work, more work in the midst of bastille day and more

Had I not been in France/Geneva this summer, I would probably have forgotten about Bastille day due to my hectic schedule. Luckily, it's impossible to forget because there's reminders about this national holiday everywhere. I spent most of the weekend trying to finish those darn modules for the online CTBTO course and packing.

Like everywhere else in France, Lyon had its own celebration paired with a parade (minus the French president) and fireworks at Fourvière around 22h30. Having arrived in Lyon in the afternoon with my generous French family picking me up at the train station, we made our way to see the fireworks along with all the other Lyonnais. I do like fireworks, but I prefer to see them from a distance, unlike this time where we were literally right under it. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Voici some pictures from that glorious night:

I was going planning to pop in at work on Monday, but with the combination of my friend's second son , J., leaving for Australia and the youngest one popping over to Grenoble for a week, I decided to take the short road trip with the three of them to Grenoble, having never been there. I've now decided that Grenoble is only beautiful with the mountains. Had it not been for the mountains surrounding the city, nothing in Grenoble would have been attractive to me. In any case, I got meet 2 of my friend's nephews who were so cute, babbling away in French. I asked the almost 3-year-old boy if he wanted to come back to the States with me, and he was like "Yeah! I'll go without any luggages or passport!" And clung to me for the rest of the way down the stairs. Too. Cute.

J was so excited for his trip that he was bouncing off the walls and made us get to the airport 4 HOURS early. We ended up lounging around in the airport and taking brief walks around the small Saint Exupery airport. When he went through security, we lounged in a small corner of the airport watching his plane take off. We could just imagine the grin on his face as the plane took off. I highly doubt he'll sleep on the plane.

J's plane parked 

Getting ready for take off!

Finally, need I to say more about why I'm so in love with Lyon? The half-moon in the background made for the perfect picture

We didn't get home until 22h30, while blasting U2 music all the way. What. A. Day. So worth it, of course. And of course, I had work today, woke up at 5h15 to catch the train at 6h30. Again, so worth it. By the end of the summer, I'll have gained more experience, published something (hopefully), improved my French (a lot), be more fit (from the running, of course), dressed more chic, and learned to cook amazing yet simple French food. And dream away. Because dreaming is how I got to where I am today.

This should have been a Monday post done on Tuesday. Anyhow, Bonne semaine, tout le monde!