The beginning of my visit to Lyon was classic Karantzas and really set the tone for the whole trip. On arrival, I got a taxi to Kelians apartment because Zoe didnt know how to get there using public transport. 15 euros later I was out the front but without a key, any way to get into the apartment, a phone or wifi. Carrying my massive pack I walked around waving my iPad hoping to pick up some free wifi somewhere nearby while receiving scorning glances from the pompous frenchies but I ignored them and succeeded to steal some wifi from the local pizzeria. I quickly messaged Zoe asking which buzzer to press so Kelian could let me in as we had planned, but Zoe replied informing me actually Kelian wasn't home and wouldn't be for another 5 hours, and sorry she would try and be there in an hour. Two and a half hours later I was covered in a giant bear hug by a happy Zoe, and I tried to mirror back her excitement despite my annoyance at waiting nearly 3 hours on the street outside a pizza shop, especially when my iPad died 1 hour in. Any frustration I had was soon gone though as Zoe and I settled in on the couch and chatted non stop. She loves a good story and I had plenty to tell and enjoyed relaying my adventure to a very receptive audience. We were both so hungry but time had escaped us and it was nearly 6 so after some cheese (very French), we headed off to the supermarket to buy things for dinner and on our return Kelian was there waiting for us. He was even more good looking than ever and I knew straight away Zoe's past crush on him was rekindled, even if she tried to deny it. We had a big chat, made dinner and then got ready for our first night with Kelian's friends. I was excited for a really local French night and when I realised we were headed to the 'ayers rock' club I couldn't help but laugh. What a way to start my French trip, but on an Australian themed boat club. It ended up being a fun night and interesting as I got asked for ID for the first time in a long time, but the 2 17 year olds we were with walked in unquestioned. Another interesting turn of events was when Kelian and I lost Zoe and searched for an hour before deciding she must have left. We walked out and continued to repeatedly call her when finally she answered and said, what, I'm still on the boat! How Kelian and I had managed to miss her every lap we did of the boat was beyond me, but by this point he was grumpy at having wasted so much time so we all headed home.
I experienced a rare moment the next morning when I woke to Zoe saying goodbye and heading off to uni showered and dressed, while I was still sound asleep. If you know the botranzie relationship at all you will know that this is the complete opposite to usual. Zoe said she would be home at 2 and we would go for lunch so I hung around the apartment (didnt have a key so I couldn't leave anyway) and made myself busy for a few hours. By 3 o'clock though there was no sign of Zoe and I was close to starvation but by 4 she appeared with no explanation or apology and declared she had already eaten. Needless to say I was getting very frustrated but Zoe had found her apartment (she thought) which was one positive thing and meant we could give Kelian back his luxurious bed, that Zoe and I had been quite enjoying snuggling in. Within minutes received a phone call from Zoe's potential new apartment saying we had to come and inspect it before 6 which gave us an hour to get there. Zoe decided there was time for a shower but it soon was clear there wasn't as we ran down streets hunting for a velov (hire bike) and when Zofinally got one she pedalled like crazy and i strolled behind slowly before getting extremely lost. At about 7pm we found each other and were reunited outside the apartment, we went it to check it out and both got so excited seeing our new home!! The view of a cemetery was interesting but we decided it was unique and could find no fault in our cute little house, and we decided to move in on Monday after our weekend visit to Montbrison We headed off on another French night with Kelian and his friends that evening. In Lyon the trendy thing to do was not club, but hang out and drink by the river and chat (and freeze to death). Apart from the cold weather it was really fun, and I was once again amazed at Zoe's incredible French skills as she chatted away to everyone there. I attempted to understand but my two years of French didn't serve me too well when they were speaking extremely fast and beginning to slur their words under the influence. Fortunately, as soon as everyone realised I was Australian and 'je ne parle francais' everyone wanted to practice their English and prove how good they were at talking, which some of them really were. This enthusiasm for English was a refreshing change from my previous experience of snobby French people who are reluctant to speak English or even help you if you can't speak in French, so on that account and many other, Lyon beats Paris ten times over, all it needs is an Eiffel Tower. When the cold got too much for everyone we all walked back to the bus stop and went home to a much needed warm bed.
