Thursday Racletting (before Italy!)

I took Victor down the street to see the castle in Saint-Priest before stopping at my bank and hopping on the tram. The tram has definitely become my least favorite way to travel unless I'm going up 2 stops to get to school, but I thought he'd like to experience the sleek and quiet mode of public transport. It always seems so claustrophobic to me now.... and slow compared to the bus or metro. But- anyway, we made our way up to Vieux Lyon. It was a much sunnier day than yesterday, although still chilly. We're hoping the weather channel comes through for us with the upper 50's temps they show for Italy this week.

On our way towards the restaurant, we walked around the back of St. Jean... which I always forget about being something to see. There's an archeological dig with an old stand-alone arch that used to be attached to a building. I read the sign for the first time while Victor took a walk around. The area used to be the site of a baptistery and another cathedral built around the same time as St. Jean (so beginning in the 12th century). It said that the buildings were destroyed and rebuilt a time or two, with the last destruction happening during the French Revolution... We took a few pictures and goggled at an elderly woman feeding a flock of pigeons before moving on to the wooden raclette restaurant (the same one I took Amy to). Instead of raclette, not being quite as big on cheese as I am, Victor actually ordered a grillade... or meat to grill on your own at the table. Our little table for two was quite full of cooking apparatuses.... a hot stone grill for him and a raclette hot plate for my cheese. It was pretty delicious as usual, although Victor thinks he'd rather have to do less work for his food:) Oddly enough, we were the only ones eating at the restaurant... so it didn't take long at all for us to get in and out (once we got our little guy's attention.... no 2 hour lunch for us today sir!).

After lunch, we took a walk through Vieux Lyon and through another traboule. Victor is amazed by these little blasts into the middle ages! They are pretty cool, so I'm glad I've been able to find a few! They are those secret passageways that link buildings/streets/inner courtyards together. These inner courtyards have some beautiful architecture... and of course lots of old wooden doors/cellars for Victor to investigate. After a few more pics, we walked past the cathedral and down towards Bellecour before getting onto the metro. We ran to catch our bus and are now home to rest/pack up before our trip to Italy!

We leave from Lyon at 8:30pm tonight, headed towards Dijon where we switch trains to our overnight sleeper train to Venice. We arrive into Venice around 9am tomorrow morning. Hopefully, after a night on the train, we will have enough energy to tour some of Venice before checking into our hotel in the afternoon (I'd love to see St. Mark's and the Doge's Palace!). We'll stay in Venice one night, getting up to catch our next train to Florence on Saturday morning. We spend one night in Florence, and take our next train to Siena on Sunday afternoon. Monday we have our guided day trip in Tuscany and Tuesday we train back to Florence. We'll have enough time to revisit our favorite spots or do a little last minute shopping in Florence before catching one more overnight train back to Lyon, arriving home Wednesday morning!

I'm not bringing my laptop (just one less thing to carry), but we both have our ipods and chargers. We'll hopefully have wifi in at least one of our hotels, but if not, we'll try to find an internet cafe to check in with you all sometime! We'll take lots and lots of pictures to post when we get back!!!

Reste cool and wish us luck!!!

Raclette Dinner Party, Brasserie Georges, and Xmas Surprises

I'm at Laurence's office.... and miraculously she has a meeting all afternoon so she offered me her desk and computer. I feel so detached from everyone! I have so much to tell you about...

Let's go back to Tuesday night. After the painter left (the electrician was already gone and finally finished!), I cleaned up the apartment (just a little bit) and relaxed some before Elise, the teacher who has 4 classes at the Signoret school, came to pick me up around 7:15pm. She's a very nice person, but so nice that she tries to listen to my slowly formulated sentences and try to guess what I'm trying to say by finishing my sentences. Usually.... she kind of takes what I'm saying in another direction, so it's sort of hard to stay on track of what we're talking about.... but for the most part I like her very much. We found the house of Cindy, the teacher who did the internship in Fairfax, which was located not too far from the school. I think it's a rather large house because she lives there with her parents, sister, and her own family. I only saw the living room and kitchen, so I can't be sure, but it was a very pretty house.

