Chamonix

Before Kt started her job and J got really into lectures we decided to escape Lyon for a few days, naturally we we're drawn to the Alps that we can see almost every day on the walk into town.

Sooooo we packed our booties, gloves and scarfes, bought maps, a compass and a swanky guide book so we could make the most of our few mountain days, hopped on a double decker train and tootled to St Gervais-Les-Bains where we could take the mountain train to Chamonix.

After arriving we found a nice (empty) little hostel, we quickly discovered we were in 'off season', the only 6 weeks of the year the Chamonix telepherique, mountain huts and mountain railways were closed! This quicky eliminated some of the higher walks we were planning and we scoured the map over a takeaway pizza for routes the next morning. As this was the first big outing we had since Kts ankle business we we're keen to make sure we were doing realistic routes.

We left the hostel around 8am to make sure we had enough time to buy some lunch and other provisions (Carambars all the way) and we were on the way up to the Petit Balcon Nord by 10am, we followed along the contours with amazing views over the Aiguilles and Mt Blanc massif. When we set out the weather was cold (6 degrees) but we warmed up pretty quickly and we were tres chaud by lunchtime. The haze over the mountains cleared quickly and this is the view (below) where we stopped for lunch, Aiguille du Dru, described as the most dramatically impressive of all the Chamonix peaks. It certainly had us captivated for most of the day as we seem to have come back with at least half of our pictures featuring the imposing needle summit. We continued alond the Petit Balcon Nord until around 3pm before crossing the valley floor and returning to Chamonix with the sun highlighting the summit if Mt Blanc. Although not physically demanding it was a good first outing to test our ability and fitness levels.

Here are a few others of day 1 of our little adventure:

The moment Kt decided to yodle sound-of-music-style.

J waiting for Kt to stop yodling and get a move on...

The walk into Chamonix at the end of day one, Mt Blanc summit is highlighted centre of picture.



That evening we were joined by Sarah and Frankie (Sarah is also from Bangor Uni and studies with J in Lyon, Frankie is Sarahs friend from 'back home')



We met up the eveining previously and found a buy-one-get-0ne free bar, you must know what its like, the first pint after a walk.... except we had cocktails....needless to say the next morning we were not quite as sprightly as we planned...



Day 2: We met Sarah and Frankie in the town centre at 8am, grapped some lunch provisions and set off asap as we had a long climb up to Montenvers and the Mer de Glace, it was a fantastic walk up with stunning views and we reached the viewpoint at around midday, after taking a few pictures and having a quick bite to eat we set off again to reach Montenvers station via a scrambly route that led into the forest following the route of an old glacier. We reached the station to find it a building site and deserted! Fantastic for us as we found spectacular views of the Dru, Grande Jorasses and the Mer de Glace and had avoided all the tourists ferried up on the train!

The Mer de Glace from Montenvers, looking towards Grande Jorasses and Italy

Ahhh look at that!

L-R: Sarah, Frankie and J, looking towards the Dru on the way up to Montenvers station with Chamonix-Montenvers mountain railway behind.

We made our way back down to Chamonix, arriving back around 5pm, once again the post walk pint merged into cocktails and we were soon quite giggly!

We were leaving on the morning train so we called it a night pretty early and trundled back to the hostel. After sleeping REALLY well we packed up, grabbed some breakfast and tootled back to Lyon.

We had a brilliant time and are planning to return asap!

Home Sweet Home

After arriving back in Lyon, feeling a little glum and lost I made it my priority to change the studio into a nice little pad for us both, thats when (joy of joys's!) we found an IKEA that you could get to on a tram!

So off we pottered and bought lots of wonderful things like bright green toilet brushes, pillow covers and shower mats, a rainbow of clippits and more plastic tubs than we know what to do with!

After a few more trips and a bargin mini-oven purchase from one of the large supermarkes (30 euros!!!!) the studio now feels much more homely, despite the clinical white walls, floor .......

The oven's first test was its ability to make crumble - and it passed with flying colours, we've since made pizzas, courgette cookies, potato wegdes, garlic bread...... yummy!

I also spent a lot of time exploring the city while J was in lectures, its truly beautiful, I went to the Croix Rousse area, it was originally a town in its own right that has been swallowed into Lyon although it has kept a majority of its charm, daily markets and a square that is occupied with old men in berets all morning and afternoon (although never between the lunch hours 12-3!). The area has amazing views over Lyon and a huge park with a runined castle within it on the banks of the Soane. The shops in Lyon are incredibly diverse, allowing me hours of fun exploration - for those of you that know me via INEBG - I have so far found 7, yes 7, organic supermarkets that are absolutely choc-a-bloc with goodies that are much cheaper than in the UK. We recently found a new one only a short walk from the studio that is also the cheapest!

