La Croix Rousse et ses Traboules

Having a coffee break at Place Carnot, or a beer break for Mark

We have internet this week (so far) at Lyon Bleu, so I can post a new blog a little more easily than the last one.  Aside from apartment searching, we have managed to explore a little more of the city by participating in some of the excursions offered through Mark’s language training.  We took a small boat cruise to see the île barbe (a small island- and by small, I mean super tiny- on the outskirts of the city), and we explored the traboules of the colline Croix Rousse. 

Photo of the Barbe Island from the boat

Barbe Island

Photo of Fourviere Hill from the boat

Photo of some of the former silkworker workshops-- more about these later-- from the boat.

There are two hills in Lyon—la Croix Rousse and Fourvière.  The Croix Rousse is called the hill that works, because of all the silkworkers who situated themselves there, and Fourvière is called the hill that prays because of the large basilica and monasteries that were established there.  Here are some photos from our exploration of the traboules (silk roads) of Croix Rousse:

View of Lyon from the center of all the traboules.

Mark with Lyon in the background-- sorry it is so zoomed in on him; my pictures never turn out as good as the ones he takes!!

This is a view of the traboules from a center courtyard in the center of one of the buildings.  The point of them was to make the journey from their workshops to market easier to cross; hence all the stairs winding down.  These were created in about 1801 in order to house the new silk sewing machines-- the ancient workshops in Vieux Lyon were too small to house the new machines.

Looking up the stairs into one of the traboules.

The pastel colored buildings, which are all over Lyon, are the old silk workshops.  You can tell which ones they are, not only by the color, but also by the proportions-- the windows are taller and uniform in size.  The workshops in the Croix Rousse area housed about 30,000 silk workers alone; there were about 100,000 of them in Lyon during the 1800s.  The machines were so loud you could not have a conversation in the street below the workshops during their heyday.  The machines make a lovely sound in French:  "bistanclaque-pan."  C'est joli, non??  That sound is more fun that the sound a rooster makes in French-- cocorico!!

Roman ruins can be found in various locations around Lyon.  This amphitheater is located among the traboules, and was discovered long after those on the colline Fourviere.  Historians believe it is located so far from the rest of the Roman city ruins due to the dangers of releasing animals for gladiator fights so close to their own city.  This amphitheater was used not only for gladiator fights and performances, but also for debates among Roman politicians and the Gaulois, the original people of Lyon, in order to find a common law to rule among the two.

View of another center courtyard in one of the traboules.

I suppose I should share the not so fun part of our trip, now that all has been resolved.  On Thursday evening of last week, I noticed that I was missing a blue expandable folder that contained important documents needed for our OFII visit (this is the office we need to go through to pay our residency tariff now that we do not need to apply for a carte de séjour at the Prefecture).  By important documents, I mean our birth certificates (originals and copies), copies of our passports, our marriage license (original and copies), translations of all Mark’s school transcripts, Rotary documents, etc.  I realized that the last time I had seen it was at the airport, at the lost luggage office where I had to go to fill out paperwork so that my bag could be sent to me.  I had to take out several documents from the blue folder in order to complete the necessary paperwork, and I realized I must have set it down and left it there (panic mode!!).  After discussing options with Mark and Dorothea, and several phonecalls (to offices where no one answered, even after 10:30 a.m.), it was decided that I should go to the airport the next day and exhaust all possible places it could be.  I finally did speak with someone at the lost and found office, who told me that he had nothing under my name.  Off to the airport I went (luckily there is a shuttle from the city center that was not too expensive—25 euro round trip).  Long story short, after wandering around searching everywhere and asking everyone who worked there, I finally decided to go to the lost and found office anyway, just to double check.  And voila, the man working there that afternoon was much kinder than the person I had spoken to on the phone, and he found my folder immediately, under the exact name I had given over the phone.  Whew!!  Mark and I decided that things in France operate much the same as in the U.S.—when it comes to bureaucracy, it all depends on who you talk to at the window.  We just have to keep trying until we get a reasonable person to help!

