Wow. Happy 2010!! It seems that I have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to even think about my blog. Its been a long time, but there have been so many travels and experiences...from Rome, to Fête des Lumières., to Canada for the holidays and back again to France for the new year!
One thing that needs to be explained is Fête des Lumières - or Festival of lights. This is a yearly tradition in Lyon that has happened for hundreds of years and I have never in my life seen anything as beautiful. Every year there are stories told through light shows projected onto buildings - sometimes incorporating more than one building into the show, fantastic light sculptures and designs in the middle of parks or squares, and amazing lights all throughout the city, on walkways, going through the park, everywhere. Words cannot do it justice, but at times it felt as though I was in a fairytale. My personal favourite was a virtual garden. They had gigantic lily pads and flowers and grasses all made of lights, it was as though I was in some sort of giant virtual garden dreamland. The festival is free, open to the public for 4 days and the streets are filled with millions of visitors from around France. This was one of my favourite events in the city and i’m so glad I was able to be here for it.
Shortly after the festival, it was time for exams and before I knew it I was on a plane home for the holidays! I had an amazing time at home, and I was able to see all my friends and family. The 2.5 weeks that I was home flew by and all of a sudden I was back on the plane returning to France. It just so happened that the week of my return, France and a large part of Europe was experiencing some of the worst storms in years. Luckily I was able to get to Paris safely, and although the Lyon airport was closed all day until 5pm, my plane was able to leave and it arrived in Lyon around 6:30. Home at last! Or so I thought…due to the storm, all of the shuttles out of the airport were cancelled, and I only had two options. Taxi home, or stay in the airport all night…well I didn’t want to stay in the airport all night, nor did I want to pay the 65 euro cab fee. After getting up the guts to talk to strangers, I managed to be able to share the cab with 3 other girls heading in the same direction. Whew. What an adventure home.
So after finishing up this last week of first semester with an exam and an essay, tomorrow I’ll be starting a new week of classes…eek!
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