Mental notes :
- Cigarettes are expensive.
- There are no 24-hour shops and everything closes early.
- Everything opens late on a Monday morning.
- Buses have schedules and appointed stops.
- Learn to read the subway maps.
- If you’re going to France, LEARN FRENCH.
Just like in any country, one can feel terribly frustrated about not being able to speak the local language fluently, especially if you’re the type who always wants to join conversation or – worse – the type who wants to start a topic. Lucky stars were upon me because all the people I met were absolute darlings and made an effort to speak in English around me, but as I said, I was lucky. Most French people aren’t fluent in English, and entering a shop or ordering food can be a major heartache for those who don’t speak French.
It was a relief to have had my human translation search engine beside me the whole time, but had I been traveling alone in France, in two days tops I would be inconsolably out of my mind. Although I admit that I extremely enjoy the pride with which the French take on their culture and their flippant attitude towards it, because it makes sense : learn to adapt, and make an effort to learn, s’il vous plait. I’m not saying you should take a two-year crash course on French before visiting. Just have a few flawless (and useful!) phrases up your sleeve, a phrasebook and an English-French dictionary. If you’re too busy or lazy prior to your trip, your talent in Charades or Pictionary will work to your advantage for about a week or so, not more. And if you happen to be a mime, then by all means come to France immediately even without a word of French – you can even earn money pretending to be a statue on some square.
à droite, à gauche
Around the vicinity of the Cathedral of Saint Jean lies all the wonderful restaurants, shops and buildings, some even dating back to the Renaissance. The streets weave in and out, with a gem in every possible corner, from a shop selling old postcards from every year you could imagine, to exploring delightful traboules (similar to Filipino eskinitas), passageways allowing you to cross street to street through narrow alleys between houses. I found something there that I’d always thought the Phil. lacked – parks, gardens, a patch of grass where you can sit and write and relax. And statues. You can find a monument practically everywhere. Even their Metro stations have statues.
Ice Cream
I’ll keep this equation clear and simple :
Best fucking ice cream ever = Nardonne
And there’s no argument, nothing more to say, case closed with indelible ink.
I saw a Bacon
A Francis Bacon, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts. And a few of Rodin’s sculptures.
“A few” is an understatement, being that this museum houses the second largest collection of works next to the Louvre. It has everything from Antiquities to Picasso. And I mean everything in between.
And to think that before we entered the museum, while sipping an overpriced cola in one of the cafés skirting the square, I was looking at the impressive fountain sculpture of Batholdi’s horses in the center thinking, “Now, what else could possibly beat this one?”
I saw a Mammoth
A few days later I saw a mammoth at the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, whose building used to house Lyon’s first ice rink since 1911 (triangular in shape, no less). Animal immortalization to its highest level. We may as well have been shopping for pets – now I know what animal to bring home to Julien to cheer him up.
And if you want to see animals in motion you just have to cross the street to the Parc Tete d’Or, although I really have problems concerning animals in cages. Anyway, Tete d’Or will convert you into a nature lover, or if not, at least you’d be aware not to throw your cigarette butts just anywhere. We watched the Guignol puppet show and drank more overpriced cola, and I chased pigeons and lay down on the cool grass while squinting up at the sun.
And congratulate me, because I saw a pink flamingo! Several, in fact! Bravissimo!
Believe me, I have pictures, but my computer seems to be wallowing in a severe stage of angst and refuses to download my pictures. More later m’dearies!