After the previous days mishaps I decided to come and meet Zoe at uni when she finished so she wouldn't get distracted on adventures and leave me bored alone in the apartment. We met at trusty McDonalds where I was again was taking advantage of free wifi, and headed to a local cafe for lunch with two of her uni friends, Zac and Ben. The food and company was great, and we chatted for hours over steak and fries. After a feast, Zoe and I hit the shops and fell in love with 90% of the things we saw, but managed to refrain from making too many purchases and we even bumped into Kelian there! We had no luck on the shoe front as I refused to pay 70 euro for converses which would most likely be destroyed so we left empty handed but full with delicious freshly squeezed orange juice. After a big big big clean up of Kelians apartment ( he is a MASSIVE neat freak), Kelian, Zoe and I left for Montbrison. We got off to a very late start as kelian's friend we were giving a lift to arrived an hour and a half late. In the end we pulled into the Phillipon residence at around 11pm and to my shock horror the table was laid for 6 and it seemed that they had waited until we arrived to have dinner. How that was physically possible I don't know, if I had any other option I would have eaten 5 times already that night. Dinner was simple but delicious, cheese, ham, little fried potato chunks with capsicum, bread for everyone else, and yoghurt for dessert. After we were fed the men of the house hauled a fold out sofa up 2 flights of stairs so I had somewhere to sleep, which I immediately crashed into.
We woke up early the next day in order to tackle the markets, sort out Zoe's bank issues and sightsee all before lunch. After I woke up a sleepy Zoe and had a shower (things were back to normal) we headed off on our adventure. The market was exactly what I would imagine for a small country town and was bustling with locals doing their weekly shop of fresh produce. There were all kinds of things on offer, foods of all sorts- fresh fruit and veg, all sorts of cheese and cured meats, ready made food, bakery stalls, yoghurt, olives, dried fruit and nougat (all of these things Zoe and I decided to buy some of). There were racks and racks of clothes, old books, videos, DVDs, and random bits and bobs which could definitely come in handy. After a big shop around, a visit to Zoe's favourite shop- the fromagerie, and a 2min bank stop, Zoe needed a coffee fix and I needed food. I settled for roasted potatoes cooked underneath spit roasted chickens so they were delicious and succulent with a little chickeny stock coating them- YUM! And Zoe had her two cafe au laits so we were happy as could be. On our walk back to the house we walked past a castle sort of thing on a hill so decided to check it out for an hour before our stomachs forced us back for lunch. After another lovely meal, the dad?? offered to take us shopping to stock up Zoe's apartment with food and bits and pieces while we had a car to carry it all. We jumped into the car and the roof was immediately off, and I was cruising to the supermarket in a convertible, as you do... Food shopping to stock up a cupboard from scratch was a dream to me, so much food needed and typical me, I had written a 2 page list within about 15 minutes purely of the essentials she would need. We were shopping for about an hour and a half and the trolley was filled to the brim with delicious things, including a gluten free baguette I found!! Now I could finally fit in and be a true frenchy. On the way home the weather turned so the roof was shut tight and we sprinted in and out of the house with the piles and piles of shopping bags. After unpacking we took refuge in Laurines bed and chatted for the afternoon before having some corn chips and dip and soup before visiting kelian's friend, Antoine for some drinks. It was very low key and very French aka no one spoke English and I understood nothing but luckily one of kelian's friends David arrived to save the day who had done a 2 month exchange in USA and returned with immaculate English, hooray!!
Zoe and I had a lazy start to our Sunday and were warned to only eat a small breakfast before our Sunday lunch, so a little bit of baguette with delicious strawberry and fig jams would do! Grandma soon arrived so we had to try and explain to her who I was and why I was there but she was a funny old lady so it proved to be quite entertaining. We sat up with grandma and natan chatting and soon enough it was time for lunch. When I saw what the entree was I ran upstairs for my lacteeze pills but I knew no amount of them could face this challenge. A pot of cream, milk, cheese and an egg baked in the oven- delicious but so so so much lactose. My tummy turned at the sight of it and although the lacteeze tablets did their best, they couldn't completely save me from the consequences of that concoction. The main course stuffed vegetables with meat and rice was much more Georgie friendly and delicious, especially when served with a tasty glass of red. Zoe and I were busy bees in the afternoon, helping to set up the newly converted attic, making a big batch of pesto, half for us half for them and then packing up once more to head back to Lyon. It felt like a long drive home but before you knew it we were back in town and at Zoe's new apartment. I immediately began to unpack, organise,and take over the kitchen and Zoe seemed completely willing to relinquish control. She begrudgingly started unpacking clothes but after we put on music she realised the potential fun in setting up house. We were up until 1am settling in before we collapsed into bed.
