In exactly
one week I will be on a plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean and headed to Lyon. From there I have a great adventure ahead of
me. I’ve been hired as an English
assistant at a high school called Le Lycée du Bugey in Belley, France. The city (of 10,000 inhabitants) looks a
little something like this:
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| Hello mountains! |
Belley is situated in the Rhône Valley, nestled up against the Jura Mountains just north of the Alps. It's approximately 60 miles (100 km) away from the more well-known city of Lyon.
To many, Lyon is considered the gastronomic capital of France and Belley is no exception with its famous cheese and wine. In fact, the Bible of gastronomic books, La physiologie du goût (The Physiology of Taste), was written by a Belleysan, Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, who famously wrote «Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es» ("Tell me
what you eat, I'll tell you who you are") and, my favorite, «Le vin est le monarque des liquides» (Wine is the monarch of beverages). As a beer and cheese enthusiast from Wisconsin, this should make me feel right at home.
Although my school is in the small town of Belley, I plan on living in the big city of Lyon for most of the time. I was lucky enough to be able to get an apartment with one of my favorite Frenchies, Héléna, who studied abroad at my university this past semester.
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This is Héléna, she’s good at making crêpes.
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So during the week while I work (Tuesdays through Thursdays), I will be living in the school's living arrangements with the other language assistants and enjoying the cozy life of Belley, and on my days off (4 day weekends!) I will be living it up with one of my great friends and other city-goers. Did I mention I'm going to have this really awesome bike to zoom around on?
My dear friend Sadie sold it to me when she left Lyon this past summer.
Here's an example of how awesome and international my life is. Sadie studied abroad with me when we both attended L’Université Catholique de Lille in the Spring semester of 2010. Having similar tastes in studies, music, travels, and men, we naturally became the best of friends, regardless of how many miles separated us. Although we both returned to our respective American universities to finish our studies, it wasn't until I studied abroad in London last Fall that our paths finally crossed again. Sadie did the same Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) last year that I am about to start in Lyon. She visited me in London for my birthday in October and I visited her in Lyon for hers in December. True love.
My short weekend in Lyon last year to visit Sadie gave me an awesome taste of the city, which I luckily got to experience with such a good friend (the best way to travel!). I visited Lyon during the famous annual Festival of Lights, La Fête des lumières, which brings in a ridiculous amount of tourists. Light shows are choreographed and projected on buildings all over the city, drawing crowds from all over the world who are willing to cram into the streets of Lyon and be herded like cattle from exhibit to exhibit. From what I saw of the light shows, I was pretty impressed, but I'm not sure it's worth fighting the hoards of people everywhere and the inability to take public transport because of them. However, here is a snippet of some of the light exhibits and Lyon itself:
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| Example of the ridiculous crowds going to see an elephant projection. |
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| Herding people |
So there's an idea of what's ahead of me in the coming weeks. Now it's time to get to that pre-departure to-do list...
