La Fête des Lumières

The Festival of Lights is a Lyonnaise tradition which includes activities based on light and usually lasts four days, from the 6th Dec to the 9th. The peak of activity occurs on the 8th. The festival opens with a beautiful firework display over the river and the two main focal points of activity are typically the Basilica of Fourvière which is lit up in different colours, and the Place des Terreaux, which hosts a different light show each year

 

 

 

FROM AN AGE-OLD TRADITION TO A UNIQUE URBAN EVENT

On the 8 September 1852, as the city was preparing to celebrate the installation of a statue of the Virgin Mary in the Chapel on the Fourvière Hill, the ceremony had to be abandoned as the River Saône was overflowing. The festivities were put back to December 8 of the same year. But the climate did not favour the organisers – a violent storm broke out during the day, and the event had to be abandoned. Then seeing the weather improving as night fell, the population spontaneously lit their homes with candles and Bengal lights and hurried down into the street.

THE TRADITION OF THE LITTLE LIGHTS

Since then the ritual has been repeated every year – the people of Lyon decorate their windows and balconies with thousands of little lights – candles protected by little glass shades whose flames wreathe the city in a warm and gentle light, as winter draws near. While continuing to respect this age-old tradition, the festival has over the last ten years mutated into an outstanding urban event, born of the wish to create a festival that would unite all of the people of Lyon and continue to celebrate the lighting of the city begun in 1889. Since then every year, for four nights around the 8 December Lyon becomes the centre of light show design with artists from around the world, performances and light shows creating unique designs that attract millions of visitors.

Based on this tradition, the Festival of Lights has since become the world’s principal event for creative light displays, showcasing the work of top artists and offering an open-air laboratory for up-and-coming talent.

Text taken from wikipedia and the fete des lumières official website.

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Working as a language assistant

 

It’s my first day and I feel like the new kid at school. I’m not even sure I know where the school is so I leave my house and hope for the best. Luckily I see some children and I presume they are going to the same place so I follow instinctively. There’s a lady at the gate directing the new pupils on where to go . I on the other hand look for the reception desk. After asking someone for directions I’m on the right path but bump into the headteacher before even reaching his office. He was on his way to give a welcome speech to the new students and jokingly said that I looked more like one of the students than the english assistant, well the French don’t disappoint with their directness do they?

The first few weeks at school have been frustrating. I was not given a timetable for weeks and so I felt  a bit useless. However when I eventually did get to start working with the pupils it was great. I had heard horror stories of language assistants being placed in really difficult schools and having a hard time with the pupils but for me that was not the case and the fact that this lycée had been awarded best lycée in France for 2013 showed by the quality of the pupils. They were very receptive, enquiring and eager to learn.

French schools are different to English schools in many ways. Take for example the Conseille de classe, this is a meeting which occurs at the end of each term with teachers, parent representatives and pupil representatives present. Each individual pupil on the register is discussed within the meeting to determine how they are progressing. Students can  be awarded ‘mentions’ which are divided into encouragements, compliments or félicitations. Encouragements is for when a student has been working but thier results are not exceptional, compliments is for good results but maybe and félicitations is the highest commendation for attitutude to work and exceptional grades. A conseille de classe would be the place where we would have to discuss if a student had to repeat a year or not. This is known as redoublement but does not exist in the english school system. Another revelation to me was ‘la vie scolaire’  these are the dinner supervisors, exam invigilators, the place to come if you come in late. They can also make phone callls home if messages need to be passed on from pupils to parents, they do photocopies and lots more . In england the supervisors or dinner ladies rather would not have a specific office nor deal with absences or punctuality, that would be the job of reception. Then of course you have the whole uniform thing- in France it doesn’t exist which I found strange as it’s not something us Brits are accustomed to.

I have enjoyed many moments at the school for example going with the A-level literature class to watch Sherlock Holmes at the theatre, baking with the As- level girls to raise money for the refugees at Calais. Enjoying many of the ‘gouters’ arranged by the girls. Helping out at homework club and talking to the adorable year 7′s and of course the banter between the students in class. But above all it has to be the friendliness and support I recieved from my fellow colleagues especially Stéphanie

Playing Football in France

 

As a language assistant I have admittedly been given quite a bit of free time so I thought I’d take the opportunity to do what I love most – play football. Initially it was my housemate who really encouraged me to join a sports club. Adèle used to attend Taekwondo classes but after telling her it wasn’t really my thing she quickly went online to search for the nearest women’s football club and I’m so glad she did.

I benefited so much from these football sessions, linguistically and in terms of staying healthy. It also helped me stay occupied and not feel the loneliness when my housemates would be occupied doing other things. I got to meet so many French people who were so lovely and accepting and I never thought that I’d have a football coach and french teamates shouting instructions to me in French,  I know it sounds silly but it was such a good feeling.

