La Fete des Lumieres

So this whole Lyon travel thing was a bit of a cluster of madness. We woke up and after having breakfast with Madame where you could tell it was a little special with Christmas napkins and extra spoons in eat jelly. She is such a nice hostess even though I told her she didn't have to. Cassidy has been trying to remember more of her French so it is nice that Madame is so nice about her being here. After breakfast we grabbed our backpacks and headed out to the bus station to get a bus to the tgv. We met Cassandra at the bus and then after waiting a while went and got on it! The train ride didn't take very long and we were there in no time after driving through some beautiful scenery that we would not have otherwise seen had we left last night.

Then we arrived and after shoving our way through the crowd at the train station, found our way to the taxi pick-up to go to our hotel which was 25km out of town. Our taxi guy was really nice and I ended up doing all of the talking between the three girls as Cassandra and Cassidy aren't as fluent as I am. Plus I sat in the front. The taxi guy talked to us about the festival and then gave us a newspaper about it. Mann my favorite... Then after that we asked him what the best way was that he knew for us to get back into town. He said it might be better to take the taxi to the airport and then take the tramway. But then he calculated it in his head and said no that would cost you more than a taxi during the day. But he said it would be cheaper than if we did it during the night because taxi prices jump up.

Then after a bit of confusion over a broken auto route toll machine and then not knowing exactly where the hotel was but just following the signs, we arrived! It was about a 50 euro taxi ride so we were not excited to be doing that a lot. Then we got in and got our room number and such and then went up. I don't think I ever got a photo of our room. But it was a get what you paid for room, and we didn't pay much so we didn't get the nicest room in the world. It was so hard to find a three person room though so I don't even care. Our bathroom was really weird though as you had to step up into it and it was just like a little room put into our room rather than a part of the room. Also the lights with for it was in the main room behind the desk part so that was kind of strange! When we got there our room smelled like smoke so we opened the window to air it out. Then we checked out the wifi situation to make a plan of attack. But the wifi wasn't working so we went downstairs to try and use it in the lobby while I asked the front desk lady about what she knew was the best way to get to Lyon again. I also asked about the wifi and she said it wasn't working at the moment. Great.

So I asked her if she had a map or could print me one of Lyon so we could have that. She was kind of scatterbrained and didn't know how to use computers like at all. She tried to print us a program of the festival and printed us pictures of informational videos but because it was a video it just printed a picture. And then for the map she printed a page from Bing of images of maps instead of a single image so we had like 40 images of the map that were tiny and unreadable.... Helpful! She was really nice but very slow and in the end all of the things she did for us were very unhelpful. The. After that I asked if she could call us another taxi to go I to Lyon and when she did the taxi wouldn't be able to for another hour and a half! By this time it was about 12:30 and we were starving. We attempted to vending machine tide us over but Cassidy said her chips were terrible and nothing looked good to me. Cassandra got something too but I don't think she liked it even though she ate it. Finally we decided to go back to our room and take a nap before heading down to wait for the taxi. It was a great 27 minute nap. My contacts weren't too happy with me for doing it but it was good to do. Then we headed downstairs and didn't have to wait too long until the taxi got there.

The taxi guy was very... Friendly. He was a nice guy and he and the hotel lady talked about the best way for us to do Lyon and he told us that the taxi's couldn't go into Lyon tonight because they were closing the city to all cars so we would need to take a train to la verpilliere at before ten to get to a station close to where we were staying and then he would give us his card to call the taxi place to pick us up from there. That was new news to us and probably pretty important. The taxi guy spent the whole ride hitting on me since I was in the front and again was theist fluent. Actually both taxi drivers commented that my French was very good. So that is nice. But he was very nice and trying to teach me stuff about the festival (which I already knew) and then he also thought I was Bulgarian so he was surprised when I told him that I was from the US. From Oregon. Where's that? North of California. Oh so San Franscisco. Nope more north. Oh Canada? No, like between those two. Oh I didn't know there were states there. Yeah apparently California in everyone's book goes from Mexico up the west coast all the way to Canada. Nailed it!

He was liking that we were American and liking even more that he was driving three American girls. He asked if I had a fiancée which is actually the fourth time since being in France that I have been asked that. I guess maybe it is a common thing for young girls? I'm not sure. But I found it weird. He also like kept turning around to the backseat and being like don't worry back there I'm not going to eat you. It was kind of strange. But he was definitely hitting on me the whole time and he was probably old enough to have been like late forties. It was weird and kind of awkward. He kept making fun of me for satin ouai which is yeah instead of oui which is yes. He says it is really American to do that but my host mom says Ouai all the time... It was strange. I kept asking him about the office of tourisme because that was where we wanted to go and he kept saying no I'm going to take you to this neighborhood, it is better. So then eventually he stopped after trying to give us a map of not Lyon. But he was a nice guy. We left saying that was weird and awkward but at least we probably won't see him again!

