Cosmic Bowling, Del Arte, and Le Ciné

Friday night, I met Nathalie, Eve, and Elise at my Tuesday school around 5pm to go out for a night of bowling, dinner, and a movie. They'd been talking about it all week, and I had been looking forward to it as well, so on the drive over, we all acted like excited little girls:) We drove west towards another suburb of Lyon called Brignais. This is actually the town that my friend Hannah lives and works in.... but we didn't go into the nicer old town bit, just straight off the auto-route and through an industrial zone to the complex with a restaurant, cinema, and bowling alley. As you know, I don't get out much into the other suburbs of Lyon.... or get driven around much in cars, so it was sort of weird to see the more industrial areas surrounding Lyon from the auto-route. There's a huge oil refinery and other factories with smoke stacks and all their glory. But- I guess it's no different than what you'd find around many other big cities....I just hadn't ever really seen this side of Lyon before...

On our way there, we talked about everything from the upcoming vacation time to religious beliefs. They're all going skiing (in different areas) with their kids and husbands during the break and we talked about my trip to Italy with Victor. This lead to a discussion about what I'd be doing when I went home in May.... if I'd be moving back home with my parents or moving in with friends or in with Victor. I said that I'd be moving back home for at least a little while, but didn't know what was next... depended on a few things. But, I found out that all of them lived with their husbands before they were married... and even had children before they were married. Apparently.... being asked to move in with someone or to have a child together is taking place of getting engaged and getting married in France. This is so unlike in the United States where, for the most part, there is still a set way of doing things- you get engaged, you get married, you have children. Obviously there are more and more people who go "out of order" and do what they want regardless of our cultural traditions... but it seems that in France.... people who go "in order" are in the minority. All of my teachers moved in with their then-boyfriends first, had a baby, and then got married. They said they did this mostly so they'd all have the same name...and for other legal reasons... and less for religious or family values. They said they would be a loving family regardless of the marriage title. Many couples go much longer or even forever without being married. The divorce rate is very very high in France... so I think marriage scares people a little bit.

This then lead to our discussion on religion (because people don't put so much value into marriage and marriage before children). France is a majority Catholic country and has obviously been so for a very long time (just take a look at all those huge Catholic Cathedrals I've visited!). France is also laique- or there is a strong separation between church and state. French politicians would never say "God bless" and the Ten Commandments would never ever be put up in a public work place or school. Virginia's moment of silence would definitely not fly. Unlike the United States where we have freedom of religion, France has freedom from religion. No one can tell them how to believe or even influence their belief system. They are free to not hear about religion in a public place; it has its place in the privacy of a person's home/family/church. (If you have heard about the ban on wearing Islamic head scarfs in French schools, this is the principal reasoning for it).

But on the other hand, there has been a sharp decline in practicing religion at all in France. My teachers all discussed their dislike of the Catholic hierarchy, the fact that only men are allowed to be priests, etc., and all of their unanswered questions about faith. They like the idea of the family values and the traditional holidays, but otherwise... that's about it. The United States is, in comparison, a majority protestant country... my teachers commented that they'd like to see how a typical church service is done in America... they think it might be something they could relate to more. But, it's very interesting how different our two societies are in terms of religion... we have many more "believers" in the United States... more people who attend church regularly, who have weddings in churches, more religious communities. On the other hand, we also have a lot of people who push the boundaries of our own separation of church and state.... more fundamentalism... etc. Hmm... food for thought I guess...

Anyway- we finally fought our way through Friday afternoon traffic and got to the bowling alley. Eve had never bowled, Elise maybe once, and Nathalie a few times. I was supposed to be the American expert (haha). We chose our bowling balls, shoes, and started playing. After we all went a few times, the lights went out and on came the black lights and strobe lighting for Cosmic bowling. We ordered pre-dinner apéritifs (the French just love their pre-dinner drinks). This time I had a kir instead of whatever weird drink I ordered the last girls night out. By the end of our game, Nathalie had won with a score of 75, I was in second place with 49 (eek I didn't even hit 50!), and Elise and Eve with something in the 30's. We had fun, so that's all that matters. However, I did have to suffer a few jokes about being American and losing in bowling:p

After bowling, we went just next door to an Italian restaurant chain, Del Arte. France has very few chain restaurants... most people still opt for the locally owned tried and true, mom and pop bistro/auberge/café/brasserie (and in Lyon's case, the bouchon)... so I was surprised this was the place they took me to. Although they joked that it was a food factory (busing people in and out), it did have pretty good food. We all had salad, pizza, and dessert. We spent forever sitting and talking.... and waiting for our movie time to arrive (10.30!). This time our conversation roamed around what French people thought of Americans and what Americans thought of the French. They were appalled that there is the stereotype of French women having hairy armpits.... they gasped and so "NOOO! That's not us, that's the Germans!!!"

I got out of seeing Black Swan... one of the other teachers had also heard that is was fairly depressing and we didn't feel like seeing that on our fun night out. So we opted for the more light Nathalie Portman comedy, No Strings Attached, or Sex Friends as it is titled in French (I don't know why they do that.... change movie names to something else that is also in English...). It was fairly silly... but oh well... at least I didn't have crazy ballerina nightmares!

I got home around 1:30am.... so it was off to bed for me before my day trip to Pérouges!

Hope you enjoy the bowling pictures:) (The one of all of us- right to left: Nathalie, Me, Elise, and Eve)