Christmas in France: Lyon (Day 1)

That morning we supposedly took taxi from home to the train station, but the taxi is so late AND impatient at the same time, he ditched us. Because of that we missed our booked bus ticket to Lyon for 10.00am. So we have to opted for train at 11.22am which costs more (€16.90). The train took about 1 hour 30 minutes to reach Lyon Perrache with train change at La Verpilliere. Love their train. So spacious and comfortable.

Arrived at Lyon Perrache, we took a tram to meet our Airbnb host. It was a bit complicated because of the language but we managed to understand the tram and train line. The house is located at 8th Arrondissement area (Coordinate 45°43'30.5"N 4°52'40.7E"E). I love the place. There was a bit of confusion about time of meeting with landlord's brother but it's fine. You can check them out here https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/4487859

We spent an hour resting at home. Since my fiance is only can walk with crutches on, me and her sister went out around Lyon City Centre.

We walked from home to the tram station, heading to city centre. Not so sure where we stopped I think around Lafayette area but somehow we walked from there to the nearby river where there is a huge EURO 2016 sign. There is also number of bicycles that can be rented. The rate is cheap, around €1.50 per day, but the deposit is too expensive, around €200 if anything happens. There's also UNESCO World Heritage site across the river. We didn't go there because the place is huge and it may take time to go around the place. But you should!

Nothing much, just walk around the city. When we were going back to the tram station we felt that someone was trying to follow us so I immediately let fiance's sister know to be careful of the belongings. We wanted to get walk past them but we eventually crossed the street and entered a shop, just in case if they really following us. We bought some eggs and salmon for tomorrow's breakfast.

At the end of the day we went back at night, bought dinner nearby the house for three of us. Then we called it a day.

To be continued...

Christmas in France: Noble Grenoble (Day 1)

As you are aware in my another blog I am currently in the UK for my postgraduate study! Other than studies I've got an opportunity to travel around this part of the continent as well.

My first destination is Grenoble, France. Why Grenoble? Because why not! France don't only have Paris, they have other cities as well so yeah. My fiance's sister has a friend in this city. We took advantage of this situation (read: free accommodation).

Our trip started from London Stanstead airport at 0625 in the morning. Traveling with Ryan Air flight FR2138, the ticket was priced at £10 for one trip. The flight took about 1 hour 45 minutes to reach Aéroport de Grenoble–Isère (Lyon GNB). We reached there at 0915 hours local time. The airport is kind of new and looks like a temporary one. It's a small airport. The weather was cold but sunny!

From the airport we took a bus to Grenoble for €9 per person. It's just right at the exit of the arrival hall. The journey took about an hour. It will take you to the Gare de Grenoble, which is a main hub for public transportation like bus/ train/ tram station. There also have a McDonald's restaurant. Since we were hungry we ate McD.

We took a tram ride to an acquaintance house nearby Stade des Alpes. The tram ride will costs €1,50 per one hour trip. It doesn't care which destinations you are going. (Different from Malaysia which priced at different rate per km). We arrived at our friend's place. Put our bag, chit chat for awhile, and off to explore Grenoble!

We chose not to use tram to get to the cable car hill which at the time we didn't know what was the name of the hill. So we walked through the city and see interesting things. After awhile we arrived at the cable car which will transport you to the Fort de la Bastille. The price for the student is €5,80 per person return. You can also buy one way ticket if you decided to walk down or hiking up the hill. The cable car journey didn't take too long, only around 10-15 minutes per trip.

From the Fort de la Bastille you can see the whole city of Grenoble and I'm not even joking it's beautiful. There were a lot of people there chilling out, walk with their dogs, take pictures and exercising.. There are also some restaurant on the hill. We decided to hike up to top of the hill which apparently have a national memorial.

We were there for 3 hours! Because of the hiking back and forth then to the top of hill and appreciating the nature, since we haven't got to explore nature in a quite while.

We went down from the hill together with the sun. We were hungry and found a halal shop nearby. Whatever that was, it was delicious. Something like pita with chicken that we have in Malaysia but the sauce is much more delicious.

Then we walked through the city at night. There were some last minute Christmas shopping around the city so we avoid that. But we saw three girls age around 10-13 years old smoking openly in public. In between crowd. We were shocked. Haha.

Later we arrived at acquaintance's house. Had a Malaysian kind of dinner. (Thinking about it make me hungry). After the dinner we had a shower and sleep because next day is skiing day!

To be continued...