In Review: Strasbourg, Lyon, and Grenoble

Jeudi, 26 juin.

Remember how I told you I was keeping a diary? Well, it's not QUITE a diary. Seeing as it consists mostly of pasted-in tickets and lists of the places I've been, I'd say it's more like a cross between an improvised scrapbook and a giant to-do list.

But every now and then I wax a little poetic...

Me. Sitting in layover limbo at the Gare de Valence TGV. 

Wearing dirty Keds that weren't meant for all the explorations they have been through. Jeans, rolled up in a failed attempt to look like a casual French teenager. 

People-watching. Watching a guy eat a sandwich, then a slice of quiche, then a muffin. Chocolate with chocolate chips. (He can't be French!) The couple across from me has two suitcases and a German Shepherd, whose lunch is currently spread across the station floor. My lunch's remains have been contained to my lap. 

Carrying one black suitcase, stuffed to the brim with things that never look like they should take up as much space as they -- inevitably -- do. One backpack, usually filled with books and paperwork. Today carrying a beach towel and a baseball cap that I'll be glad for in La Ciotat. (Even if people will say, she can't be French!) One purse that has been everywhere, carried everything from groceries to textbooks to a 21st birthday cake, and will be hard to leave behind, despite the holes and worn patches. 

For once, I'm not sweating. But I know that it's only a matter of time. Still, for now, the Gare de Valence TGV is not a bad place to be.

So goes my diary entry for Day #17 in France. That's right, today is already DAY SEVENTEEN. Can you believe it? Since leaving Paris over a week ago, I've already made stops in three different cities. And that doesn't even include the towns I've popped into on my various day trips! (Shoutout to you, Sélestat and Rothau. I enjoyed waiting around outside your train stations.)

I know I haven't been the best about uploading blog posts on a reliable schedule, so in review, here's a look at what I've done over the past three cities:

   -- A Sunset Stroll through Strasbourg (le 16 juin)

   -- Hello There, Haut Koenigsbourg! (le 17 juin)

   -- Museum Tour: Struthof (le 18 juin)
   -- On Top of the World in Strasbourg (le 19 juin)
   -- Sunshine and Surprises in Pérouges (le 21 juin)
   -- Museum Tour: Centre d'Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation (le 22 juin)
   -- Museum Tour: Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l'Isere (le 25 juin)
   -- A Bird's-Eye View of Grenoble (le 26 juin)

So what happens now? Well, the next stop on my research schedule is Bordeaux and given the way the trains run, it's easier to go south, west, and back up north than just to cut across the center of the country!

So I figured ... why not take a few days off and have some fun while I'm at it? I'm first heading to La Ciotat to meet up with Marika, who is spending her summer in Aix-en-Provence. We're going to spend a day beaching and boating; then she'll head back to Aix and I'll continue to Montpellier. I'm staying with Molly in Montpellier until Monday, when I'll get back on the road (well, the train track) and head on to Bordeaux!

Mommy in Montpellier: Weekend in Lyon

Mardi, 19 novembre.

Like I said in my first post, I'm going to divide Mommy's visit into a couple of posts ... we took too many great pictures to fit everything in one! You can read about our first day in Montpellier here. On Friday morning, we took the train a few hours northeast, to the city of Lyon.

We stayed in a charming little apartment in Vieux-Lyon, the city's old Renaissance quarter and the heart of its historic district. The apartment was incredibly convenient -- right above the metro station, around the corner from the Lyon cathedral, and just across the river from some of Lyon's most famous squares! We were picked up at the train station by our host's parents -- an adorable and incredibly welcoming couple who were clearly very happy that their daughter has found a way to make some money with the apartment they bought her. They left us with fresh fruit, milk and orange juice, homemade jam, and even a bottle of wine!

After a quick cup of coffee/hot cocoa to wake and warm us up, we headed out to explore Lyon! Well ... almost. The building's old door was a little tricky! (Also, confession: I am absolutely terrible at opening doors. We stayed in three separate apartments over the course of the week and I couldn't open a one of them.)

For whatever crazy reason, given the fact that it was raining and we only had one umbrella, we decided to walk up the hill to Fourvière! Hey, it didn't look that far ... right? Wrong. What seemed like a straight shot from the apartment window was actually a series of winding roads that led sloooowly up the hill.

 

Luckily, we were able to take a few pauses and admire the view as we got higher and higher! In this picture, you can see the Saône River, which runs parallel to the Rhône through the city, just below us and the Eglise Saint-Georges in the right-hand corner. (Fun fact: the church was designed by the same architect as the basilica at the top of the hill. He referred to it as a "youthful mistake." Poor Saint-Georges.)

Our first stop, once we made it to the top of the hill? The ancient Roman theatre of Fourvière, which has been around since before the birth of Christ. At its most popular, during the reign of Emperor Hadrien in the second century AD, it held up to 10,000 spectators. Bottom line: this sucker is very big, very old, and very cool. And because of the rainy weather, we had the entire thing almost entirely to ourselves!