Our first six months

We've finished the first half of our yearlong French adventure. Hard to believe it sometimes! We've definitely seen and done a lot of things which I've tried my best to document on my blog, but I thought I'd mention a few random things I've observed in the last six months...

Some of the first things we noticed in France were differences in greetings/manners. With total strangers if it's just you and them crossing each other's path you almost always greet them with a passing bonjour or bonsoir. When you enter a store or a cafe you always greet/are greeted with bonjour but also when you leave it's common to say merci, au revoir, bonne journée - all three together. When I serve someone at my cafe I thank them, say goodbye, and wish them a good day or evening or weekend. Every time! And sometimes multiple times to the same customer. Sometimes you can say just merci, au revoir but the point is that French people have this built into them from their upbringing and it was a nice, friendly change. On the other hand, French people can be very demanding and they love to complain. During one of my French courses in Toronto at the Alliance Française we were taught how to complain the French way! I also find that they stare a lot, and when walking on the sidewalk you don't expect anyone to move out of the way for you; instead you both barely turn your shoulders at the last second to avoid hitting one another. It can be quite intimidating at first but you just have to stand your ground :)

For anyone who's read Le Divorce or seen the movie, you are likely aware of the scarf obsession in France. I personally love it and still don't understand how to master so many styles of scarf-wearing. Now that it's cold out though it's mostly the bundled up scarf look - as a Canadian I am very skilled at this particular style. Another very French thing would be les bises (short for bisous) - the greeting kisses. It took a little getting used to but it feels pretty normal now. It's two kisses, one on each cheek, though more like air kisses and not so much lips on the skin. As a girl I have to bise everyone, but James only has to do it with the ladies (or if he's good friends with a guy). Sometimes I just miss a good ol' Canadian hug though, and thankfully a fellow Canadian who also lives here shares my feelings on this and she and I sustain each other's need for hello and goodbye hugs!

One thing that is odd is there are no apartment numbers for individuals units, only the main building address and then the apartments have your name on the mailbox and door to your apartment. But something even more odd and completely unrelated is that scooters - as in the foldable, two-wheel scooters that kids glide along on in North America - are ridiculously popular here, and we're talking with all generations. I have seen women in their 60s on these things in full business attire. Of course kids of all ages use them here as well, but I will never get used to seeing adults on them. It's just weird!

We have definitely sampled a variety of food that we would not have tried elsewhere which was one of our goals before we moved here, and we continue to be brave and try new things (read: new animal body parts). James has become quite a wine drinker (though now I have to share my bottles...) and we've eaten so much cheese I can't even fathom the overall quantity.

Of course there are also downs with the ups and living in a foreign country in a language other than your native tongue and a brand new culture can be very frustrating. So here is my major acknowledgement to all immigrants living in their adopted home countries because it is not always walk in the park! In my experience French bureaucracy was enough to make me shake my fists in the air and practice my French swearing, both in applying for my visa to get here and then dealing with getting my job-specific work permit. And the absurdly slow pace of setting up a bank account (two weeks, beginning to end) was painful but we made it through. French people hate these things too though it's important to keep in mind; they are just used to it.

But overall it's been a really fulfilling life experience that continues to teach us new things and lead us to meet new and interesting people. With that I'll leave you with a random selection of photos of things we've done since arriving here that haven't been included on other blog posts!

Watching a local French band play great covers of classic southern rock songs at Les Trois Gaules

Drinks at François' place next door to our apartment

Hanging out with friends and drinks on the Rhone on a summer night

Watching our Australian friend Toby play classical guitar at a restaurant

Summertime pool party outside of the city!

The view from Mont d'Or where we set up a countryside barbecue

Homemade sushi at a friend's apartment

Les Lunettes! Our band name if Bernadette, Eloise and I took our karaoke endeavours further

Karaoke in full action

Strolling through the beautiful Parc de la Tête d'Or

Cuddling with a giant penguin near Cité Internationale by the park

Bike ride day to the bottom of the Presqu'ile around Confluence (a modern mall in a section of the city being totally redesigned and built)

Free outdoor concert put on by Tout le monde dehors which organizes free public events in the summer at Jardin des chartreux

Sunday morning markets near our apartment

James in his 10k run! And not missing a beat for this photo op

Relief and satisfaction at the finish line

The one-eyed mouse I accidentally trapped in our kitchen and then freed by the river (and yes, that is poo, my apologies)

A free public performance of two actors doing cyclical movements on a stage built on water with a trampoline built into it. It was pretty cool.

Thumbs up after my friend Rob's living room concert in Lyon!

Enjoying the changing leaves of autumn on a chilly walk in November

So there you go, a little bit of what we've been upto over the last few months. Keen to see where else our French adventure will take us...

Two days in Strasbourg

As part of James' continued birthday celebration we planned a weekend trip to the city of Strasbourg which is in the northeast of France on the German border along the Rhine. It falls within the Alsace region and we were looking forward to sampling some of the German-inspired cuisine there was to offer! After many recommendations of the website AirBnB, we booked an apartment located directly in the centre of the city on the grande île which is surrounded by the Ill river, just steps away from the famous gothic cathedral that was once the world's tallest building (more on that shortly).

