term in Avignon was going well: I had been to Montpellier and photographed some autumn scenery. The final two activites I had planned were an origami workshop and a Harry Potter marathon (except I had only booked the first two films because I just couldn't have done them all!). So, let's see how things went.

 Firstly, origami. I had seen posters advertising these workshops, which took place at Cami-Li, a local bookshop, but they were at a time when I had class. Half-term would probably be my only chance to go to one, so I jumped at it.

 I arrived at the bookshop and we sat around a wooden table drinking the hot drinks that were included with the workshop. I had hot chocolate and it was amazing. There was just something very snug about the whole set-up.

 We were a small group, maybe four girls my age and two little girls. The instructor, Lucie, let us choose which of the prettily patterned papers to use, and we began learning to make cranes. I had enjoyed making paper boats and fortune tellers as a kid, and I thought this wouldn't be too hard. 

 It wasn't that complicated in the end, but it did take me a while to get my head around it. Some parts are fiddly and there's a stage where if you hold the folded shape the wrong way up while making the next fold, it ruins the whole thing and you won't know until later on. That was a bit infuriating, but we worked it out and soon the table was piled high with multicoloured cranes.

 Next, we learnt how to make tiny cranes from smaller pieces of paper. This was tricky! The final challenge was to thread our cranes onto some string, along with some beads, to make an ornament to hang up. I was really pleased with my final result.

 Overall, the workshop was a lovely experience, something warm and colourful in the middle of the cold weather, and I was sad that I probably wouldn't be able to go again because of the timetable clash. Ah, well.

 On the Friday before going back to Uni, I set off for the Pandora Cinema for their Harry Potter Marathon. The Pandora specialises in foreign-language films which aren't dubbed but instead have subtitles in French. Inside there was the kind of demographic I would have expected for a Potter Marathon - lots of millennials! I settled down as Philosopher's Stone began.

 I don't know exactly how many times I saw that film during my childhood, but it would have been a lot. This was pure nostalgia. With regards to how they subtitled it, I was interested to see that they kept the French versions of names from the French translations of the books, for example Snape being "Rogue".

 I can understand how they might have done this so that there was some continuity for French viewers who read the French books. However, for those that hadn't read the books, it must have been odd when the characters so clearly weren't saying the names that were in the subtitles.

 On the plus side, I like how the subtitles were in a magic-y font and how each set appeared onscreen at what felt like the right time, with sentences being split appropriately. It made a pleasant change from the awful English subtitles I so often see on French films, with horrible fonts and too many words onscreen at a time (to the point where it can spoil surprises).

 There was a very brief break before the second film, and I ran to get a sandwich from a nearby bakery. The Pandora is on the Rue de la République, which is a big shopping street, so there are plenty of food options. I and the other spectators milled around outside the cinema, before heading back inside for Chamber of Secrets.

 Part of the reason why I chose the first two films to watch out of the eight was that they have an old-school feel that was lost from the third film onward. This is probably due to a mix of the plots getting darker, the characters and actors getting older and the films no longer being directed by an American - Chris Columbus's idealised view of the UK and its boarding schools certainly plays a big role in the first two chapters' aesthetic.

 So, I enjoyed Chamber of Secrets' strange mixture of childhood innocence and scary monsters (though I wish the Basilisk could have somehow lived. I always have to look away from the blinding part). Sir Kenneth Branagh was brilliant as Lockhart; Alan Rickman was excellent as ever. It's just a really well-made film with great actors.

 So, that was my half-term in Avignon. Although going home would have been nice, I feel I made the very best of staying here and had a fun and refreshing week.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x