Rain Rain Go Away

So I can officially say that Lyon has won first place in the Windy Cities of the World Competition.  It easily beat Chicago. Furthermore, the "vente du sud" definitely sounds like a Category Four Hurricane when it blows against my window panes. Now after the wind, comes the rain and raining is what the sky has been doing since Friday. But don't feel too bad for me; this weather has allowed me to catch up on the sleep I skipped Thursday night/Friday morning when I went out to an international student club.

Luckily living in a city such as Lyon I have plenty of rainy day options. Last Sunday was Chokogou and today was the lovely wine festival. Living a block away, you would have thought I'd be participating all four days, but no! I had other things to do/see (to be explained plus tard). Gaeten (another awesome teacher I work with) took me to taste what France has to offer. He was quite surprised to find that I could handle (and thoroughly enjoyed) the strong red wines. I was quite impressed by myself for having figured out some of the fruits in the wines. Despite the cracher (spit out) aspect of wine tasting, I'm feeling quite happy right now, so let's go ahead and ignore any spelling/grammar mistakes in this post. Unfortunately for you all, I was way to excited to taste all the yummy wine that my camera never made it out of my purse..but alas, there's always tomorrow :)

Going back in time, yesterday I went to Beatrice's house again. She took me around Vienne, another Gallo-Roman town. She told me how most French people don't ever visit the ruins, let alone know the name. This made the rainy visit even more magical for me, considering we were the only ones out sightseeing. The temple is one of two remaining in Europe; only the high priests were allowed to enter back in the Roman era. Bea also told me that there is a huge jazz festival here in June, so I hope to return in a few months. Again, sorry, forgot my camera, but here are someone else's memories.

After a quick tour in the rain, we returned to her house where we ate some delicious pastries. The shop we went to is opening a sister store in the USA, hence why they were so excited to take me there. For the remainder of the afternoon, we discussed a variety of subjects and played with her two year old son (my new best friend), Robinson. He is by far the cutest, messiest little French boy I have ever met. At one point he tried to show off the chocolate pastry in his mouth. I probably shouldn't have provoked the act, but I couldn't help it. As a result, the pastry and resulting chocolate drool dripped all down his shirt and pants. Sugar levels high, le petit garcon proceeded to find his Asterix outfit and run around in circles until he fell over. Not sure what was more funny at the time, an Asterix helmet and sword or a little boy telling me to stay seated so he can show off his running in circle skills.

I also was able to taste another French favorite: la raclette. It goes something like this: You boil the potatoes, you cut the cheese (literally not figuratively), and you choose your saucisson/jambon/ bacon. You put the cheese in the triangular shovel looking thing and let it sizzle. Meanwhile, you place the meat on the top layer of the cooking device. Once the cheese is melted, you place it on top of the potatoes and layer it with the meat.  It sounds like a very basic, unusual combination but OH MY GOD how good it is!

Tuesday I'm hosting my housewarming party for all the teachers. Here's hoping I don't burn anything!

And of course, HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO YOU ALL! Eat some Reese's and 3 Musketeers for me!
Bises!