Ibis Lyon Villefranche Saone Villefranche-sur-Saône

... well it may seem trivial and unimportant to the rest of you but I know that it was a step closer to the family for us. The last au pair Jean, whoooo I have heard some stories, but more recently I realized how much of a blessing I must be to them compared to her. Julie hated Jean. She was not affectionate, warm or talkative. She was the exact opposite of me, so needless to say I can see it in their eyes and feel it in their faces that they care for me ...

... the UK. When I arrived Lis had cooked me an amazing 3 course french-themed dinner! I was so spolit by her the whole time I stayed, actually. It was so nice to see an old friend and completely relax in her company.

The next day I got up with Lis, who had to go in to university fairly early for classes. I headed to the Musee de Beaux Arts, via some great shops and a stop for a hot chocolate which came in a little jug and was so rich and dark I couldn't finish it! The museum was ...

... to take a photo of!

Final stop of the day before arriving at our destination, was in a small town, where we had to buy the cheapest bottle of wine we could find, and we'd get one point for every Euro that it cost below 5 Euros. We did a pretty good job, finding 1L bottle for 1.25 Euros (roughly NZ$2.50!).

Again it was dark as we arrived in Macon, and after finding our way to the hotel and dumping out stuff in our ...

... me “Sorry were so boring” and I would always laugh, but I would think to myself there is nothing boring about your life, its great because your happy. I am not sure if my aunt has always been as wise as she is but I am glad to have her in my life. She has taught me more than she can realize about life and happiness by simply inviting me into her life. Its not the chicken and asparagus dinners that made her life great it was the appreciation ...

I had no expectations for the way that the family meeting was going to go. It was a Wednesday and a holiday so both Michel and Virginie were home and it was late afternoon before I got up the courage to suggest tonight for the talk. I knew things would turn out fine but that didn't mean I wasn’t dreading the painful process of going through the problems in order to find a solution.

So during dinner I drank the wine ...

... Family problems at home, employee issues here. School is hard because French is hard, I am digestively sick and can’t eat the amazing French food without feeling sick, I have put on a few lbs and well I am full of ****. All that as far as I know sucks! So why am I not feeling down in the dumps about it? Who knows, but I am not gonna waste my time wondering why. I am going to just be grateful ...

... places in Lyon. Many of these places I am familiar with, which makes it even cooler.

I not only got to watch the first film, but I saw the very first camera ever created and stood where the film was taken; pretty much really cool. Turns out our little Thomas Eddison also gave a very helpful invention to the film as well. Thanks to him we were able to have the images spinning on a wheel ...

... for some exploration. We found some food and headed towards the old city in search of old stuff.....Europe seems to have lots of old stuff. We find it in spades. More old excellent buildings although the situation in Lyon gives the appearance of things in need of repair. We wandered around the old town, walked up a crazy set of steps looking for the church on the hill overlooking the city before going back into the city centre to look for food and to rest. It's ...

... encore plus que chez nous, mais elle me rend heureus quand même, une espèce de dope dont j'arrive pas à me passer... "Autrement", "Démocratie", "Ensemble" "Transparence" "écologique", "égalitaire"... des mots volés et vidés de toutes substances, utilisés autant par les sarkozistes que par les anars de service, qui font que tout le monde peut très bien s'entendre en ne disant pas DU TOUT la même chose, et qui sont sur toutes les lèvres, et qui ...

... are great. Rooms are more than adequate and the people seem very friendly so far. Now for the highlight: Holy Carrefour Hypermarket!! Loving this MAMMOTH of a store, with everything a person could ever need. Leaves Wal-Mart in the dust, with its crazy selection and helpers on wheels. Gonna have to get me one of them fidelity cards... Have a phone, have internet connect. We are all set and will keep you updated!