Wine Tasting, Hikes and Museums!

It has been a few days since I have blogged, and so much has happened! I know I've only been in Lyon for a 10 days now, but I feel like I'm becoming quite familiar with my surroundings and the people in the city. It does help that my french classes are for about 6 hours everyday, which means I'm learning a LOT! I can actually go into stores and request certain things that I would like!

In the past few days I have done some very interesting activities; on Saturday, July 7th, I went to the French country-side on a wine tasting trip with the other Northeastern students. We visited two vineyards and went wine tasting at a third destination. It was definitely a new experience for me, seeing as I don't appreciate wine at all, haha.

This past Sunday, July 8th, a few friends and I decided to hike from our residence, which is by the fleuve (river) Rhone all the way to Vieux de Lyon (which is a very, VERY steep hike). It was warmer than I thought possible, which made the hike a lot more difficult, but we still made it to the top...in about an hour. The view from the top of the hill is just so amazing that it definitely made all the heat, sweating and steep climb worth it. 

On Friday, 4th of July and today, I went to a Museum of Photography, and a Museum of Miniatures. Both museums were quite interesting. At the museum of photography we were able to see how people took pictures, and what the cameras looked like a long time ago. It was very interesting! In the museum of miniatures there were various interesting things. Some sections of the museum consisted of solely artifacts or props from famous movies such as Star Trek, Harry Potter, etc, while other sections were actually miniature sets for movies or just the artists' interest. I didn't think the museum of miniatures would be as interesting as it was. 

In the coming weeks I will be visting various cities by Lyon and in France, so please continue visiting my blog for an interesting read by a curious Northeastern Junior :). 

On July 2nd, we were treated to a dinner that was paid for by Northeastern (actually us since we paid a ridiculous amount of money to be on this dialogue). It was a fancy restaurant and it was nice to eat together a group of students...all 22 of us. 

We were such a large group that the waiter had to take a picture of all of us in two parts, haha.

On July 6th we went to the Museum of Photography. At the museum of Photography, we had the opportunity of being exposed to camera's that were used hundreds of years ago. This is the type of stuff I only saw in movies, so I was very excited!

I found this camera particularly interested. I believe it was used in the 1800s. I didn't have the opportunity to take pictures of many of the cameras since we were such a large group, and every one had to take a look at the exhibitions. 

For me, this is just the best. This is the first "photoshopped" picture ever recorded. It certainly did not make this person look better, LOL!

On Saturday, June 7th, we went on a wine-tasting trip based in the French country-side! This was the first vineyard we visited, Beaujolais.

The grape vines in Beaujolais were so small, but the view was breath-taking.

I could not get over how perfect the view was from the top of the hill.

It's so green you would think it was fake!

Still surreal that I got to see this! I definitely recommend visting this vineyard if you decide to visit Lyon in the near future.

This is a well-known windmill in Beaujolais that stands at the top of the hill over-looking the grape vine fields.

We then went to another vineyard, Fleurie, known for it's more "feminine" tasting wines. 

The women offered to give us free wine to taste. Unfortunately, I was not a fan of the wine though it was considered to be "very good quality".

This was the view at the top of Brouilly. Can't even believe I was there!

Me! With Brouilly in the background :).

On Sunday, July 10th, a few of us decided to go on a hike that was much harder than I ever imagined!! It is possible to go to the top by tram, but we were curious as to how long and how much effort it would take to get to the top of the hill.

There were literally never-ending stairs, haha.

The amazing view close to the top of Vieux de Lyon - that is the incredibly tall Radisson Blu Hotel tower.

We weren't quite at the top yet, but this was the view. I might just be in love with Lyon... can you blame me?

Almost at the top!! Only a few more stairs haha.

Finally made it; totally worth it! - Vieux de Lyon

I was so excited I made it to the top; this is the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere. It is absolutely HUGE and gorgeous. It is a church that stands at the top of the hill. I have previously referred to it as the "Upside-down elephant", LOL.

At the museum of miniatures: these may look like regular sized couches, but they were actually incredibly small. I'm still amazed at how people do this!

The cutest little miniature restaurant :)! The amount of detail is unbelievable.

A miniature market...

Miniature shoes! Of course there had to be an exhibit for them!

This is by far the cutest miniature display...lingerie!

I'm totally basing my first real apartment off of this display...

If this were put to scale, each student in the picture would be smaller than your thumb (unless you're a baby, it would be approximately the same size, but I doubt you are if you're reading this...)

There were actually artists on the top floor of the museum working on more displays. Quite interesting how focused they are.

A friend and I decided to be tourists and take a picture in the sign for Lyon by the museum of miniature.