Monday was Zoe's only day off uni (well she only had one class) so we made the most of it and set off to ...... And the fourvier! We set off happy snapping all the way and eventually asked a friendly man to take a picture for us. Zoe ended up chatting away to him with her very impressive French skills and he soon decided to walk with us and show us a cool church nearby. Initially I was oblivious however it soon became clear Zoe was really freaked out by this man and the fact he kept coming with us, but I couldn't exactly tell her not to worry he's harmless in front of him so I just watched as she became more and more panicked as she showed us into the church and gave us directions to the fourvier. She whispered her fears to me and I couslmt help but laugh, okay Zoe lets just say goodbye and leave then, I told her, she clearly didn't think this was a foolproof plan but in the end she did it. He bid us farewell and that was that. Now our 'stalker' had left us Zoe led the way for the hike up the hill. One thing was clear, we were both very unfit and had to stop for two breathers on the way up but the view at the top was well worth it, Zoe had done very well. The highest point in Lyon gave an incredible vantage point from which to see the entire city as well as the very beautiful Fourvier church. We opted for the funicular down the hill to save our legs but in the end I am so glad we did, it was so so cute and old fashioned! Zoe decided she probably could make her class so she shouldn't miss it unless she had do, so we opted to eat lunch nearby her uni so she could make a quick getaway if it looked like were cutting it fine. It was a lecture so I decided to join her and see what French uni was like! After a salad and ice tea we walked over to uni but when we found the classroom, it was clear it was much too small a room to hold a lecture and in fact it was just a normal class, so I couldn't really go. Zoe ran in saying, sorry meet you at McDonald's at 7! If we were smart we should have preempted I may not be able to go to her class so I should have the key to go back to the apartment, but we didn't do this. It was 4pm, raining, and I didn't have my iPad so I couldn't even take advantage of the time for wifi. I braved the rain and decided I may as well explore some more of Lyon, considering lots of my time so for had been spent inside apartments. The weather out a big dampener on things but regardless Lyon is a beautiful city and it was nice to take a look at some different areas. I met back up with Zoe who informed me on our walk back that there was a party on that night that Antony (who came to Shelford for a visit in year 12) had invited us to. It would be rude to say no, so we rugged up and headed off after a big bowl of delicious pesto pasta for energy. The party itself wasn't fantastic but Antony shouted us some drinks and we had a nice chat and were home, warm and tucked into bed before midnight.
Feeling revitalised after a big nights sleep, I went to the gym in Zoe's apartment building and attempted to whip myself back into shape- although I highly doubt one workout in 4 months will make much of a difference. I walked down to meet Zo at uni for another shopping session, this time was meant to be more home focused however we both came out with new clothes, Zoe with new makeup and also a few household items we badly needed. Tonight was trivia night so I cooked us up a quick dinner of fish and chips before donning my brand new BEAUTIFUL coat and heading out. I finally got to put some names to faces and meet some more of Zoe's uni friends as well as seeing Zac and Ben again. They were such a lovely bunch of people and I was laughing all night. A few questions in it was clear Ben, Rachel and I possessed a competitive streak and had our eyes firmly on the prize while the others gossiped and mostly got drunk, and occasionally piped up with a good answer. We finished an impressive second out of 13 teams and won ourselves a bottle of woe and a lot of victory photos. It was such a fun bunch of people and i was happy to find out the next night was an Erasmus party so I'd get to see them all on my last night in Lyon for a final hurrah. Zoe had offered to host pre's for tonight's party but the apartment was a mess so I added onto my daily housewife duties of cooking and dishes and cleaned the apartment until it was spotless. I was tired after my cleaning but luckily one of essential household items we bought the day before was speakers so I danced around while cleaning which made it a much more bearable task. Zoe decided we should go out for a fancy and traditional French lunch for my last day so she led the way to an adorable little street with restaurants all along and tables in the street. We picked one an sat outside with a bottle of wine to share and some delicious food and talked nonsense until it seemed they were waiting for us to leave so they could close the restaurant. Zoe was determined to find a new outfit or at least boots for tonight's soirée but instead walked out of h and m with a pile of other clothes, no boots or no going out attire. She was tired and getting grumpy so we went home for some relaxation time. Zoe had a nap and I treated myself to the absolute luxury of a long hot bubbly bath and soaked until I was a shrivelled prune. I then continued on my housewife duties (maybe this trip has changed me?) and cooked up a stir-fry and woke Zoe when it was time for din dins. The girls arrived for pre's and we polished off 2 bottles of wine in quick time and headed off to Blake's house for second pre's as it was two doors down from the party. We managed to sneak a little bit of vodka each so we could have a drink at his place and thn we set off for the party. It was fun for a while but eventually I felt very out of place and with my 6am wakeup in my mind I was ready to go home. Still, no one else was ready to leave so I graciously waited until 3am before demanding the keys but Zoe said she would come with me so we walked back cuddling in the cold. The wakeup was horrendous but being a great friend Zoe hauled herself out of bed too to walk me to the tram stop and we had a big big hug and an emotional goodbye, if you're reading, I miss you zouzou!!!
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