Vive la France!

6/28/13-6/30/13

My Iowa friends were all gone on Friday, so I decided to do a little shopping since there are huge sales going on in France now called soldes. I went to les halles, a “mall-ish” type of place and did some real damage! Just kidding! But I did buy some fun and cute things! I bought a couple clothing and accessory items and a pair of shoes! I also was feeling luxurious and bought myself some Dior, Chanel, and Yves Saint Laurent. However, my luxurious tastes could pretty much only afford the cheapest items which were J’adore Dior perfume, Chanel nail polish, and Yves Saint Laurent lipstick. It may be little things, but at least I can say I bought some Dior, Chanel, and Yves Saint Laurent in the fashion capital of the world, Paris!! After shopping, I went back to my apartment went on a quick run and got ready for traveling to Lyon with Alix!

I met Alix at Gare du Lyon around 7pm. She invited me to stay with her and her family for the weekend. She lives a little outside of Lyon on the countryside. We took the TGV (a very fast train!) and arrived in Lyon around 9. Her parents met us at the train station and then took us out to dinner. Alix explained to me that Lyon is known for having the best food in France. It also however, has some of the most bizarre foods. She told me “They make dishes out of animal parts that I didn’t know was possible to eat”. She advised to stick with the basics when it came to eating. I decided to eat a traditional Lyonnais meal, and it was by far the best meal I’ve had in France! After dinner, Alix and her parents took me on a quick night walk of Lyon and showed me some nearby sites. It was getting quite late however so we shortly left and went to their house.

The next day, I ate lunch with Alix and her brother. We sat and talked for a while and then went into Lyon to do some shopping and sightseeing. We first took the metro up one of Lyons main hills and then started to descend down. Along the way, Alix showed me some of vieux Lyon (old Lyon) which consisted of some of the oldest neighborhoods in Lyon. I saw several other things along the way down and after reaching the bottom we decided to find shelter from the rain and went to Starbucks. After we did a little shopping and walked the streets of Lyon. Alix and her brother and I then got dinner at an Italian restaurant. It may not have been French, but again it was one of the best meals I’ve had in France. After we returned home and watched a movie. It was a very enjoyable day!

On Sunday, Alix’s sister, her sister’s husband, and her little nephew came over. We sat out in the sun for a while and then had lunch together on their terrace. After lunch, Alix took me to a nearby Lake that is in the French Alps. It was still too cold to go in the water but we sat at a café near the water and had a drink. The Alps were incredible and breathe taking. Every direction was picturesque and beautiful. We eventually had to leave this beautiful beautiful BEAUTIFUL place as we had to get ready for our train ride back to Paris.

Overall, it was a lovely weekend. It was great to be around a family and they reminded me of my family back home, loving, kind and generous. (Most of the time anyways haha! Just kidding!) Her family was so nice to me, and her home was beautiful. It was more in the country, which was a very nice break from the busy fast paced city of Paris. It was very calm and serene. Her backyard was also incredibly beautiful! I thought my family had a pretty nice backyard, but I must admit the Bouchard backyard puts the Johnson backyard to shame a little… sorry dad! Haha just kidding! But like I said I had a great weekend and I can’t wait for my family to come, and to spend more time with Alix!