Things Are Winding Down

I only have less than one week left in Lyon. I haven't posted about what I've been up to in Lyon in a while, so this post will be a bit of summary of different things I've been doing.

About a month ago, I was reunited with my Swiss study abroad friends in Paris for the weekend. It was my friend from UCLA's 22nd birthday, so we spent the weekend in Paris shopping and seeing some sights. I mostly was just scoping out the city so I know exactly where I want to go on my final trip to Paris at the end of my time abroad. 

We strolled the Champs-Elysées and did a bit shopping at the fancy, designer stores, although I didn't buy much because it was so expensive. We also hit up the adorable Christmas market, which they set up in many cities around Europe during the holidays. There's one in Lyon, too, which is much smaller. At the Christmas markets, they have many booths selling little gifts and trinkets, arts and crafts, and clothing. There are also booths for buying gourmet food such as nougat, candy, wine, and tea. Then there are the booths selling fresh food, ready to eat, and usually it's relatively cheap and delicious! When I was in Paris, I had Tartiflette, which is a steaming hot mixture of potatoes, cheese, and bacon. I also tried vin chaud, or mulled wine, which is sweeter than normal wine and has spices in it. It really warmed me up, which was good since it was pretty chilly in Paris.

A mini-rollercoaster at the Paris Christmas Market

We saw a lot of sights that I had already seen with my parents on my first visit to Paris, but we had a chance to see them more in depth. Among the places we saw are the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Pantheon. This time, I climbed to the top of the belltowers at Notre Dame. It's a long, long staircase, but it was definitely worth it. We had a chance to see a great view of Paris and we could look at the gargoyles up close. We even saw one of the bells in the belltower and we just stood there in awe, thinking Quasi Modo had stood there (well except for the fact that he's a fictional character).

Where Quasi Modo once walked... if he had been real.

View of one of Notre Dame's towers from the other tower.

We took the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night, and had a chance to see Paris at night. It was beautiful, and it was stunning to think of how high up in the air we were. We were actually standing at the top of what was once the highest building in the world. 

View from halfway up the Eiffel Tower

The Pantheon

The Pantheon was actually my favorite stop on my weekend trip to Paris. It's a "secular temple" dedicated to the greatest men and women of France. It was once a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, but after the many revolutions and power struggles France experienced, it became the tourist attraction that it is now. Basically it's a patriotic monument, which holds the tombs of some of the most famous French writers, philosophers, and leaders. Taking a 19th century French literature course write now, I was completely in awe of the literary figures buried there: Voltaire, Hugo, Zola, and Dumas. I also saw the tombs of Louis Braille, who invented the Braille writing system for the blind, Marie Curie, the famous chemist and physicist, and her husband, Pierre Curie, and Jean Moulin, the leader of the French Resistance during World War II.

Okay, so I'm a little morbid. But he's my favorite French writer!

Back in Lyon, I celebrated Thanksgiving twice in one week! On the day before Thanksgiving, one of my friends from California invited me over to her apartment to cook Thanksgiving dinner with her and friends. She's vegetarian, so we didn't have a turkey, but we had a ton of hearty Thanksgiving dishes that reminded me of home. I made my signature dish, Mac n' Cheese, again.

Our miniature Thanksgiving feast, sans turkey

The next day, on actual Thanksgiving, all of the California students went out to dinner at a fancy restaurant in Lyon. They served us somewhat Thanksgiving-themed food, although it definitely had more of a French spin to it. We had pumpkin soup, followed by Turkey with mashed potatoes, and an apple tart for dessert. 

EAP Thanksgiving dinner

As for other adventures I've been having in Lyon, I went to the Center of the History of Deportation and Resistance for Lyon, which is a museum I had wanted to see last summer, but it only just reopened in November. I did my final presentation on the Resistance during World War II for my class on the History of Lyon. I was a little nervous about it, because I had to speak entirely in French. But I think my partner and I were prepared. Anyway, the museum is incredibly fascinating. There are lots of primary documents from the Resistance, since Lyon was considered the capital of the Resistance, and they have many witness testimonies given by Resistance members. The building itself actually housed the Gestapo during the war, so it is tragic and fitting that the building is now dedicated to honoring the brave Resistance members who were tortured and killed by the Gestapo on that very location.

I will have to dedicate my next post to the Fête des Lumières, which was the Festival of Lights that happened from Dec 6-9.