The First 24 Hours in France

Whoa. In a word, that about sums up my experience since landing in Lyon. Actually, since take-off in Ottawa.

A delayed plane to Montreal meant a very tight connection to Paris. By tight, I mean they had one of those airport carts racing through the hall to the terminal, horns blaring. We all made it, but as I found out later, one of my suitcases did not.

Arriving in Paris was easy, as was connecting to Lyon. The airport had free WiFi, so it seemed as good a place as any to try and figure out the missing luggage problem and how to get a French phone number (Lesson #1- Always make sure your phone is UNLOCKED if you want to put a foreign SIM card in it). After not having really slept since the night before I left (it was now about 4pm in Lyon- 10am Ottawa time), I took a cab, rather than the Rhone-Express, to my apartment rental.

Upon arrival, my host, Francoise, was wonderful. She welcomed me in to her beautiful, urban European apartment and had even made supper for me, since it was New Year’s Day. We sat and chatted over tea for a while and I was pleasantly surprised at how much French I was still able to dredge up after not having used it much since the summer.

The next morning, breakfast was cereal and coffee (Lesson #2 – Milk is not refrigerated until it is opened here). After breakfast: trying again to locate my suitcase- Not much luck- apparently the plane it was supposed to be on has landed, so it must be sitting somewhere in the Lyon Airport. The jet-lag hit and I napped before it was even noon!

In the afternoon, I went out and explored. Francoise was kind enough to map out which transit lines to use, and how to get to the stops from her apartment. I managed to find my way to the school I will be attending, Université Jean Moulin Lyon III.

I also managed to find a grocery store and was amazed at some of the prices-  3-4 Euro for a bottle of wine and 2-3 Euro for a block of Brie or Camembert! I think I’m going to like it here! I finished off my day with a Spinach tart and a fruit tart from a local bakery for supper and my jet-lagged brain is definitely ready for bed now. Tomorrow- Registration at the University, and then, who knows???

 

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Shannon