15 Feb 2009 8.20pm Grenoble

My sickness got better on Friday after I slept for more than 20 hours in a row and woke up in the afternoon around 3pm. I received a call from Julie around 6pm while I was on my way back from grocery shopping. I finally decided to live my back Chinese way of life with rice and vegetables and soups, staying away from pastas and baguettes. Julie called to ask if I wanted to see a movie at night. Despite the fact that I really did not want to go out late and come back alone, I was really thought if I did not get any mental entertainment again in this small town, I will be rotten in my room. So I met for the guys and gals at this cinema called “le club” to see the latest American movie called “He’s just not so into you”.

The movie was in English with French subtitles.  The student price was slightly more expensive than a movie on a Friday night in Singapore. The cinema was a shock, however. It was small, like every other facilities here, without drink and popcorn booth. I bought the ticket and walked up to the third level. It was free sitting, in a room around 20-30 m2. It was packed and small, reminded me of the video screening in the tea houses on the streets in Chengdu when I was in primary school. The movie was a comedy. I noticed French people laughed at different point of time to some of us, maybe because of the subtitles. It was a good movie, relaxing and funny, suitable to adjust my mood. But next time I will remember to bring some food and drinks.

Saturday morning, I woke up at 630am and together with a group of ten people we took a train at 7.45am towards Lyon. Lyon was the second largest city in France, so as I heard, and it was about 2 hours away by train from Grenoble.

When we arrived in Lyon, it was 930am. It was freaking cold and snowing like hell. We walked on the street, trembling, at least I was. I cursed the weather in France. I thought Lyon will be warmer than Grenoble but it seemed that I was wrong. I did not eat anything for breakfast so when we passed by a bakery shop I went in to buy a quiche. It was a French stuff, made of egg and cheese and some other things, it tasted creamy and weird and I felt like puking after half of it. Julie got a bite and she told me that was goat cheese. The snow got harder by the time we reached the city centre but we still managed to stop on the way to take some photos. Before going to lunch, we went to Musee de Decoratif. There I saw typical French furniture and decorations from the old days. It was interesting and nice, but it was too much of decorations for me. I think I still preferred the Chinese type with simple designs.

Out of the museum, we walked up the hills. Half of Lyon was on the hill. The road on the hill was narrow, with buildings on both side of the road. The walls of the building are colorful, with mainly red and yellow colors. Around 1pm, we finally settled in a small French restaurant. The food was very French, I guess. Everything was with cheese and the servings were very large for me. I barely finish every dish because I was just too much. It tasted all very greasy and cheesy and I think I just got the quota of cheese for me for this whole month. The rest of the group seemed to enjoy the meal very much, though. After the meal it was already 3pm. We went to visit the other tourist cites such as the roman theater and the cathedral Notre-Dame de Lyon.  Before the dark fell, we were back to the city centre again.

It stopped snowing but it was still cold. Lyon at night was lovely, vibrant and splendid, with all the lights and people on the streets and shops of all different kinds. The buildings were classically French --- elegant and beautiful.  I was attracted this city at night immediately, much more than at day time. I suddenly missed Singapore, the night life and the warmth, the characteristics of a modern city, the convenience, the Starbucks, the 7-11s… I initially thought I would like Grenoble because it was a quiet small town --- peaceful and calm, but I was wrong, I do not like Grenoble, not at all, not without Kynokuniya or Boarders, not without big shopping malls, not without HMV, not without 24-hours McDonals and 7-11s, not without Carrefour and IKEA open on Sundays, even though the wine is only 2 euros a bottle.