I'm very excited to start my blog, which I will be writing during my semester abroad in France. I will be spending the next four months in this beautiful country, primarily in Lyon, which is in the central-east of France. I'm really excited to live in Lyon, which is an ancient city with a rich history. I will probably discuss it more in later posts, but here are a few interesting facts about the city:
1. It was the capital of Gaul, during the time of Roman rule
2. Lyon and its suburbs make up the second largest urban area in France, after Paris. I thought this was appropriate since I usually study in the second largest urban area in the United States- Los Angeles.
3. The name "Lyon" is pronounced the same as the word "lion" in French. That's why there are a lot of lion statues all around the city. It's kind of like their unofficial mascot. However, the city's name actually comes from its Latin name, Lugdunum, which means "fort of Lugh". Lugh is the Celtic God of light, who was probably worshiped by the city's original Celtic inhabitants.
That's enough about Lyon for now. I will have a lot more things to say about it once I actually arrive. Right now I am in Paris. I flew in to Charles de Gaulle airport yesterday, and I am currently staying with my parents for a few days at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe, which, you guessed it, is only a few blocks away from the Arc de Triomphe.
Today, despite the fact that I woke up at 1 p.m., I managed to see many of the main tourists sights in Paris, and my parents and I explored several different "arrondissements", which are equivalent to neighborhoods. Here is a map my mom found, which has succinct descriptions of each arrondissement: http://www.parisnet.com/parismap.html
We started out in the 8e arrondissement, at a cute little park nearby, Park Monceau. By little, I mean in comparison with the Champs-Elysées and the Jardin de Tuileries, which are enormous. Monceau was definitely a park for locals. It had large lawns, a pond with crumbling columns around it, and mini-pyramid, and the most adorable carousel I have ever seen. That's one thing I never knew about Paris- they have carousels all over the place, even on random street corners. It must be a great place to grow up. This carousel, instead of horses, had different vehicles such as a plane, a truck, and a submarine. It's based on different storybooks: the plane was named "le Petit Prince", the submarine was clearly from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and the top of the carousel was adorned by pictures of scenes from these books. I wish I could have stayed longer to figure out what each vehicle was from. I definitely want to go back there.
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| The literary-themed carousel at Park Monceau |
From the park, we trekked up to Basilique Sacré-Coeur, which was really crowded. There was some Christian festival going on there, called Anuncio. It was too busy for us to go inside, which was a shame.
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| Sacré-Coeur |
Next we headed over to the Jardin des Tuileries. It's huge! It was really windy, so the sand there was blowing into our faces. It already feels like autumn here. The leaves are already falling from the trees, littering the streets with their crunchy spines.
We walked all the way to the Louvre and peeked at its exterior. I was astonished by its size, but we didn't go in to it today. I've heard you can spend days in there and not see everything. I know I will be coming back to Paris during my stay in France, so I know I will get a chance at some point to see its highlights.
We crossed the Seine and had dinner at a café nearby. I had a Croque Monsieur, which was delicious. (For those of you who don't know I have put on hold my pescetarianism while I'm living in France. Firstly, because it's nearly impossible to find anything on the menus here that is vegetarian and I don't really like cooked fish. Secondly, because I don't want to miss out on any cultural experience while I'm here, and I know a huge part of French culture is its gastronomy.)
I've been speaking in French to order food, alongside my parents who only speak English. I've been dissappointed so far in the limited opportunities I've had to speak French, mostly because everyone in Paris speaks English and because I haven't struck up a conversation with any random French people yet. I hope that will change once I get to Lyon and my study abroad program officially starts.
It was getting late, and we were tired, so we started heading back to the hotel. We crossed the Seine again, this time over Place Solferino, which is a cool pedestrian bridge with two levels. On the bridge hung many love-locks. I knew about the love-locks at Pont de l'Archevêché, but I didn't know that people put them on other bridges too. Love-locks are locks that couples lock onto bridges, to symbolize their love. I saw some locks that had friends and whole families listed on them too, so they are not just for couples. It was really cool to see them in person. I intend to add one of my own to a bridge next December. It was too bad my parents didn't have a lock handy, because today is their 22nd anniversary!
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| Place Solferino |
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| Love locks on the bridge of Place Solferino |
After the bridge, we headed to Place de la Concorde and walked up the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe. I had no idea it was so gigantic! And the carvings on it are so ornate! I was definitely expecting it to be the size of the arc in Washington Square in New York, so it really astonished me.
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| Me in front of the Lyon Statue at Place de la Concorde. There are eight different statues representing eight French cities. |
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| L'Arc de Triomphe |
During our walk, we passed through at least 7 different arrondissements, including Montmartre, Pigalle, and Saint-Germain. We glimpsed the Eiffel Tower from a distance- we're probably going to see it up close tomorrow. Paris is really a lovely city. I adore all of its 19th C. architecture with its beautiful doors and little balconies. I almost wish I were staying here for 4 months, because there is so much to see. But I'm excited to get off of the tourist track and live in a less commercialized city. I can't wait to see the rest of Paris and then hop on a train to Lyon!
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