Using a deal through SNCF we booked a cheap train leaving Lyon at 6am Sunday and arriving just after 10am in Strasbourg. After a short walk we reached the apartment and got our key before taking a quick jaunt to an épicerie to buy some fruit, wine and snacks to have for later (since on a Sunday in France essentially no store is open after 12pm). After dropping our purchases off we went to discover our surroundings. It was nice that the streets were a little quieter than usual because we'd wanted to escape on a relaxing getaway to a quaint city. Passing a boulangerie James bought himself a nutella croissant while I went for a classic pretzel. So began the delicious food!

As I mentioned Strasbourg is known for its spectacular Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg and we were staying about a ten second walk away from it. It is immense and extremely breathtaking with its gigantic tower, its detailed figures built into the facade and its flying buttresses. It was built entirely in the middle ages and held the tallest building record between 1647-1874. It is a beacon when walking around Strasbourg and the top site to see in Alsace. The interior of the church is also quite captivating with its arches as well as the main feature for visitors: the astronomical clock. Every day at 12:30pm the clock's automatons perform a procession, so at around ten past noon James and I started to wait patiently for the show among a throng of tourists. The clock is quite grand so we were expecting something notable, but were kind of disappointed with what we got. The automatons moved around slightly, but with all the decor on the clock it appeared as though a lot more would happen and it just didn't... The lesson we learned here was don't get your expectations too high before knowing what you're going to see. Nevertheless it was pretty interesting to see the automatons do their thing, just not worth wasting a half an hour on since it barely lasts five minutes. I guess I was too eager for a show!

We carried on exploring and came across lots of buildings with that German architectural look of wooden slats and slanted roofs. There was also a marathon taking place so we came across some runners and cheered them on near the end of the finish line. After a couple of hours of walking we were ready to grab a bite and head back to the apartment to chill out for a while. We decided sausages were next on the menu and so we selected cheese-filled sausages that came in baguettes. They were giant and also very tasty!

We took a little nap after our snack and when dinner time came around we did a little research to see where we would dine. We opted to check out the area of Petite France, a tiny island off the main island, to eat at Au Pont Saint Martin. Walking through the streets and over the little bridges to the island provides snapshots of stepping back in time. There is an old mill and a lock right nearby so at night under moonlight it was neat to hear the water rushing by. 

We were seated on the lowest level which is right on the river in a both literally and figuratively warm room. Prior to leaving Lyon we'd been told that we needed to try flammenkueche as well as choucroute so with this meal we were able to tick off the first one. Flammenkueche, also called tarte flambée, is like a pizza but on very thin base with cream, onions, potatoes and lardons and on ours we also opted for cheese. It was delicious! And so light! The perfect starter to whet our appetites. For the main course James chose a turkey escalope in a mushroom cream sauce while I went for braised pork knuckle with horseradish. Yum! We washed that down with Alsatian beer but passed on dessert as we were pretty stuffed afterwards. We headed back to the apartment by walking along the river and popped open a bottle of Gewurztraminer to finish off the evening relaxing at our temporary home.

Day two started with a well-known French delight: crepes. Delicious but so messy! I opted for caramel and James shockingly went for chocolate (he always does) and there were definitely some sticky hands after that breakfast on the go. We started off with a walk along the river as we were planning to visit the botanical gardens at the Université de Strasbourg, but because it is France they had really weird hours and it was closed until 2pm, two hours from the time we arrived. So sadly we gave up that idea and headed to another outdoor space instead at Place de la République, taking in some more lovely views of the city around the river on the way.

While sitting in the park we were trying to organize where to go next and James had been interested in visiting the EU Parliament building. Unfortunately our plan to see that was also dashed based on sitting times of MEPs (Members of European Parliament) and the fact that they don't really have individual tours so we just headed back to the main part of the city to get some lunch. We settled on a 'winstub' (a traditional Alsatian restaurant - found this interesting article on the subject: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/eating-and-drinking-in-alsace-france) called Zuem Strissel which has been around since 1385. We'd been subject to a windy and slightly wet climate in Strasbourg but that didn't stop us from sitting on the patio. I had been craving French onion soup so I knew I what I was getting, but James went for the other top recommendation for food in Alsace: choucroute garnie. It's sauerkraut with a variety of pork cuts garnishing the dish and he could not have been happier when the server placed the plate in front of him!

With all that warm food in us we were ready to get back to being tourists. One thing we had planned to do no matter what was to cross over into Germany because when you're that close you just have to. So we got ourselves to a tram stop and took it to the end of the line then caught a bus that takes you right to the city of Kehl across the river. It was about a 20 minute trip overall and when we got there it was strange to think we were suddenly in Germany! Admittedly there is not much on offer in Kehl so we just walked down the pedestrian street to a large square featuring a church and then headed into H&M where James used some birthday money to buy a new hoodie. We did however get to use some basic German (hallo, danke, tchus) to make us feel like we'd truly traveled somewhere foreign which was kind of exciting. We then took the passerelle, a bridge for walking and cycling, to cross back over the Rhine into France. I can say with certainty I've never walked over a country border before and especially not via a pedestrian bridge! The really neat thing about being on the bridge was that you could see the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) in the distance.

After a long day of walking we picked up a couple of beers and relaxed at the apartment before packing up and heading to the train station for our 7pm departure. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Strasbourg and probably could have done with one more day but we're happy to have seen what we did. It's left us wanting to see much more of France and we're trying to plan a trip to the northwest as well as the southwest. We're slowly making our way around l'Hexagone!