Fetes des Lumieres in Lyon!

Message to Montrealers: Please DO NOT tell people from France that we have a Light Festival in Montreal because they are going to laugh at us!! Our tinee-tiny festival in a corner of the Place-des-Arts is a real joke... Until you see the one in Lyon! OK, OK, no offense Montreal people! :P

The 'Fete des Illuminations' was initially a night that inhabitants of Lyon light candles up and put them by their windows. It was a traditional event taken place on December 8th since the mid 19th century to thank Virgin Mary for saving/helping people of Lyon during hard times diseases epidemics. However, the tradition has changed a little bit the past decades... since technology has expanded and gone crazy! Now called 'Fetes des Lumieres', it happens around the 8th of December every year and lasts for 4 days. The entire city is lit up with traditional lights/candles or projections of animations on facades of important buildings, such as the City Hall, the Opera House, the Cathedral, the Basilica, etc.

My experience of the Light Festival in Lyon was EXCEPTIONAL. I was so amazed by the lights, so impressed by the decorations that I went back to childhood... At that moment, I was just a child feeling really, really free... I didn't think of anything and simply enjoyed what I was seeing. I had so much fun walking around the city, watching the projections. I took pictures, but they didn't do justice to the actual experience.

If you think that Times Square in New York is crazy crowded, then you should see Lyon. The festival is a very big 4-day annual event... 4 million people were there this year! CRAAAZZYYY!!! If you ever get the chance, you should ALL go to the 'Fete des Lumieres'... You will not regret it!

LOVED IT!!!

Vers Lyon!

Je suis allée à Lyon la fin de semaine dernière pour assister à la Fête des Lumières. C'était vraiment toute une expérience... Tout, tout, tout... incluant mon vol vers Lyon!

D'abord, j'ai pris le premier train à 5h15am pour me rendre à l'aéroport. Je suis arrivée là, j'ai fait tout le tralala **passer le contrôle de securité, attendre pour le numéro de porte, acheter des trucs a grignoter...**  Après une longue attente, l'embarquement des passagers a commencé. Ça a pris vraiment beaucoup de temps pour que tous les passagers soient montés à bord. Mon avion était supposé de décoler à 7h45, mais a finalement pris presqu'une heure de retard à cause de l'embouteillage d'avions :S

Puisque j'étais fatiguée, je me suis dit que j'allais dormir durant le vol d'une durée d'une heure et quart. Évidemment, j'ai dormi tout le long jusqu'à ce que, à demi consciente, j'ai entendu qu'on est arrivée à Lyon et qu'on devait nous préparer pour l'atterrisage. Quelques minutes plus tard, je me suis réveillée en sursaut en entendant le message du pilote que l'aéroport a fermé à cause d'une chute de neige sur Lyon. On a dû faire un détour de 40 minutes pour s'arrêter à l'aéroport de Marseille où on a attendu pendant 45 minutes.

Mon coeur battait fort! Je n'étais même pas arrivée à ma destination et j'avais déjà peur pour mon vol de retour en Angleterre :S J'espérais que la neige ne soit pas un trop gros problème... Enfin, l'avion attéri à Lyon! Ouf! J'ai regardé par la fenêtre et... Devinez quoi! La CHUTE de neige dont les français parlaient était une mince couche de 2cm! 2 CENTIMETRES!! WHAAAT?!?! Vraiment?! Ils ont retardé mon arrivée de 4 heures pour 2 cm de neige!! On pouvait encore voir le gazon vert sur le terrain... SANS JOKE! OOOH MYY GOOOD!! J'étais tellement fâchée!

Voilà mon expérience de vol vers Lyon! AARRrgg!! :P

Birthday weekend!

Did I party for my birthday?!? Well, I think you all know the answer :P As you all know, I don't drink... BUT I LOVE EATING!!! (**Even though I eat like a mouse, I am ALWAYS hungry!! hehehe...) And that's what I did! I just spoiled myself by eating all my favorite food, all in one weekend hahaha...

Even though I am not with you guys, I am lucky enough to meet nice people and be friends with them. Thus I was not alone, alone! YEY!

On Friday, I had a relaxing birthday dinner with Martina, Victor, and Richard at a Greek restaurant (MMmmm... Greek food!! One of my favorites!!!!). I ordered a Cod spread served with pita bread, which was delicious, and a plate of lamb . I usually don't like lamb that much, but that plate was really good! I had friends with me and food was good...  That made my day! ;)

AND on Saturday, I got a visit from a special friend, Brittany, who I met at the University of Ottawa during our B.Ed. studies. We haven't seen each other since the last time she came to Montreal before leaving for Zimbabwe a year and a half ago! Imagine the talking?!?!? Yeah, that's right! :P

This is what we did to fill in our schedule of a rainy day:

First, we met up in Brighton at 9:30am, then went to Starbucks for a hot chocolate (I had to since there's no Starbucks in Worthing!!!) I got my first peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks since I got here... OH MAN, it tasted soooo goood :P We started talking, talking, and talking, and next thing you know, it was already 1:00pm :O We did realize that we were talking for so long!!

Then, we went for sushi (MY ULTIMATE FAVORITE!!) since I was craving for it (and also because there's no sushi restaurants in Worthing!!! :S) It was just a take-out place, but it was pretty decent. It was better than nothing :P And again, we talked, talked, and talked... until 4:30pm!

Afterwards, we went for tea and desserts at Cream Tea. Brittany ordered a chocolate-orange cake for me and it was AH-MAZING!!!!! It was sooooo goood!! Mmmm.. **Drooling!! :P We sat there until the shop closed around 7:00pm.

Then, we walked down a market street and found a Thai restaurant (another of my favorite!!) called Krua Anne,  The food was DE-LI-CIOUS! I've never had such good Ta Ma Houng (payaya salad) and Pla Rad Prik (Deep-fried fish with thai chili sauce) at a restaurant. Mmmm.. **Drooling again :P

Finally, we took the train, went back to my place, talked some more, and went to bed at midnight :O

AAaaahh it was good to catch up with a friend who I haven't seen for so long and to talk to someone who can actually understand me when I talk about Canada :P I felt like home for a bit more than 24 hours... AND IT FELT GOOD!!! :D

What a good weekend!!! Now time to go back to the gym!! Pouahhahaha...

PS: Martina, Victor, Richard, and Brittany: I had very good times with you all. I am very blessed to always have good people with me. Thank you for making my birthday special... I am lucky to have you guys as friends!! ;) xo

PPS: Oh yeah, as a birthday present, from ME to ME, I booked myself a plane ticket to go to Lyon, France for the annual "Festival des Lumières" this coming weekend!!!  YEY! Happy Birthday to me :D

I'll keep you posted!!