Lyon, France
Saturday, November 18, 2006
I took the TGV or train à grande vitesse, and two hours later I was in
Lyon to visit Tomaso, the fellow I met in
Venice. He hadn't been feeling well, but was better during my visit. Because of the high speed train, many people live in
Lyon, where it's cheaper, and work in
Paris. It was warmer than Paris when I arrived, but boy oh boy was it windy. Tomaso met me at the train station and after dropping my stuff off at his apartment, he gave me a walking tour of the main part of the city. Some parts reminded me of Paris, others of Rome and Prague. It's famous for its silk workshops and the narrow passageways called traboules. They pass through buildings and link the streets and have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Tomaso joked about giving me the alternative tour because we stopped at three different libraries. We ended up at a library in the to hook up with his roommate, Claudio... he works there and to see a couple of short films by Luc Moullet. They were different kinds of documentaries..
. one was about Moullet trying to open a bottle of Coca Cola. Another about supermarkets and the religion of consumption and the last one poked fun at the America, and the city of Des Moines. Tomaso then cooked a late, but great dinner... he's into healthy food as well. I told him and Claudio about
Vancouver and Canada... and now they want to move there. But everyday, Tomaso talks about visiting and moving somewhere different. The next day it was more of seeing the city. A late start because Tomaso is lazy and doesn't leave his home before noon. Another great dinner prepared by Tomaso, a vegan vegetable tart, and more talk about Canada and how badly Tomaso and Claudio want to leave France. Except for the wind, the weather was good during my brief stay and luckily the rain held off until the day of my departure. And then it was back on the TGV headed for
Paris.
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