Of course, a French party that starts at 7:30 doesn't actually begin until 8, and dinner doesn't begin until 8:30/9. So we had the very french apèritif (pre-dinner drink) of rosé wine and jus de pamplemousse (grapefruit juice). I was hesitant at first, but I have to say it was pretty delicious. After playing the wii, sitting and chatting for awhile (the teachers I don't work with asked me if I'd be willing to teach a few English classes for the other levels... I of course said yes since I don't have much else to do in the afternoon after school in the morning. But after everyone started asking me, I could feel myself getting bright red... haha) and the potatoes had been cooked, dinner was ready. Since I only teach with 5 teachers, 2 of whom were present at the party, I didn't know very many people. I do eat lunch with several of them, but I'm probably the least comfortable talking with this team of teachers. There were also 2 other teachers who were there that I had never seen because they work there on days that I am not there (since so many of these teachers work at mi-temps, or half-time). One of these 2 teachers was very vocal and very funny, but it was obvious she enjoys being the center of attention. During dinner, I ended up sitting next to her, which was fine by me because she often asked for items at the other end of the table that I would not have asked for in my timid French. I found out later that she lived in Richmond, Virginia of all places, for 5 months while her husband was on business. The world seems to be getting smaller!

The raclette was yummy, as it always is. Cindy had set up 3 raclette grills, like the one at Laurence's house, and we all passed around the charcuterie, the cheese, and the salad. After dinner, the deserts were brought out, my American cookies (the much talked about hehe), a very dry cake that I didn't enjoy much, chocolates, and 2 different types of arab pastries. I tried them.... but I think they were too out of my comfort zone to fully appreciate.

After everyone had eaten until they wer over flowing, we sat and talked some more.... well a select few continued talking, while the majority of the 13 or so people there sat quietly digesting, yawning, and wishing we could go home. By about 10:30, I whispered over to Elise that the painters were coming to my house at 7:30 the next morning. She kind of made an 'oh gosh' gesture... and I thought we'd be leaving for sure. But it seems that it is rude to leave a party until the last person has finished talking.... and the woman next to me just wouldn't shush. So, by about 10:50, Elise turned to me and said, "Let me know when you want to leave, I know you have to get up early." I was like.... uhh can we go now? So once we got up, so did everyone else. We helped clean up and we're out the door by 11:05. Thankfully, with my ride home, I was in bed by 11:30 and up the next morning with enough time to run take a shower and open the door for the painter, tugging my arms through my shirt.

So... now we're on Wednesday morning, when I went to do mu laundry in the frigid cold. It wouldn't have been so miserable if the wind wasn't so whippy and I didn't have to sit in the cold laundromat for an hour.... but by the time I was walking back, I thought I'd never defrost.

After dropping off all my laundry, I headed into Lyon to meet Hannah, Caroline, and Lindsey for lunch at the fancy Brasserie Georges that we were supposed to eat at for Caroline's birthday. Not only was our waiter very funny, but he was also very polite to us English-accented French speakers. He encouraged us to speak French amongst ourselves, while giving us advice in an overly dramatic American accent. It was nice, though, that he treated us like normal customers and not like we shouldn't be there... like you might think could happen in fancy French restaurant. Anyway, our food was spectacular... I ordered the Noix Saint Jacques, which was scallops in a leek fondue sauce with parmesean cheese baked on top. It was amazing. The other girls all got the same thing... a pistachio sausage-y thing that they said was also amazing... I'm not much of a sausage person even though it is a big Lyon thing. For desert, I had an ile flottant with delicious creme anglaise ane pink pralines. From the fancy Christmas decorations, to the meal, to the service, it was an excellent 25 euros spent.

