So I figured that I would write one blog post before I am off to the South of France! Tomorrow morning, Isabelle, Maggie and I are leaving for Marseille, Cassis, Nice and Monaco :)

This weekend was filled with a lot of walking and even more amazing food. Isabelle came all the way from Thiers to visit and cooked up a storm! In return, we took her on a tour of city and enjoyed the beautiful weather. The leaves are also beginning to turn which made it soooo much more beautiful.

While in the Parc de la Tete d'Or, we saw several things including synchronized pelicans and wedding photo shoots!

Today, Isabelle and I went to church at the Basilique Notre Dame (the big church on the hill that I showed in a previous blog). Afterwards we visited the ruins of an old roman theatre and then walked through Vieux Lyon to pass by an Artist's Exhibit and a Fresh Farmer's Market along the river!

So it was a great weekend...and I'm looking forward to an even greater week in the South of France! I promise to take lots and lots of pictures.

Until next time...

Megan

Apartment photos...enfin!

Voila mes photos! We finally finished making this place look like a home...and so I can now show you the photos!! To see the rest of the photos, click the link on the right...

It feels so great to be finally settled :) It is getting much colder her by the day, but I am sure that it is even colder in Canada!

All the kids in my classes are so cute. Most of them are around 17 or 18, but they seem so much younger than me! It's just weird because I feel like I was 17 just yesterday.

Last night, Maggie and I went to see a French movie called "Meres et Filles." It was a really good movie, and we both found it a lot easier to understand than we had thought it would be.

So everything has been going really well! I hope that you like my appartment!!

Until next time...

Megan

Soooo the last week has been quite busy. They weren't kidding when they said that you would face a "paperwork nightware" in the first few weeks. Im convinced that the French people invented paperwork.

So other than struggling to activate my bank account at the oh-so-confusing bank machines, getting in trouble on the train for not stamping my ticket and having to go back to the train station several times to bring various necessary papers, the week was good!

I have posted some photos of the train station where I am teaching, in Amberieu. It is definitely a very cute train station and a very cute town, but I am glad that I am not living there as it is quite small!!

This past Saturday I was invited to my future roommate's current house for an Ethiopian dinner! As you can see from the picture, it was certainly a feast! It was an amazing meal and my first time trying Ethiopian food!

Just tonight, we signed all the paperwork for our new apartment and finally got the keys! I have not posted photos yet because I want to show you the apartment when we have finished decorating it. So my next post, I promise some photos of my new place!

Until next time...

Megan

How many English Assistants can you fit into a bar?

Well, about 60 apparently!

So on Friday night, around 60 of the English Assistants all working in Lyon met under the tail of the horse at Place Bellecour. And somehow we were able to find a place where we could all sit! We ended up at a patio right beside a cathedral (see pic).

It was here that I had my first glass of Beaujolais...and this made me very happy. If any of you are red wine enthusiasts, it is definitely worth trying some of this stuff :)

At the end of the night, myself and 4 other assistants took a cab back to one of their places (one of the only ones who has actually found a place to live already!) And after a great sleep, we all got up and went back to Place Bellecour to meet up with some more people and then it was off to the Zoo at le Parc de la Tete D'Or!

So all in all, it was a great birthday/post birthday. Looking forward to great week!

Until next time...

Megan

Birthday Blog

As most of you know, today is my birthday! And so far it has been a GREAT day!

First of all, I didn't have to work today....awesome-ness. AND when Amy got home from work, she brought me a present that one of the teachers sent me. AND his daughter made the wrapping paper herself. even more awesome! (see pic)

Maybe I should talk a bit about my first day at school yesterday. All of the teachers were so nice, I worked with 4 different classes and it basically just involved the students asking me questions about myself or Canada! Sure, I was asked about igloos and caribous, and if i play hockey/watch hockey/love hockey. I think they were a little disappointed when I told them that I do none of the above!

So the first day was really good...I will be working with 7 teachers in total, mostly just helping to prepare the students for their oral english exams at the end of the year! I have a feeling that I'm really going to enjoy being on the other side of that table for once!!

As soon as I got home from school, I had to leave right away to meet up with Maggie to see the apartment that I had mentioned in my last post. I somehow was able to make out what I wrote on the corner of that newspaper! And I am sure glad that I did.

The apartment is in a really nice neighbourhood in Villeurbanne, just beside Lyon. It is not far from the main train station and just a subway ride away from the downtown. The apartment itself has a combined living/dining room with walk out to balcony (man, I sound like a real estate agent!), 2 good size bedrooms and a kitchen. THe rent is really reasonable too and everything is included (even unlimited phone calls to landlines in 80 countries...including Canada of course!!)

I of course forgot to take photos of the inside...but there are a few of the outside and I will take more next week when we go back to finalize everything and post them for you all to see!

I've also added a photo of what im eating at the moment :) Very French!

Until next time...

Megan