Lyon

I feel like I'm long overdue for a post, but with my lessons having started in earnest this week (well, at least as earnest as the strike permits), I haven't had the free time I got used to having in the past few weeks... especially since we STILL don't have functioning internet at home, so being restricted to when the school's internet is on limits me even more!

Fanny graciously invited me to go visit friends with her in Lyon last weekend, and I'm really glad I went along. I was worried at first that I'd be an extraneous non-German-speaking third or fourth or whateverith wheel, but as it turns out Fanny's friend Kathrin lives with her French boyfriend, so we spoke mostly in French. They live in Vieux Lyon, a really beautiful area with narrow, cobblestone streets that almost makes you feel like it's 1610 instead of 2010.

This picture shows part of the climb up to their apartment, which is about halfway up the quasi-mountain that the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière sits atop. I didn't run this weekend, but a few trips to and from their apartment was enough that I don't feel bad about it!

Just getting to Lyon was almost an adventure in its own right, though, as the strike is still in full swing. Trains are only functioning at about 1/3 normal capacity in the south, and the St-Etienne/Roanne line that passes through Feurs is almost completely defunct. In lieu of trains, there are some buses running from train station to train station, but catching them is more or less a matter of luck. There're supposedly on schedule, but as far as I can see those are more of loose guidelines. However, our schedule was flexible, so waiting around on a bus that came 35 minutes late (or 25 minutes early? Who knows) was no worry.

I've got to head to chaperone a field trip to see Macbeth (in French, of course...we'll see how that goes!) in Saint-Etienne, and by the time I get back there will be no more internet for the evening. I'll leave you with a few photos (ok, or just one, internet is being wonky) and then finish this update tomorrow.

Cathédrale St-Jean, overshadowed by the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière. The Eiffel Tower-looking structure is a television/radio tower that's up next to Fourvière, not attached to the cathedral!