After lunch, I hurried home to get out of the cold. It was just SO cold yesterday! Aftersome hot cocoa, I found myself fast asleep on my couch.... guess I'm glad I didn't have much else to do!

This morning, I went to school, curious as to how my morning would go. Murielle told me she would still have a replacement... but that I could still do Christmas bingo. I saw Anne-Laure on my way in and she told me Mr. Iken wouldn't be there, so I'd be working with the CM class for 2 hours and her class after the break like normal. So I took one part of the CM class while the replacement took the other half to cook goodies for the big taste-testing thing tomorrow. With me, we played bingo several different ways... until the bell sounded for the recreation. It turns out that the replacement was mistaken and didn't realize that I had to go over to the CP class eventually. I told Anne-Laure, and she was like, well? you're supposed to come with me now, so don't worry about it! We always finish early, so I got to work with the other half of the CM class before the bell sounded for lunch..... but things just don't run quite as smoothly when Murielle isn't in charge.

At lunch, Murielle came in for a meeting and to bring cake for her birthday that was last week. She asked me to stay around for after the meeting, so I kind of ate lunch by myself for a while until the other teachers came in to eat. When the meeting was finally over, Murielle cut the cake and brought out a bottle of Champagne, which she didn't drink due to still being fairly sick with kidney infections. Mr. Iken came back for lunch too and he opened the bottle of champagne. He asked who wanted a glass and Anne-Laure said, "I'll have some... I'm not driving the bus to swimming this afternoon," lol. And then, after a few minutes, Mr. Iken went to pick up his glass and went for the bottle instead, just about ready to drink from the bottle. I looked at him with big eyes, thinking.... maybe the person who opens the bottle, drinks from the bottle.... but he saw me looking at him and went, "Oh my gosh! I just about drank from the bottle. I didn't even mean to. I need to go on vacation." It was so very funny.

Before I left, Murielle gave me a very nice Christmas basket with all sorts of goodies. She said that if she and her family were in-town for Christmas, she would have invited me over. But since she couldn't, she made sure I had something special.... how nice! AND, she gave me a bottle of champagne for me and mon papa!

On the way here, I saw the bus with Anne-Laure's class waving at me with wide eyes. I love this school:) Tomorrow, I'll be going there for Christmas lunch and the Christmas taste-testing party for the kids in the afternoon. I'm so excited!

Well.... I'm getting distracted by others here in the office, so I'll stop here, but I'll try to find a way to write tomorrow before I head to la Suisse on Saturday!

Reste cool :-)8

Dimanche et Lundi avec Amy (Sun/Mon w/Amy)

On Sunday, Amy and I started along the Saone river at the creation market (where they sell art and hand made creations). Amy found a little man with a stand who explained in great detail how he drew his various Lyonnais prints. She bought 3 (for only 15 euros!) to decorate her apartment at home. We also found a jewelry stand (and I may or may not have bought someone a present).

Lindsey met us there and we took Amy to our new fondue restaurant find (the wooden one)... which coincidentally also does raclette. It was a perfect raclette day, kinda gloomy and chilly (but it thankfully cleared up while we were eating). This was the third way I've seen raclette served... they gave us a hot plaque thingy where we put our cheese and then dumped it on our potatoes/deli meats/salad. No matter how the cheese is melted, either in an individual frying pan, from a half cheese wheel, or on the plaque thingy, it all tastes pretty delicious. (Amy seconds this deliciousness...)

After our yummy cheese, we went to the yummy macaron store... which sold a bajillion different flavors. A macaron is a little meringue cookie with a filling (kind of like a gourmet oreo). The man let us taste test one each, and then we picked out 3 each... eating them all immediately. Next, we went into St. Jean (which is still covered up by scaffolding). We saw that the old clock would go off at 2, 3, and 4, so we decided to try to catch it later. We left and rode the funicular up to Fourviere hill (praying hill) to show Amy the Notre Dame Basilica. She was just astonished at its beauty (her words, not mine). It is pretty spectacular:)

Lindsey guided us towards the left of the church to the Roman Ruins. The last time I went, we went a different way and I had no clue they were so next-door-neighborly. We started at the top of the big amphitheater, walked down to the bottom, and asked a kind old lady to take our picture. She took 2 really good ones. Then, we went to the Odeon (smaller amphitheater) where Amy showed off her Roman acting talent (on stage).