We went and actually weren't too far from the tourism office which was a good thing. But before we found that we stumbled into a big space where there was a Ferris wheel and big air balls which I assumed were going to light up. We said oh cool we are starvin let's find food! So we wandered down a side street and found a traditional lyonnaise restaurant as the window said. It wasn't too expensive so we and in. It was quite busy and all the tables were pretty packed in there to be able to seat more people. There was a special more exclusive menu for the festival but it wasn't a bad price so we went for it. I got a lyonnaise salad which had bacon and a poached egg which I promptly gave to Cassandra, and then also ordered a type of sausage in red wine sauce. Cassidy got black pudding with apples which we didn't know what it was. My salad was delicious and my sausage wasn't my favorite. It was the same as the sausage that Patrick had gotten a couple months back at the 24h restaurant that I had tried a bite of. It tasted like socks. So then I smothered it in the sauce to cover up the taste. Cassidy's black pudding was really interesting looking. I tried a tiny bit but didn't really like it. It was kind of a strange taste. We made a note to google it when we got home to see what it was. She liked it though. Then we had dessert of chocolate cake. It was VERY good. After that the girls went to the bathroom, I asked a server how to get to the tourists office and he told me the directions. So after paying of course, we headed out.

We got a map/catalogue of the festival and then headed off in the direction with the most things in the opposite way of the train station so that we could work our way down to it seeing the lights on our way. We walked and looked at shops and such and then ran into a really pretty cathedral. We decided to go in and there was a children's nativity play. We walked in and were greeted by a nice lady who told us the story of why this holiday is devoted to the Virgin Mary. She asked if we were Christian and I responded with yes and she was very enthused. Then went and watched and joined in a bit with the singing of Gloria and then walked around the church a bit. We ran into a guy who had pens where you could trace your hand and the. Write a message to Mary in it. We did that for kicks and the. He gave us a little slip with Galatians 2,20 on it.

Then we left and then eventually found a good spot in front of one of the main attractions for the lights which is this year the little prince themed. But then we decided we didn't want to wait forty minutes doing nothing so we went and tried to go see stuff down another block. We had to stop and get Cassandra some water so that she could take some pain mess. But then after that we punched our way through the streets to get to somewhere on the side to see other things. They had a dandelion which was made of lights and would change cold and grow and die and such. It wasn't a big attraction but I liked it. Then we saw some trees which had green and blue lights put on them which made them look cool and then also projected a sort of natural gobo breakup of branches and leaves onto the surrounding buildings. I really liked it. We also crossed a big road which still had cars trying to get through on it and tried to see some colored pencils on the other side of the bank. We couldn't really see them very well but they were still pretty cool.

After that we went back the way we had come and ran into another pretty cool building which I took a short video of. Cassidy was in a hurry to get going because she was kind of freaked about us getting to the train station in time even though we had four hours to do it all, she kind of pulled me away from that particular building before I would really of liked to have been... But that is okay. Someone probably needed I be all night or else I would have lost track of time and been stuck in Lyon all night. But I thought that building was pretty cool. Then we tried to work our way back to the little prince but the roads were closed to direct foot traffic only in certain directions. So we had to follow the crowd down a few blocks and then back up. There was so many people there.... It kind if put a damper on the experience for me. Not that it was bad at all I just put a damper on it. But eventually after being smushed in a crowd we got to the area and got a pretty good spot to see both of the two building that the lights would use.

This was probably my favorite part of the festival. It was super awesome. I knew it would be but it was just really great. The colors and everything was just cool. Cool concepts of doors and windows flying away, machines, sea animals, birds, little prince, magic, etc. it was just really cool. I got a video of some of it but the. I was just like I don't even care I'm just going to watch it and experience it without the camera. I can probably find YouTube videos on it so I just wanted to see and experience. I think that was probably for the best.

 

Then we went to see other things. We walked and pushed our way through crowds because there really was all the worlds worth of people there. We walked along mostly until we would run into something but we always knew what direction things were so it worked out well. I had an app on my iPod which had a little description of each thing and then we where it was on a map. We followed that around for the most part. We also saw the Palace of justice which also used the back of the Basilica on the hill to do a little 5 minute show. It was pretty awesome. They also had some lighted squares down by the river which were a part of it as well. I think it would have been cool to be up close to it but we were across the river and the bridge was closed. It was still pretty cool though. Then we walked down Rue de Merciere which I learned later is actually the same road that Mlle. Pearman lived on who is my French teacher from high school! That was pretty funny. We bought some hot wine on the street and then Casssidy bought a nutella crepe. I told her it will not stack up against Crepe a gogo .

