In France's stomach

Hey guys. So I have been home for quite a while, since my Interrail pass validity ended on the 27th, but I guess I have been so busy hanging out that I hadn't quite gotten around to this whole blogging thing. (It's been about 70ºF/21ºC here, which means that I have been outside in sandals and reading in the sun.) But yes, so for my time in Lyon. To preface, I wasn't there very long, so it wasn't terribly fascinating, but an adventure nonetheless. 

I managed to get there without a hitch and only got mildly lost getting to my hostel. So those are some small victories. I got settled in and then went out to do some night exploring, which basically meant looking for dinner. (I hadn't eaten very much as I had been on trains all day.) I ended up giving up and getting döner, where I made friends with the two guys running it. I spoke broken, elementary French and they spoke broken, elementary English, so it sort of worked. I went back to the hostel to eat, and then proceeded to finish High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. (Very good book, by the way.) Almost everyone in my hostel lounge seemed to be on their phones or computers, or talking with someone they already, so I didn't really talk to anyone, which was fine, because you're never lonely when you have a book. (How cheesy am I?)

The next day, I woke up a little late (for traveling at least), got breakfast, and spent the day exploring. Lyon is very pretty, and the main part is not exactly the most car friendly (lots of small alley ways). It's very cool. And I guess known for its food. ("If Paris is the heart of France, Lyon is the stomach.) However, Lyon seemed to be one of those places for fancy people with money. There aren't many hostels and all that lovely food is very expensive. So I did more backpacker/college kid things, such as bumming around and taking advantage of under 26 free entry to the Musée des Beaux Arts (which was completely empty when I went and kind of creepy). After that, I got a sandwich (ie a baguette with meat and cheese) and wandered up to the La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière, which is a beautiful basilica, but also on top of a very impressive hill and therefore quite a hike. But still cool. I then spent the rest of the sunny afternoon sitting in a nice park and reading Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Then there was coffee and a crêpe and then back to the hostel for a nap. 

I got up around 19h, with the resolve to find more food, which turned into me buying a microwaveable thing from the grocery store and eating it in the hostel. However, that was how I met Jula, a German girl from München. She was doing a French speaking course, and so I spent the evening in the hostel with her and her friends from that and drinking Belgian beer. So that was lovely. 

And then I left the next day. So that's about it for my adventure in Lyon, but it was quite nice nonetheless.