This week we will journey to the colline Fourvière to explore the gardens and churches.  Mark does not have class tomorrow (it is Ascension, a Catholic holiday recognized in France), so we may take a day trip to Annecy with some of his classmates.  Photos and a blog update will follow soon!

Apartment search update:  We think we have one!  We have visited several apartments (we definitely have become familiar with Lyon; both the good neighborhoods and the not-so-good ones, through our exhausting apartment searches), and we found one for a reasonable price, with everything we need included.  The current resident is a student who will be leaving to study in Switzerland for the year, so our stay of 10 months is convenient for her and her parents.  We will meet with them soon to work out details; she sent me an e-mail to say she will reserve it for us, but we will not be completely satisfied until we have signed a lease. 

A plus!

La Vie Lyonnaise

This flower tree is located near the bank of the Rhone River running through Lyon.  It is a symbol of peace and friendship, designed by a Korean artist.

Now that things have settled down a bit, we can finally write a new blog post!  Our first week has been very eventful, but we are both beginning to feel at home already.  Here are a few highlights from our arrival:

-My luggage was lost at the airport (for the first time ever!), so the trip was off to a rough start.  Fortunately, I had a few clothes, toiletries, and other necessities packed in my carry-on, just in case such an event occurred.  Mark and I learned firsthand what to do when your valise doesn’t arrive with you.  It actually worked out quite well; British Airways tracked my bag, sent it to me on the next available flight, and it was delivered to my hotel the evening of our second day here.  In fact, I quite preferred this method of receiving my bag to dragging it around the city myself.  I was relieved they located it and sent it to me so quickly.

-We stayed our first four nights at Hotel Simplon, a friendly little B&B run by Mark’s Rotary sponsor Madame Reverchon.  Each room is decorated differently, and she has a lot of cherry decorations everywhere (much like my own kitchen at home!) She is a small, stern but amicable lady, and she was happy to see that we had arrived in one piece (well almost; only my one bag was missing).  She gave us a discounted price during our stay there, and she explained that all the Rotarians (much like the rest of France) are on vacation, so we won’t really be able to do much with them until September. 

Here are a few photos of the hotel; you can see some of her adorable cherry decorations in the salon, and the photo of me is in Place Carnot where the hotel is located.

-Madame Reverchon assigned me my first translation project—she asked me to help with the English translation of her hotel’s website, so I gladly translated for her, and she allowed us to have our last two nights for free in the hotel.  I’m already getting paid for my work!

-Lyon has so much history; we have only just begun to explore the main sites.  Here are a few photos from around the city:

This is a view of the Fourviere hill from the city center Place Bellecour.  Mark and I walked there for the view each morning we stayed in the hotel.

The two photos above are of a fountain designed by the same person who designed the statue of Liberty, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, and the Hotel de Ville, designed by the architect who created the chateau deVersailles, Hardouin-Mansart.

These photos are all from the beautiful and immense Parc de la Tete d'Or.  The Jardin de Luxembourg of Lyon, I suppose.

Mark was very happy to find deer in the park.  No worries; he didn't try to go hunting.

-After our stage in the hotel, Mark’s host mom Dorothea came to take us to her home for this month.  She is a petite, very friendly woman, with a joie de vivre that is contagious.  We met her daughter Marie, who is also quite friendly and open.  We ate “le brunch,” which is becoming quite popular in France, and she showed us around our temporary home:

This was our first dinner together.  Our host mom is Dorothea; she is very sweet.

Where we eat together when it is rainy.

Where we eat together (and Mark does homework) when it is sunny.

Our bedroom.

-One of my favorite things about Lyon is that Saint-Exupéry and Le Petit Prince are everywhere—even in our bedroom.  He is our little friend watching over us on this adventure.

Et voila!  That’s basically where we are.  Mark was placed in the A2 level class (which is quite impressive; he has never taken French before so we were pleased), and he is struggling with the written part, but he is working hard to keep up.  While he is in class, I am searching constantly for apartments (and writing this blog as a break); it is a little challenging to find one already furnished that is not a tiny studio like we had last time.  There are several Appart-Hotels that we could stay in as a back up if we need to, but hopefully we’ll find something soon!

Au revoir pour le moment!