Day 24

Only 3 days left in Lyon before I start the journey west (cue "Into the West" by Annie Lenox from the Return of the King soundtrack). Today was a pretty fun day of classes starting at 9 with Dr. Kiley's class ending at 12, then only a 2 hour afternoon session of French. After class I decided I haven't had enough French pastries since I have been here, so I stopped by the bakery next door and bought a tarte praline for dessert tonight.

Shortly after returning to my room, the Facebook group message announced that a group would be going shopping in Bellecour so I figured I would join despite my all day shopping outing there the day before. I could always use the exercise and the social interaction. So I joined Maggie, Olivia, Harley, Kellie, Joel, and Harrison and went shopping. I requested a stop first at the Body Shoppe because I have been in desperate need of some decent hand lotion since I arrived. We then browsed through Zara, Mango, Printemps, and some other stores before heading back towards the metro.

On the way, we saw some more leftovers form the Rose Festival, the fountain (from one of my previous posts covered in roses). Every so often we would get a waft of rose smell, which smelled lovely, but I commented that it smelled like an artificial rose scent. After a closer look we determined that the roses weren't real, a big disappointment for everyone, but we couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from.

The group decided they wanted to get "the best burgers ever" for dinner at the Belgian fry shop. I decided to skip the burger and got an ice cream instead from my favorite gelato/ice cream shop. Toady's selection was dark chocolate and Madeleine cookie. The dark chocolate tasted like pure cocoa powder in ice cream form (in a good way) but the Madeleine cookie was my favorite flavor of the day because it tasted just like a Madeleine cookie!

I sat with the group in the park next to the Lyon Cathedral as they ate their meal. They gave me the extra fries in the bag as there was at least 3 potatoes worth! After they finished eating the rest of the group got their ice cream and we headed back towards the apartments. The rest of the girls in the group headed to Monoprix for some things they would need for the next few days and I headed back to my room for a pre-dinner nap. Well, that's about all the important stuff from today. I can't believe my time here is almost over!

Tarte Praline