Then we accidentally bumped into a restaurant called les enfants terrible which means terrible kids, which was a restaurant that Madame had told me she had eaten at while she was there. It was cool to accidentlly run into that so we took a picture to prove that we had been there. As we walked along I casually looked for rings in the windows but wasn’t being very serious about it. We were working our way south towards a train station over time and were trying to get there by 9:15ish. Which kind of sucked that we had to leave so early, but I feel like we saw almost all of the main attractions. We got back to the big square whith the ferris wheel where there was another show. We looked at riding it but as we kept getting closer my stomach was like uhhh no you are not doing that, and then it was expensive so we said meh. We watched the show on the ferris wheel which features Pierrot le Feu which is a French character. It was cool, but it was one of those things where it probably would have been a lot cooler had we known his story or anything about that character. They did a lot with the big balls changing colors and also shot fire and smoke which they changed different colors. They also did some cool lights on a big statue of Louis  XIV where he was riding a horse and they outlined it in lights and did cool things to it. I really liked that part of the show.

Then we continued on and found some nice streets in the more apartment building area of the town, there were lots of lights hanging up in the streets and candles in the windows. We passed a school which had really cool white lanterns hanging from theirs trees in the playground area. There were also chicken wire figures of people on the walls which looked pretty cool then the lights were on around it because they looked more like faint shadows. We continued on and after being mildly harassed by some French guys for being American girls we ducked into a candy store to get some walkable snacks. I really liked that because I had a sweet tooth and wasn’t very hungry so some unfilling candy was perfect!

Then we walked past the Christmas market but we were worried about the train situation, not knowing REALLY when a train would be leaving to go to the station the guy had told me, that we didn’t walk through it. I saw a little minecraft looking santa so I took his picture and then we went to the station. We got in and it was kind of crazy and confusing to figure out first where the train part of the station was because it was also for the metro stops. Cassandra went to the bathroom while we went to figure it out. We eventually found the train area and then went and tried to buy tickets from the machines. Unfortunately because our cards don’t have the gold chips in them they wouldn’t work. So we had to run around asking if there was someplace we could buy tickets that would take cash. All the person desks were closed because it was night time but we did find one blue machine that would let you buy tickets with money. But only coins. So then we didn’t have enough coinage so we had to go to a store, buy something, and then I asked the cashier if she could give me the change in coins. She said she could but only for us. The train people were kind of laughing at us as we were like ahhh one thing after another not working! But then eventually it WORKED!

So we got our tickets and then went to find Cassandra who had gotten lost trying to find us. We found her and then headed to the train. Luckily it was there early so we got to sit down and wait for it to leave instead of waiting in the cold. When it finally left and got going it was kind of like hey wait it isn’t announcing the stops so how will we know when to get off? Luckily we heard someone say this is Verpill-whatever and so we jumped off. We had never been to the train station before so we were just like okkkay. We got off and it was freezing. I called the taxi service and he said he would be there in ten minutes. Then we all started laughing about what if it was the same taxi guy as last time. Cassandra said she would just walk back. Just our luck, it was the same guy! Great… So then he drove us back to the hotel and was being a flirt all over again. It was kind of awkward. But the whole train+taxi thing ended up being way cheaper than the taxi to town so we decided to take a taxi to the train tomorrow. The drive through town was absolutely gorgeous. It was completely decorated with lights and with all the house lights out and the street lights not super bright or not there, it was really just a pretty five minute drive. I think that may have been one of my favorite parts of the day.  

When we got to the hotel the taxi guy asked if we would need a ride tomorrow and I said yeah and that we would call in the morning. He said not too early though I want to sleep! I kind of laughed and then after paying we ran inside. We were very happy to learn that the Wifi worked at the hotel now. So we facebooked and such and I took shower. It was much needed. The shower wasn’t the best but it was still better than Madames. Then we looked up what black pudding was on the computer and learned that is is congealed blood that is mixed with other stuff to make a sort of sausage looking thing. We I laughed really hard that she ate that. It sounded really disgusting. Anything that has to do with congealing has got to be bad. Then after laughing and such we went to sleep.

Then the next day we woke up at ten to go down to eat breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast was pretty good I thought, there wasn’t waffle or stuff like that but there was a lot of bread choice and yogurt and fruit salad. I had tea and apple juice and it was delicious. I also had some baguette with jam and two pieces of pound cake. We decided that we would go back to the station that we had left from last night and then work our way around that area before catching a train to the main train station where our train would leave to go back to Aix. We called the taxi and our favorite taxi guy showed up and asked us once again how we slept.