From there, we went back down to Vieux Lyon via other funicular to go back into St. Jean to see the old 14th century clock go off. The little figurines turn and dance at the top while a little chime thing sounds. It was about 20 seconds of coolness. Guess that's all you can expect from a clock built 7 centuries ago.

Then, we went to the MINIATURE MUSEUM (haha get it, it's in all caps). Anyway, this was an interesting 5 euros spent. The first floor was a creepy movie set of some movie with Dustin Hoffman... the rose murder or something? The next floor was movie memorabilia (which explains the picture of Stuart Little). The last two floors was everything in miniature size (food, furniture, rooms, shoes, people, etc.). It was like a doll house maker's dream come true. Many of my pictures of the mini scenes actually look like real rooms... the one in the picture was titled "Manhattan." There were also little pieces of paper cut into tiny figures... like a really detailed tree the size of a penny. Huh. (I wondered who has this much time on their hands to discover how to cut tiny images into paper?) The building itself was beautiful and almost worth the money just to be inside... but the miniature things were pretty neat too.

After the excitement of the mini museum, we went to a crepe cafe for some dinner-desert. I had a lemon crepe, but Amy had an AMAZING crepe tatin, which was basically apple filling in a crepe with whipped cream on top. Yumz. (She wants to eat this for dinner every night). After crepes, we said adios to Lindsey and went to the Place des Terreaux (favorite horse fountain and Hotel de Ville). We went inside the Hotel de Ville, which I've never seen open to the public, but it was showing some weird kid Russian art exhibit.... We got on the metro after that and headed home:)

Today, I went to school (while Amy, the bum, slept in). I was being observed by a conseilleur pedagogique (pedagogical advisor?) who followed me around, gave me suggestions after each class, and I tried my best to integrate them into my next lesson. She was sort of annoyed that I was in each class for such a short period of time... but that's not my fault. She was nice and I appreciated some of her ideas... and after classes she told me I had good "teaching presence" in the classroom, whatever that means. So... at least I haven't lost everything I learned in my teaching training...

After I got back, Amy and I made lunch and headed back into Lyon. We had planned on going to the Resistance Museum, but of course it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.... so that won't be happening while she's here unfortunately. Instead, we decided we'd go to the Musee des Beaux-Arts (the art museum I've been to, but never completely finished). But first, we started off in Vieux Lyon, because I needed to use the free public facilities. Then, we miraculously caught a bus (one of like 4 that I know) from Vieux Lyon to Place Bellecour (the red square). We took some pics of Louis XIV... and hopped on the metro to Croix-Rousse (the working hill). We saw the view of Fourviere hill (praying hill) and walked down a bunch of steps through the winding streets of Croix-Rousse. We took a pit-stop to see the last of the Lyonnais Roman Ruins.

We ended up in Place des Terreaux again, so Amy could see the fountain in the daylight... and then into the Museum which is right next to it. The Museum got a few more cool points because th floor that I missed out on was the sculpture collection... which had a few more Rodin pieces... and a baby Statue of Liberty.

Last, but certainly not least, we went to find pink praline brioches. En route, we went inside St. Nizier (the church with the huge organ inside) and went to a very exciting Christmas store. We spotted a boulangerie across the way. Amy bought a pink praline bricohe galette... which meant that the pink juice was a little runny (well, that's what it was doing). I bought a rock with some pink pralines thrown in. It was actually called a croquant praline... which just as it sounds, means crunchy, crack your tooth, praline cookie. Amy, needless to say, devoured hers... I more or less sucked on the stupid cookie.... trying not to break a tooth. It was good, but I will not be buying it again. I'd rather have runny pink juice bread than rock cookie.