It’s funny to remember all the different characters there were at the club. Ludo was a simple guy who people used to joke around with, his role was to lock up the changing rooms during each training session and provide us with training equipment, Ilyes- our crazy overweight coach, he was the laid back type who had no real ambition in terms of winning but he was a nice guy, Mansur was Ilyes’ boss he coached us one evening and was brilliant and extremely movitating but some of the girls thought he took football a bit too seriously. Then there were the girls, Sarah- our captain, Flavia-the player who everyone was in awe of, my fellow anglophone from Ireland- Chelsea,  Juliette-the striker and Imène the youngest member of our team.

I’ve had many good times with this team, but the funniest moment had to be when I wanted to play a league game without a ‘licence’. We were short of players so me and another girl who wasn’t even  part of the club decided to play.  We both needed licences to play so we searched through all the license’s that the club had, scanning the photos to see which ones looked most like us. We both picked out our licences- I was now to be known as Sarah and she was to be known by some other name too. Everytime someone called me I was oblivious to the fact that they were actually calling me- I was not used to be being called Sarah! The other girl who didn’t have a license ended up being the best player on our team, she was tall and athletic-,she wasn’t even a footballer she was a boxer. Even though we lost badly she was the only one on our team  who managed to score a goal  and what a spectacular goal it was. She managed to bicycle kick the ball into the goal and we all ran to her esctatic and filled with emotion there was this sort of adrenaline rush that we all experienced that day.  I’m smiling so much, even now, as I am writing this post because it brings back so many memories, even if I’m not the best at articulating them. During my year abroad this was one of the experiences I enjoyed the most, it was nice visiting other places and doing touristy things but joining this club and sharing the experiences with everyone who was a part of this club was even better than that.

 

For those of you comtemplating joining a sports club during your year abroad I would thoroughly recommend it. In fact I even considered staying in Lille just so I could stay at that club.

The details of the club I joined are as follows: A.S. DU VIEUX LILLE

Website: http://lille-footfeminin.e-monsite.com/pages/presentation-de.html

Address: Stade Adolphe Max, Avenue Adolphe Max, 59800 Lille

It’s location is convenient as it’s not far from the city centre and there’s a bus which drops you off nearby. They accept players of all levels so don’t worry if you’re a beginner, many of the girls did this as a recreational activity. If you want to play league games you will need to apply for a ‘license’ but the club captain will be able to sort this out for you.

For the more skilled among you Villeneuve d’Ascq is an excellent club and had a more competetive approach to football. They always finished top in our local league and are the best choice if you are looking for competitive football.

http://www.vaff.fr/

 

To find your local football club and see fixtures and results visit:

https://www.fff.fr/la-vie-des-clubs/17419/resultats

 

Palais des Beaux Arts- Lille

Lille is a culturally rich and diverse city and was voted European capital of culture in 2004. There’s a whole wealth of activities to do and if you pick the right day you can even go in for free. The Palais des Beaux arts museum has pieces from Van gogh, an Antiquity section, a Middle Ages and Renaissance section, ceramics, sculptures and paintings from the 16th- 20th century. It also gives you extensive information about the history of Lille and the Nord-pas- de-Calais region and if you go on the first sunday of the month you can get in for free.

My favourite piece in the museum is called Allégorie des vanités du monde and was painted in 1633 by Pietre Boel.

The detail in this still life was absolutely beautiful and the gold is absolutely stunning. The painting depicts all the temporary pleasures of this world, there’s the pleasure of music which is represented by the the group of five instruments in the foreground on the left, you can see a tamobourine, a violin on the chair and various other instruments. Then you have the pleasure of learning represented by the globe in the centre of the picture and the books which are laying on the floor to the right of the painting. There’s also artistic pleasure represented by the paintbrushes laying on the floor  and the beautiful goldsmithery in the centre of the painting. For me this is the star of the show and the thing that intially draws you into this superb piece.

Above the huge pile of things, right at the top of the picture, you can see a crown, a turban sitting on a Ermine, a bishop’s miter and a papal tiara . All symbols of the power of kings and religion on earth.

However this is all contrasted by the skull which appears right above all of these things. With his hollow eyes , it seems to observe these signs of wealth. It reminds us that death always triumphs , and that no matter the pomp of life and our occupations on earth before death, we are all equal . We are cautioned against the temptation to be seduced by these beautiful things. In the background you can see a stone coffin which has the words ‘Vanitati S’ inscribed on it meaning  the sacrifice of the Vanities .

The juxtaposition of the treasure like objects with the skull and coffin serves as a stark reminder for those of us living in such a materialistic age and society and I think this overall message really resonated with me. What a truly magnifient piece of art!

To see the official website of the Palais des Beaux Arts museum check out

http://www.pba-lille.fr/

 

 

Meert Patisserie

 

 

This has been on my to do list for a while now and what a joy it was to visit.  Just the beautiful shop facade was enough to put a smile on my face and when I went inside it was even better. The interior and the decor were a feast for the eyes. I wanted to try the famous gaufres that this bakery has been producing since 1849. It doesn’t look like your average waffle as you can see in the picture but it is the prized possession of this famous bakery so much so that Monsieur Générale de Gaulle, The first president of France’s Fifth Republic was especially fond of them. I had to try them for myself! The shop assistant told me they were would taste great with a cup of tea however I must say I was a little disappointed when I tried them. They were not the flavour sensation I was expecting and the texture could have done with some work too. What I did love though was the chocolate he had given me to taste, it was absolutely divine. Alongside the bakery are the tearooms and restaurant. All in all it’s a nice place to come and visit and relax with a cup of tea with a friend however you will be paying for the appearance of the place rather than the food.

