If I Go, I'm Goin'

Last Monday our heat wasn’t working. It had been out for about four days at that point. Once we realized it wasn’t coming back on for awhile, we grabbed Wade’s computer and booked some train tickets. We had decided to go to Lyon. It’s France’s second largest city. So Tuesday morning we set out for a 15 minute walk to the train station. We hopped on the train to Metz where we would hop on another train to Lyon. It was going to be a seven hour train ride all together, so we settled in for a LONG ride.

The train ride was uneventful. Our walk to the hotel was uneventful. We checked in, checked out our room, and then went to a local grocery store. A little tip, buy breakfast foods and maybe dinner at the store. You don’t want to pay for overpriced breakfast that the hotel offers. It’s a waste of money. Anyway, It was kind of late, so we decided to watch some tv and then go to bed.

The next morning we were off to see the historic part of Lyon! We rode a tram to the top of a hill. I’m sure people in Lyon would call it a mountain, but being from Utah, I call it a hill. We got to the top and went to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere. It’s basically a very fancy cathedral. It was pretty awesome and the tram ride was definitely worth it. We then walked to the Theatre Romain. It’s a site that has some old ruins of a very big Roman theater. They still use the amphitheater for plays and such. Folks, it was awesome! We ended the day by going to an actual French restaurant. I say actual French because most of the time we end up eating at Subway. Don’t judge--Subway is cheap and pretty good.

We went to this French restaurant because apparently Lyon is the capital of French cuisine or something. Who knew? We ordered our food from a waiter who seemed miffed we didn’t order wine. The waiter seemed to get even more snippy when Wade had the gall to ask what the special of the night was. But we still got our food, and it was pretty good! About halfway through our meal, Wade seemed to be concentrating on something. I asked him what he was doing.  He whispered--I don’t know why he whispered since no one can understand us anyway--that he was trying to figure out if the table next to us was speaking Malagasy. Now, I don’t speak Malagasy but if you’ve ever heard someone speak it, it’s crazy sounding. So there we were, straining to hear this couple’s conversation. You may think that’s rude, but I don’t speak the language and Wade was more just excited, because it's not everyday you run across some Malagasies. At one point the waiter, for some obnoxious reason, started picking up silverware in a tub and dumping it back into the same tub. It was so loud that it drowned out any other sounds in the restaurant. We thought perhaps he knew we were eavesdropping, so he decided to make the loudest noise possible! After about ten minutes of listening, we figured out that yes, indeed, they were speaking Malagasy. With our new found information we paid our bill, and much to our waiter’s relief, we left.

The next day we went to the Musée Miniature et Cinéma. This museum had a few sets from a French movie. As we moved on through the museum, we saw props from a lot of American and French films. It was way cool to see it all. At one point, they had some costumes from a few movies. That part was way cool! Towards the end of the museum, they had miniature sets. It would have been cool had it not been for a bunch of unruly teenage boys. By this point we were done and just wanted away from the noisy boys!

Later that night, we decided to go to a soccer match. Wade has been really wanting to go to one. We wanted to see how different they were compared to American soccer. Well, I'll tell you right now--they’re WAY different! At one point, I was in the bathroom and all I could hear was stomping feet about my head. It honestly sounded like I was at Helm's Deep listening to some terrifying Uruk-hai army!(Shout out to The Lord Of The Rings nerds who get what I'm saying!) Lyon was playing a Dutch team and they demolished them! It was fun to see all the crazy fans! In the end, Lyon had scored seven goals and the Dutch team only scored one.

The next day, which was actually my birthday, we left Lyon. We rode the seven hours back to Forbach. We grabbed some eclairs to substitute as a birthday cake. I wanted to eat all four eclairs, but decided it was better to let Wade have some too. I'm getting soft in my old age.

Well folks, here's a few things to remember. Not having heat is a perfect excuse to go on a trip. Grab dinner at a grocery store.  Your wallet will appreciate it. The old part of Lyon is pretty cool. Waiters hate you if you order water instead of wine. Eavesdropping seems appropriate at times. You may find yourself at Helm’s Deep if you use a public bathroom at a soccer game. And last but not least, turning 27 was okay because I got to eat French eclairs!

Thanks for reading folks!

Another Day Of Sun

Folks! I actually have something to write about! In January we didn't really do anything too exciting, so I didn't want to bore you. We were basically hibernating! But we decided to leave Forbach for the warmer climate of Nice. To be fair, it was only like 10 degrees warmer, but I didn't have to wear my giant puffy coat! I’m going to call that a win.

Now the saga of getting to a Nice was uneventful. We rode a train to Luxembourg and caught a bus to the airport.  We decided to fly because we thought it would be cheaper and faster than the train. It was a little cheaper, but it wasn't as fast as we thought it would be. I was surprised by the airport--it was the smallest airport I have ever been to!