Now we're chez moi (at my place) about to make some din din and get ready for another day at school/bumming around. It is also a strike day tomorrow, so we'll see how far we get on the tram... it may be a St. Priest castle/village afternoon with some Porte des Alpes shopping thrown in the mix... just depends! We also have to go to bed super early because Wed. morning we are leaving my apartment at 5:15 am to catch our train to Avignon. YUCK and exciting.

More later! Reste Cool:)

Amy and Lindsay

Amy's 1st Real Day= Lyon Marathon Visit

I'm feeling a little worn out after our big day and still being sicky... so here is what we did today in pictures (in backwards order haha)! We did A LOT. I'll explain them tomorrow:) Enjoy!

Zee Beautiful Annecy (On-cee)

This morning we left the apartment around 9:30am to get to Annecy for lunch (when they were still serving sit-down lunch this time, hehe). The drive was beautiful.... going from hills, to mountains, to really big mountains, to really, really big mountains with snow covered caps. We found the office of tourism straight away and got a map and a few brochures on what to do in Annecy. We asked where to find a free parking lot (which we found and used!). We also asked for a restaurant recommendation... which turned out to be wonderful.

We were a little skeptical at first, especially because Maggie was unsure if she could find anything vegetarian friendly. But in the end, we were all very happy and full:) Thomas and Heather had the plat du jour or plate of the day (lamb chops and lasagna), Maggie had a very hearty salad with carrots and green beans, and I had.... dun dun dun, more cheese. Yes, I got the raclette... which interestingly enough, ended up not being the same contraption as the one I used at Laurence's house. The thing they brought out for me was a clip for a half wheel of cheese and a heater. Once the top of the cheese got hot, I lifted the contraption to scrape boiling hot cheese onto my potatoes. It was so yummy. We also sampled the house wine and the kir for an aperitif, also delicious. We left warm and ready for our self-guided walking tour.

After rolling me outside, (hehe), we went over to the lovers bridge or pont des amours. The town is similar to Chambery (in the same Savoie region, where raclette and fondue is famous), but unlike Chambery, it is full of beautiful canals, has a beautiful lake, and is very much in the French Alps. The lovers bridge is over a canal connected to the lake, so it has an amazing view. And we could't have come at a better time. The leaves are all bright orange and yellow, the weather is in the upper 50's/low 60's, and the sky was bright blue today, no clouds.

We then followed our walking tour guide brochure to see some of the main sights. We saw the beautiful Sales mansion, of the Sales family built in the 17th century. We walked through several old churches, one dating back to the 15th century (Saint Maurice). Inside the church it looks like it's caving in... but I think it's just the architecture that makes it seem that way. It also had a small trompe l'oeil painting in the back, making it seem like there was an extra room... with a creepy grave in it. We walked over canals, one passing right by the Palais de l'ile (or island palace), which was actually an old prison dating back to the 1200's. Heather and I toured the prison.... it was kinda creepy though... prison cells with bars on the windows and things scratched into the cell walls, but it had a cool inner courtyard with a tree.

And since the lake was so beautiful with the sun setting, we took a boat tour, showing amazing views of the Alps and the little Alpine villages (actually Maggie and Thomas opted for taking a walk around part of the lake in lieu of the boat tour, but they saw similar views). Anywho, when I become rich and famous, I shall buy my summer/winter ski cottage here.

We walked a round a little more and found our way to our car. I drove home (which was weird because I haven't driven in over a month now!) and we actually stopped at a McDonald's drive through of all things. But it was another experience I've yet to have... ordering in French at a drive through, check!

Tomorrow, leisurely trip to Lyon. Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do! This is one gorgeous place!

Reste cool:)