Robert Paterno
MFA Acting, 2010
We arrived in Lyon yesterday around 4:30 pm (9:30 CST). We landed around 2 pm, but then took the train, which gave us a chance to sleep off the nine hour flight to Paris. The rooms are quite nice, if a bit small if you have to share. I'm not too worried, unless I find out Chad likes to punch and kick in the middle of the night. So far, so good.
Lyon is a great town: Clean, very walkable, and full of American-friendly locals, provided you make an effort to communicate the French you forgot the minute you stepped off of the plane (Je regrette, Madame Gwen!). We ate at a Scottish pub for dinner last night (I know, I know) and went straight to sleep. The jet lag hit pretty hard, especially after a few drinks : )
Cheryl, Morgan and I all went jogging this morning. It appears that the French jogging culture isn't as prevalent as it is in America, as I saw maybe 5 other runners. I realized later, however, that they don't have to run because walking around town is a pretty good workout in and of itself. The good news is that the breakfast bar at the hotel is tres bien and I gorged myself something fierce before we left the hotel. Good thing, because we climbed eleventy billion steps (give or take) to get to the highest point of the city, but it was totally worth it. We saw some neat churches, and two awesome ampitheatres. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures in the next day or so. We had a pretty fun walking tour, and then I peeled off from the group for about an hour and a half and took on the mean streets of Lyon all by my lonesome. It's amazing how far a well-placed 'Merci' and a smile will get you. I did some people watching and visited a puppet museum, which was a bit frightening at first, especially the giant clown puppet. Yikes. And then walking down to the basement, with all the motion-activated lights turning off behind you - let's just say that you may want to have the toddlers wait outside, unless you're a fan of long-term psychotherapy. It was cool to learn about the marionette history and Guignol, the First Puppet of France.
That's been the extent of my adventures so far, so please don't judge my blogs long-term on my lame first day. I promise to find a way to push the envelope of French-American relations before we leave (Dean Bowen, I kid). I can't wait for the first night of the festival tonight, and to see more of the city. Until then, I continue to take too many pictures, smile politely, and look puzzled when speaking to the locals.
Au revoir!