We lined up to go through security. Usually they will stop Wade’s bag and check his contact solution, so we were both very surprised when they let his backpack through and stopped mine! The agent told me to open it. I opened it. He took my makeup case out and he put it back through the machine. They did this like three times. Then they started to open my powder foundation and looked at my mascara! It was so bizarre. Finally they felt like they had examined my makeup closely enough and handed it back to me. Folks, I don't know what made the machine hate my makeup!

The airport was so small that we were bused out to the tarmac! I literally have never done this. Wade wasn't too fazed by this. Apparently this was normal for him. I felt famous getting off the bus and walking up the stairs straight onto the plane! It was so exciting to me! The plane was very small. We were flying to Frankfurt and then onto Nice. This airplane ride was only like 20 minutes!

The airport in Frankfurt was bigger, and we didn't get to ride onto the tarmac! We just walked onto the plane like we were dumb, normal people. That trip was only like an hour and a half. After landing, we took a bus to our hotel. It was like four blocks away from the beach!

The next morning we woke up to sunshine and blue skies! You could say it looked “Nice”! I know, I know! I had to say it! Folks, it was a warm sixty degrees! You can definitely tell if someone is a Utahn. We all think sixty degrees is so warm! We decided to start exploring Nice as soon as possible. We went down to the beach and walked around for a bit. We kept seeing people in giant puffy coats with their hoods up. We couldn't help but laugh! Here we are thinking it's so warm and these people are freezing their buns off!

After we walked around by the beach, we decided to go to Castle Hill. It has this awesome waterfall and a pretty cool park. We hiked up the millions of steps and finally got to the top! The waterfall was cool, but the view was the most amazing part. I stood there looking at the deep blue ocean and the surrounding mountains. I couldn't believe how lucky we were to be in such an amazing place! After we were sufficiently satisfied with the view, we went to the neighboring cemetery (like you do). The cemetery was pretty big and the headstones were awesome! I have to give a shout out to my sister Char. She told us to go there! It did not disappoint.

         

We walked back down the millions of steps and ended up walking around in more of the historic part of Nice. Then we returned to the beach and walked up the coast. It started to get really windy and clouds started to move in, so we decided we should call it a day.

The next day we decided to head over to Monaco. It was a little cloudy and colder than the day before. We got to Monaco and headed to the palace. It's more of the historic part of Monaco. We got there right when they were doing the changing of the guard! There was such a big group of people there that we couldn't really see what was happening. I did manage to see some of it through a phone screen as someone filmed it over their head! I'm just going to say, if you are filming something please, PLEASE don't put your camera or phone over your head! The people behind you can't see through your arms. Okay, now that I've said my peace, I’ll continue. We walked around and found a cool garden/park overlooking the ocean. It started to get extremely windy, so we decided to go to the aquarium. Folks, I've never been to one before! It was so much fun. I think I was more excited than the kids who were there! We saw sharks! Sharks are so cool! We went through the gift shop and actually bought something! A cool mug. I usually get annoyed going through museums only to have to exit through the gift shop. Like, I just saw all the real versions of this stuff.  Why would I want miniature replicas?? We then decided to go to the famous Monaco casino! It was a pretty cool building.

Folks, the next day was Valentine's Day! Cuuuuute! We didn't have anything planned, so we went down to the beach and sat on a bench. We found out that there was a Malagasy restaurant. We decided it would be fun to have lunch there. When we got there, it was such a small building and there were no tables that weren't inhabited by old people! So many old people. We asked if we could make reservations for dinner... they were full! We found out that they delivered. We decided to just have them deliver to our hotel. So we call later… they weren't delivering that day. It was such a bummer! We haven't really had good luck with Malagasy restaurants in the past. We went to one in Paris where the lady overcharged us and ordered gross food for us. You can ask Jamie and Jeremy how true that statement is. The second time we tried to go back to the same one in Paris, it was closed for construction! I guess we’ll just have to hop on a plane and go directly to Madagascar!

The next day we left. I was bummed to leave the sun and the beach. When we made it back to Luxembourg we found out we had to take a bus to a few towns over to get on a train to go back to Forbach. By the end of the trip, we had taken every mode of transportation! Train, bus and plane! Once we walked the mile back to our apartment, we were pooped! We took a three hour nap and decided going by train is a better idea than going by plane!

Here are a few take aways folks. January was freaking cold! Ladies, your makeup may be subjected to a pat down. Being driven on the tarmac and to the plane makes you feel famous. Nice is now my favorite place in France. Monaco has an awesome aquarium! Last, but not least, I will hop on a plane to eat elusive Malagasy food!

Thanks for reading folks!