Sunrise in Lyon

Bonjour tout le monde!

I woke up around 11:30 today, thanks to our late night the night before. I had lost my voice between the head cold I got from the mountains and singing in Boston the night before.

I decided to go out on my own for a bit today, just to experience the city a little differently. I took the tram to Vieux Lyon and found some souvenir shops. I picked up some small things for friends and I also found a pretty Lyon ornament.

I texted Abbey to see what she was up to and she was actually only a few blocks from me, so I met up with her. I got some of my favorite brioche aux pralines rouges (brioche with red pralines), which is a Lyon specialty. It's really pretty since the pralines are a bright pink ( even though they're called red). We walked around the river and caught up on our lives for awhile. We found some of the riverside shops and each bought some floral art for our rooms next year. Talia texted that she was at a market in a nearby neighborhood, so Abbey and I walked up to check it out. We had to walk up a huge hill- I may have mentioned it in a previous post- it's a little brutal but the view at the top is amazing. We found a little bakery and got some water and I got another brioche. We walked around the little shops and I found a pretty ring that was handmade in Lyon. We also found a really cute Lyon poster that we are going to put in our shared bathroom next year. Abbey and I found a bracelet shop and I got one as a gift for someone.

this might be my favorite picture I've taken in Lyon. I took this while on my walk with Abbey

Abbey and I continued up the street until we ran into Talia at a purse store. She got a really pretty purse for a friend. Abbey and Talia got to know each other a bit more, and the three of us headed back to the market. We split ways, and Abbey went home wile Talia and I headed to another quarter, Bellecour. Talia has been looking for a specific kind of watch, so we've been stopping by Swatch stores. Unfortunately we never found one. Bellecour is a big shopping area, so we wandered in and out of shops. Andrea met up with us eventually as well. We went to a Five Guys and got some milkshakes and fries. After we finished, we all headed home to get changed for the night.

When we got home we changed clothes and ate some food before meeting up with the boys. We went to our favorite area and walked around until we found a bar with some good drinks. We sat and played Presidents again for awhile. Parker actually one a round this time, but it happened to be the last round so it didn't actually matter.

The bar closed at one, so we headed back to Boston for another night. Will decided to go home, but Brett, Parker, Talia, Andrea and I made it out for another night. We got onto the stage in the front for awhile, which was a really good time. We ended up staying until 4 again. We tried to leave several times, but then another good song would come on and we couldn't leave.

Earlier in the night, Sam had texted Parker that we wanted to see the sunrise the next morning from the biggest hill in the city. He invited me too, so Parker and I were planning on just going straight there. The sun rises around 5:30, so we wouldn't even have to wait long. The only downside was that public transportation wasn't running, so we had to walk. When we finally left Boston, we told everyone else our plan and they all wanted to join too. The 5 of us walked all the way through Lyon's city center and up the hill. We had walked this hill before, but never at 4 am after the club. It was kind of a rough walk, but we made it just in time. Sam actually ended up watching it from somewhere else, and caught up with us a little later. We found a bench that perfectly fit the five of us, and settled in for a little bit. This moment was one of my favorite from the entire trip, the five of us watching the most beautiful sunrise of my life. It felt very special, and it was great as one of our last days in France. Several of us fell asleep on the bench for a little, and waking up surrounded by my people and the sky was beautiful.

a progression of the sunrise

After the initial sunrise, Sam came and found us. It was around 6 am at this point, and we were all starving. Nothing in the city opened until 8, and we weren't willing to wait that long. A bakery that we had actually been to before opened at 6, so we made our way down the hill to it. We got there a bit before it opened, so we waited outside and talked. I got my favorite brioche (I actually got two-one for now and one for later). We ate our pastries and everyones moods improved. Hangry is a real emotion in this group. We parted ways and Sam and Talia went back to their host families and the rest of us went back to the apartments. We got back to campus around 8 am. I'm not sure I've ever been more tired yet so happy in my life. A

Andrea and I closed our blinds and immediately went to sleep.

À plus tard,

Maggie

(written for June 11)