 

Skiing in the Massif Central

One of the things on my bucket list has been to go skiing in France and I was delighted to have been invited by my friend Adèle to come skiing with her and her family. Skiing for the French is pretty standard, everyone’s done it, it’s so accessbile and they have so many resorts to choose from. This was my first time skiing on real snow, I had skied on dry ski slopes in the past but this was something else. The weather wasn’t too cold but it was extremely foggy and the snow had turned to ice. You couldn’t see a thing! At first I had difficulty getting on the ski zip line (you can see it right above me in the photo) ,you had to put the seat between your legs and quickly jump on whilst it was still moving and  I fell over which was quite embarassing. I was surprised as I’m usually quite good at these things, I’m a sporty person, but when you have two skis attached to your feet everything becomes a little harder. The photo of me above is when I got stuck at the top of the hill as I said the weather was really bad at ths point and I couldn’t see a thing. By this point I had fallen over so many times that I was happy to just stay there but Adèle was adament that I come down with her. I did eventually make it down the hill, shuffling down extremely slowly but Adèle made sure she took the pictures to show me what a fool I looked like and we both had a laugh about it afterwards. After we finished skiing Adèle’s mum brought us some much needed hot chocolate and we made our way home back to Limoges. I really loved this experience, it was a great feeling accomplishing something I had never done before even if it did hurt for the next couple of days!

 

 

 

Trip to Belgium Using Covoiturage

As a Lilloise I feel visiting Belgium is a must, It’s so incredibly close that many people commute daily to work from Lille to Belgium and there’s also a Metro service running between the two which makes it quite convenient.

We decided to visit the capital city Brussels and had planned beforehand the places we wanted to visit.

We booked a covoiturage also known as car pooling/ sharing which proved to be a cheaper alternative to the train. It is especially good for language learners as you get a chance to speak with native speakers of the language and even non-language learners like using the service as it allows them to meet new people and can make the journey less mundane. Our driver set the meeting point as La Tri postal in Lille’s city centre and the journey took around an hour and a half from there. Once we arrived at the Bruxelles Midi  train station we brought travel passes for the day. Our immediate reaction was that it seemed to be a lot more expensive than Lille but then we were in a Capital city so I guess it was to be expected.

The first place we headed was to the famous La Grande Place which is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites.

The buildings were very gothic and my first initial feeling was that they seemed quite imposing . These huge buildings towered up above us on all sides and the whole place seemed very dark( I had to edit the pictures quite a bit). With that being said however the gold guilding on the buildings looked absolutely beautiful. There was plenty of cafes in the Grand Place, there’s even a Starbucks and a Hard Rock Cafe. I opted for the waffle from an independent shop and it did not disappoint. It was the best waffle I had ever eaten and I am not even a big waffle fan, it was crisp and buttery with the most sweetest strawberries, chocolate and cream. I wish I still had  the picture!

La Grande Place-Brussels

 

After La Grande Place we visited the Atomium which is like the Eiffel tower of Belgium. Inside the Atomium structure there’s also a museum I’m not sure whether the museum was worth it but we had a good time. There was a beautiful park nearby too which I would thoroughly recommend perfect for having a picnic.

 

 

 

Next we headed to La Serre Royale- (The Royal green houses). The queues can get very long so get here early if you can. There were large groups of tourists that came on buses and coaches when we were there so it was quite busy. You can get some nice photos here but I have to admit that it is probably more suited to an older, more mature public (I got a bit bored).

 

 

We also wanted to visit the European Parliament but ran out of time. We did manage to have a quick whizz through the city centre though and had a browse through a few shops.

 

Merveilleuses (on the left) and gaufres (on the right)- two specialities found in Belgium and also in Lille.

 

Visiting La Grande Mosquée de Paris

It’s nearing the end of my time here in France and I thought I’d take the opportunity to visit Paris one last time before I leave. I’ve visited Paris a couple of times now but I have never got round to visiting the beautiful Grande Mosquée de Paris so I was excited to be able to finally visit.

The first thing that struck me when I arrived were the armed police officers standing near the Mosque. Given the aftermath of the November 14th attacks I guess it was to be expected, but I really did not anticipate the amount of police presence there was going to be and in all honesty it was quite intimidating given the huge guns they were holding. But once I got over the initial shock, I found the police officers to be rather quite nice.

I arranged to have lunch with a friend in the restaurant next door before visiting the Mosque and once we had finished here’s what I got to see.

Making my way to La Grande Mosquée.

Right outside the Mosque!

 

Views from the Mosque Garden

Address: 2bis Place du Puits de l’Ermite, 75005 Paris, France