WEEK 3 Recap: Silk Factory, Macarons, and London

I’m definitely starting to get in the swing of things here in Lyon. We have class from 9:30-12:30 every day except Wednesday, when we go on excursions. This Wednesday, we went to Croix Rousse, which is one of the big hills in Lyon. It’s home to three very special things:

1. Maison des Canuts (Silkworker’s house)

We watched one of the men who works at the museum actually making a piece of silk fabric – it was so cool to see how skilled he was.

2. Big Wall Paintings (La Mur des Canuts) 

Amazingly enough, this is the flat surface of one building, and all of the ‘buildings’ are just a big, building-sized mural. It’s crazy how life like it is in person – it even confuses your brain a little. There's tons of these all over Lyon and they're updated every so often to reflect the current time period.

3. The best patisserie in Lyon, 'Bouillet'

Words can’t even describe my love for French macarons. They seem like they’re hard and crunch but you bite into them and they’re so perfect and fluffy. They’re one of my favorite things ever – chocolate and raspberry being my favorite flavors. I bought a box of macarons for Daniel’s cousins that I visited in London this weekend, which brings me to Part Dieux of my blog post:

London was AMAZING as always.

I took the high speed TGV train from Lyon the Paris, then the Eurostar (aka chunnel) to London. It was super easy and I couldn’t stop staring at the beautiful French and English country sides as we zoomed past them. I went to London for two reasons:

REASON ONE TO GO TO LONDON: To see my beautiful friend Maggie, whose interning/studying abroad in London this summer.

We walked through Trafalgar Square just before the sun was setting – it was so beautiful! Maggie’s roommate Tori came along too. I loved meeting all of her fancy London friends!

I had been dying to go to Gordon’s wine bar ever since I was 17. Here’s the story: My mom, dad, siblings, aunt, uncle, and cousins all went to London when I was 17. We all walk into Gordon’s wine bar and I get so excited. The food, the drinks, the atmosphere – it all looked so cool. Apparently, the adults thought it was too cool to experience with us kids around, so my dad gave me 20 quid to take us all to Pret a Manger – and my 17 year old self started crying right there in the middle of London as I ate my stupid organic sandwich. Going to Gordon’s Wine Bar 3 years later met all my expectations and I’m so glad that Maggie and Tori and I FINALLY got to experience Gordon’s Wine Bar.

On Sunday I headed into London early for a really special church service. My brother is very involved at a church in Dallas called Fellowship Church, and they just opened a branch in London. He suggested I go to the service and I decided that wasn’t a bad idea. It ended up being really cool! It’s been really interesting to go to random churches in different countries – it’s something I’d definitely recommend. After church, Maggie and I went met at a little pub by her flat for a pint (hey – Jesus drank wine, too! Although, I picture him as more of a Strongbow type of guy…). 

Anyways, we decided it would be a good idea to get food with our drinks, and I must say we made a very poor decision in ordering nachos. I’ve been craving Mexican food for weeks now, and let me tell you this did not hit the spot. The ‘salsa’ was actually Jalapeno Pepper Tomato Relish – not the world’s best invention by any means.

 But, it was still decent enough to devour since we were starving before dinner. After the pub, we left to go to daniel’s family’s house, which brings me to…

REASON TWO TO GO TO LONDON: To visit some of Daniel’s family who live close to London

Daniel’s mom, who is from England, has a lot of family near London. When they came to visit in April, we talked about how I should stay with them sometime this summer – I wasn’t going to turn down that offer! I stayed with Daniel’s aunt and uncle and their adorable little boys, Matthew (5) and Adam (9).

 I arrived on Friday night to the warmest welcome and even a customized door sign for the guest room.

Staying with them in Woking was so much fun and I already miss them :( The two little boys have more energy than I’ve ever encountered, and I’m soo thankful to Daniel’s aunt and uncle for letting me stay with them this weekend. It made for a really special weekend that I’ll never forget!