Bienvenue à Lyon

And so it begins.

After spending a few days relaxing in Southern France, I have now officially arrived at my final destination; Lyon, the city where I will be spending the next four months of my time. It’s one of those days that I had circled on the calendar long ago, but never thought would actually come. However, the time has flown, the summer has passed, and the new semester is here.

I was able to stave off thinking about classes and work and all those other bothersome things for a few more days while spending almost a full week in the cities of Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, and Montpellier. Thanks to a missed connection at the start of the trip, I was unable to drop my bags in Lyon, and thus was lugging around everything I will need for four months through the streets of medieval cities, not exactly designed with an overweight L.L. Bean roller bag in mind. My exploration was distinctly hindered thanks to that deadweight, but I still was able to see plenty of the three cities.

Aix-en-Provence was easily the largest and most tourist friendly of the bunch. Every sign was in English, the town squares were mobbed, and sidewalk cafes were everywhere. Most of them had single chairs and tables on the very edge of the restaurant’s property facing the street that were strategically placed to improve people watching. As such, every person utilizing said seats gave us a dirty look as we walked by; “stupide Americains.” But this was a town you could spend three or more days in, as there was plenty to do.

Avignon was a day trip for us, and that seemed like the perfect amount of time to spend there. The highlight was the “Palais du Papes”, which during parts of the 14^th and 15^th century served as the seat of the Catholic Church. Very impressive indeed, with intricate paintings, imposing walls, and cavernous ceilings. The second biggest tourist attraction was the “Pont d’Avignon”, loosely translated as a bridge built in the 1200s which then connected Avignon to the world, but now does not even cross half of the river. So as you can see, a day was plenty of time to see all the sights. One not to be missed was in the middle of this historic town. A couple of retailers lined the square, and outside of one was a Chicago Bulls jersey of Joakim Noah. For those of you that don’t know him, consider yourselves lucky because he is a tried and true bum. Yet, he gets prime sale space in Avignon, France? Ah, globalization.

Montpellier was the final stop of the trip for us, as it was west of Aix and right in the middle between Barcelona and Lyon, our respective destinations. Because Brian and Spencer had to rush off early to Spain to get to their orientations, I had some time on my own to get a walking tour of Montpellier. Again all my bags were with me so I may have sweat a bit, but I definitely saw a large majority of the city, both good and bad. I still cannot get over the narrowness of the streets, and the prevalence of town squares; it is a testament to the age of the cities I suppose, but there is simply no comparison from what I have seen in the States (far from exhaustive, but perhaps representative). These cities have been very conducive to wandering, and almost dare you to drive a car through them. Anyway, the highlight of the central square in Montpellier was a man playing and singing his guitar. No, not that rare, but as I got closer to him I realized that I recognized the famous chords of “Sweet Home Alabama” coming from his guitar. Of course, this is France, so when he got to the chorus, he started off with “My home in Alabama”, and continued on from there with his butchering of the song. Just reminded me how far I actually am from Alabama.

My travels finally came to a close this afternoon as I boarded the train to Lyon. I realized that even as I felt the same relief as when I board a train for Philadelphia in the sense that it is where I belong, I had no clue where I was going. Considering how much time, effort and agony went into choosing a college out of high school, with the numerous applications, interviews and school visits that went along with those shenanigans, this time I had chosen Lyon out of the blue, especially the Universite Lumiere-Lyon 2. Right now, I could not tell you how many kids go to Lyon 2, what type of school it is or even what their mascot is (a very important factor), if they have one. Yet, for some reason, I’m not that nervous.

After a few delays on the TGV, which is really letting me down these days, I met Mme. Rossi (my host Mother) at a very crowded train station in the heart of Lyon. We made the drive over and then under the city’s two rivers, and then up a winding road to their house. Tomorrow I will head into town to sort of get my bearings, so I’ll give you a full recap of Lyon once that is complete, but let’s just say that Lyon is a city of 3 major hills, and my house is near the top of one of them, looking back over the city. Amazing.

When I got to the house, there was (surprise!) another student already staying with the Rossis! Henry is a couple years younger than I am, from Columbia by way of Miami and Toulouse, and knows how to relax with the best of them. But for now I will just say that the three others were very nice and welcoming to me, and I’ll leave the full description to another post. Upon my arrival, Mme. Rossi made dinner for the four of us, and Henry had warned me that she was a good cook, yet still I was blown away; after spending four days in a foreign country constantly focused on not killing myself and not necessarily enjoyment, this meal was perfect. Food coma quickly set it, and I had earned it.

Finally, I’m here in Lyon, the “city of light,” and, for the next four months, my city.