Les Silhouettes de Sophie : The Latest

Important news: this week is so so much better. Just as I was saying with my last post The Start of Something Strange, life has been looking up—as long as I continue to look up. As so far, it continues to do so. I realized, while talking with my host mom last night, that last week was my low-point. Everyone, supposedly, has a low-point when they move to a new country, with all the adjustment, but for most people, you pull up and out of the low-point. Last week was my low-point, which means there is only one way to go and that is UP. (Or down, if you are Addie). As evidenced by this, once again, lovely photo of the river.

So here we are, together in this upward direction. The heavens are before us. We are looking at Lyon and realizing the beautiful city that it is. The uniqueness of its layout (between two rivers and two hills). The beauty of its rivers. The way one eats here. The architecture. It is nothing like home. And yet, France is nothing at all like I imagined it. My friends and I keep remarking on how it is somehow just like home. People are people everywhere, even if the culture is very much different than home. Life is life, work is work and school is school. And it is not so strange, not so different from home. Only so different too. So basically, that explained nothing. Sorry.

Relaxing morning in the kitchen of my home-stay family's house!

A pretty building

More pretty roads and buildings

Last weekend I stayed in Lyon and explored. Friday my friends Sara and Mathieu and I explored Croix-Rousse. I showed Sara "le Mur des canuts." We enjoyed a lunch of beers and burgers and then took some nice pictures with the amazing view. Finally, we checked out Part-Dieu (the big mall) and went our separate ways. I ended up making my first pasta dinner here for myself and watching Gilmore Girls (I brought myself one season!).

Old bookstore I found Friday

My first chocolate éclair, SO GOOD

Le mur des canuts (from afar)

Saturday, Sara and I went to the market in Croix-Rousse and also the market along the Sâone. It was a beautiful day. At Croix-Rousse, the market extends everywhere, along streets, through the square. I ate my first kebab (which is NOT what you would think); it is a sandwich with slow-roasted meat, various spices, and a lot of places put French fries on top with lots of different sauce options. It is kind of like a gyro but not really. We checked out the loot: there is clothes, shoes, mops, bras, hats, fresh fruit and veggies, crepes, kebabs, jewelry, books, anything you could need or want. Sara bought an adorable sun hat and I bought a bowl to keep my jewelry in! After, we shopped for groceries at the market on the Sâone. We had a very terrible experience with some guys on the métro in between, which I may recount in the future. Needless to say, that is one thing about living in a city (specifically a French city) that I do not love.

An interesting event in Bellecoeur, raising awareness for those who still suffer from post-war dangers (like leftover land mines and such)

A cat café in Croix-Rousse (ADDIE)

Sara with our Monacos!

Spelling can be difficult in English.

Happy at the Farmer's Market!

We were so tired after all that walking that we stayed in at night. Finally, Sunday was a day of rest. But the end was filled with good food and good people. Amber, Sara, and I went to l'Épicerie. A really cute tartine place. (A tartine is a piece of toast or bread that is topped with all sorts of stuff—for example my tartine was topped with Brie, honey and walnuts but one could be topped with anything from plain butter to smoked salmon!). We ate and I had the BEST cheesecake. It was in a little Mason jar and it was all very adorable. [See the pictures after] Here we are at the beginning of Week 2 at Lyon 2, Week 4 in France, and Week 5 away from California. More to come soon!