Then he took us to the train station and he called us his American princesses and wouldn’t leave until we had bought our tickets. It was kind of good that he liked us though because he gave us change for a ten so that we could buy our tickets because once again we had to have coinage. Then after that we waited outside in for the train to come for about half an hour but it wasn’t as cold as the night before so ca va. Once the train came we realized that it was taking us to the other Lyon station (Part Dieu) that we would eventually need to be at and not the one we wanted to go to. Oops. But no one checked tickets so we were okay. Then we got off and used the bathrooms before deciding that maybe we should just stay and explore this part of Lyon instead of trying to rush over to the other station and back. So we said okay whatever and headed outside. There was a mall super close that we went in. There were a ton of people though and none of us liked malls. But I saw a jewelry store on out venture out and I had to poke. And then… There it was. I was surprised that I liked it so much because I don’t like yellow gold very much at all. But I really liked the ring. It was about where I was wanting to budget the ring for and so I waited to try it on while the girls went and sat. Cassadandra thought I wouldn’t buy it because I am picky, but Cassidy knew better. I tried it on and felt like it was a bit small but the lady said are you hot with all your jackets on and I said yes and she was like oh then it will fit better once you are adjusted to the room and I was like eh it is close enough that I like it even if it doesn’t feel a bit larger later. It was the only one that she had like it and it fits perfectly now. I really like it because it iis sort of symbolic with the two colors being like my two lives, in France and in the States. And I like the blue because it reminds me of the Mediterranean which is still probably one of my favorite experiences here if not my favorite overall. I really like it. Which is again, surprising because I don’t like yellow gold.

Then we promptly left the mall and ventured off in a populated direction to find food. It was a bit weird because we didn’t find anything until after we crpssed the bridge back into the main part of town where we had been last night. I took pictures of Cassidy on the bridge which look really cute and then she got mad at her camera for not auto adjusting. It is new to her so we didn’t really know why it wasn’t working. She thought it was broken.

We went to the street with all of the restaurants and ate at a place called FuXia? I think that was its name. We had pasta and Cassidy and I had Christmas Tea which really did taste like Christmas. We were asked if we wanted dessert when our plates were cleared and said yes and then we were never given a menu… For like half an hour. We were just sitting there trying to flag everyone down and they just kept ignoring us. So then we like flagged a busboy and he brought us a menu. Then after we decided to order we were cracking jokes about how long it would take and then suddenly the bus boy jumped over to our table from cleaning the other and said in English “How can I help you!?” He was really nice and enthusiastic and it was really a cute moment. We got tiramisu and then a vanilla custard thing with berry sauce on it. The tiramisu was the better of the two but we shared them. Then we got out bill and paid and then ‘sortied’ to walk around a bit more before trying to get back to the train.

 We walked back towards place des terreux where there is the hotel de ville and the palais des arts which was where the little prince was the night before. It was nice to see it in the day because it was almost equally as gorgeous. Then from there we walked back towards the bridges and crossed on back over to the side with the train station before wandering our way back to the train station where we bought postcards and then got on the train. When we got on there were weird signs on seats that said they were reserved for the service people. But we had bought those seats so I said whatever and sat in them anyways. After we did some guy tapped on the window which really freaked me out because when I turned to look at him my face reflection was over his face so I was totally freaked because I thought it was myself tapping on the window. I put the train ticket up to the window and the guy shrugged and walked away.

On the train I wrote some blogs and then the guy came around and scanned our tickets but didn’t say anything about us sitting there. So whatever! I spent the train ride writing the first four pages of this blog. Then we arrived in Aix and jumped off the train and took the bus back into town. When we got back to home Madame had decorated for Christmas! It was very cool and I made sure to comment on every little thing. She really likes when I do that. She showed us her nativity scene that she got when she was really young and showed us that it still lights up and everything. She was happy to be able to show it off. I had Cassidy go get the measuring cups for Madame and we put them in my ring bag because it looked nice and then gave them to her for Christmas/thanks. She was happy and really likes them. Cassidy was freaking out trying to say thank you correctly when she gave it to her. We had fancy new napkins and had vegetable soup for dinner. We also had new candy for dessert. They were like jelly candies and were super good. Beebow liked to play with them because they were in fun shiny wrappers, then we would yell at him and he would get pouty and not sit by us anymore. It was pretty amusing.

Then Paul came up and was being crazy and we had to tempt him with gifts to get him to be calm again. Then once we gave it to him he had to go downstairs. We showed Madame our pictures of the festival and then I sort of Skyped Thad while we watched Invictus. Then we got tired and decided to go to bed. But then I ended up talking to Cassidy until 1:30 am… With class at 8am the next day. Oops!

Also upon googling fete des lumieres it is the third largest festivity in the world with 4 million people coming in 4 days time. This is just after Rio Carnaval and Oktoberfest.