The 'Palais des Thes' (www.palaisdesthes.com) also scored pretty highly on the 'favorite shop' list for me, there are walls and walls of the most amazing tea (we're currently sampling 'The des Concubines'). Another great discovery for us was the sunday morning market on the banks on the Soane, we have now got into the routine of waking up early, buying huge amounts of local fresh fruit, veg, cheese, meat and wine, stopping off at our favourite bakery (resisting the beautiful pastries but quite often failing....) for a pain complet or pain aux grains, trundling back up the hill and stuffing ourself silly on our pruchases! We slightly underestimated out love for courgettes at one point and purchased 2kg for 2 euros (bargin!!), the first few nights was fine, then we realised we were going away for the weekend and still had 12 left, on the morning of our departure out came the recipe books... In the style of Gordon Ramsey:

courgette. pan. fry. add ham. creme fraiche. cool. freeze. pasta sauce.
courgete. pan. fry. spices. tomatos. cook. cool. freeze. curry sauce.
courgette. mushrooms. tomatos. cook. cool. freeze. pasta sauce 2.
courgette. remaining fridge items. cook. cool. freeze. pasta sauce 3.
courgette. flour. eggs. butter. sugar. choc chips. mix. bake. courgette cookies.
courgette. onion. cook. cold pasta. peppers. cheese. Lunch for the journey.

I NEVER WANT TO SEE A COURGETTE AGAIN.

With a weeks supply of courgette based meals in the freezer we headed off on our weekend away!

J starts at Uni

So, Kate went off on her adventures, pulling away from Part-Dieu train station to a lovely rendition of the Scotish national anthem, which we both found comforting :) Then, I emerged myself in the world of one of the largest university towns in France, only 150,000 or so, only 10 times the size of Bangor, so I wasn't nervous in the slightest :)

It was at Lyon 3 that I quickly discovered the delights of French beurocracy. There was always a form need to enable you to colect another form, which would then enable you to get a proof of student status certificate whilst you waited a few weeks to recieve and fill out more forms before getting your student card ........ I'm now a pro at french application forms.

The university itself is of course really big and at first scary, but I've got used to it now and quite enjoy being surrounded by so many different languages (Lyon 3 has a few thousand fellow Erasmus students this year, so there's lots of people wondering around lost)!
I've been studying a lot of french grammar and doing a few translations pieces a week, but I have mostly been having fun doing beginners Croatian!

I'd say on the whole I'm very happy here. Even though I'm living in a big city for the first time in my life, there are still options to escape to the countryside and the city is really beautiful with 2 rivers flowing through it.

Kts Mini Adventure

Soooo, after we arrived I started my own adventure WWOOFing near Valance in an award winning eco-home. Im not going to say much except that I stayed 1 week as opposed to the original month I was planning, they were really interesting people - I just didn't share some of there lifestyle choices and vice versa, after leaving on good terms I started JOB HUNTING - like a good graduate should :-)

Except........ Im quite enjoying my 3rd gap year and a job would mean leaving France (and J!) and being all grown up and stuff and getting a c-word (c-a-r-e-e-r).... so..... I got a job here - impresssive as my ability to speak french is limited to fromage, pain and vin rouge with the occasional biere. I start my job on monday 15th (eak) looking after 3 children for a scottish/english family in a village to the NW of Lyon so fingers crossed! Both the people and the house are amazing AND its in the middle of the beaujolais region - winner!

Will be keeping the blog updated with how its going!

Lyon

We arrived in Lyon on the 1st September after spending two nights in St Omer with the McG parents - got wined and dined and stored food like hamsters to last us through the uncertain weeks to come before the joy of student loans and car sales would allow us to sample the delights of the Lyon markets.

After catching the TGV from Lille - Lyon we arrived with our homes on our backs and checked into the Formula 1 hotel in Oullins, just south of the city.



The next two days were a bit of a blur as we tried to make ourselves familiar with the city - one of the first things we realised was ITS HUGE! Although its very much a city, there is amazing architecture, history, beautiful parks and open spaces that make it feel airy and happy!



The 3rd of September was pretty exciting as we got the keys to the studio that would be home for the next year. The halls are in 'Fort St Irenee' (constructed in 1840), on the top of the hill overlooking the city and the Soane, within the fort there is the remains of a Roman aquaduct (you don't get that in Bangor!!!). From the window of our little studio you can see the mountain ranges to the west of the city and on a clear day, Mt Blanc and the Alps to the east - not a bad view!

The following few weeks merged into a cahotic jumble of getting used to the city and the french systems which usually involve at least two interviews in different offices, paperwork that must be stamped and re-stamped before submitting and waiting for a letter that also needs to be signed with proof of identity and address.......... you get the idea....

J's lectures started and the city seemed smaller and less scary with every day - especially when you work out the trams and metro systems, we even managed to find IKEA, which was nice! Its amazing how a mulitpack of clippits and a bright green bath mat make somewhere feel more 'homely'!

Thats the tale until the 17th September when Kt's adventures began........