Tiago follows a stranger in Lyon...

A friend of mine (N) and I, started playing a game here in Lyon that is called "cap ou pa cap?" which translated into English means "are you game or not?" -  basically a dare game.

It was my time to complete my cap/dare, which was:
"Follow a complete stranger for a day, and do everything that that person does and go where they go - and then write a blog about it" - challenge accepted!!

Seems very odd (being a stalker basically!) following someone for a day, but it doesn't seem that hard to do right?
I just had to pick someone random, and follow that person, without them noticing me, or it would end pretty quickly and in jail...!

I felt that if the person was having an interesting and busy day, or did random things, it could really be an interesting experience.
It could also go the other way, I could pick someone that would go straight home and not leave until the next day.

I went to the Parc de la Tete D'Or, and after some people went by, a young (25-30 maybe) guy caught my eye and he seemed as good as anyone to be followed, so I decided to follow him.

Barely did I know that this guy really, really but really....loved to walk...and fast!!

Start: Parc de la Tete D'or - Porte des Enfants du Rhone

By the River Rhone on the way out...I was fresh here! He is far ahead, I always kept a long distance between us. 

1st stop: Public toilet

Then he walked...and walked...by the river Rhone, and into town. Just him and his backpack...and me!

He stopped to look at these plants

2nd stop: Cash machine

3rd stop: Terre des Livres - Bookstore (3 min)

4th stop: Librarie Rive Gauche - Bookstore (10 min)

Librarie Rive Gauche

After the book store he came back to where I was standing so I had to quickly improvise and get into a little Carrefour to hide..here he is.

- At 14h45 I changed sweatshirt as I believed he had seen me a couple of times, so I went from a grey sweatshirt to a blue one, and I also took my glasses off, felt so Clark Kent!

5th stop: He entered a store called Biocoop - a store that sells biologic and ecologic food products. He bought some fruit here and ate a very big fruit, not sure what it was.

- He saw me across the street at some point after this store, so I thought that was it, I couldn't continue following him. I decided to continue by increasing even more the distance to him, and became even more careful.

6th stop: After another long walk, we ended up in the Confluence Commercial Centre, where he went to the supermarket Carrefour and stayed there for 15 minutes. I did not go inside as I was worried about him noticing me once again.

After that he never stopped again. He just walked and walked, slight pauses just to decide which street to take but just relentless walking.





Finish: His home I assume.
Ironically it actually ended up right next to where I live!

The end. His home?

The first picture is from Strava and shows the distance and time done.
I walked 13.3 miles (21.4 Km) with him - WHAT?? Are you serious?
This guy walked even more than me, as I cycled to the Parc!!
The second one shows in detail the route we took.

I shared 4h of my life with this complete stranger, we walked around Lyon to the same places and he took all the decisions. It was very odd at times, but I went to places and streets I didn't know, and found it interesting and refreshing that someone else was deciding my next moves, without them knowing.

It wasn't always easy. I nearly lost him maybe 5 times, as I wanted to keep a big distance between me and him. Somehow I managed to keep up with him with some running, patience and my CIA skills.

I also managed to take some pictures along the way as it was a beautiful day.

River Rhone

Lyon "Eye" at Place Bellecour

A mural of the Major Claude Martin, a Lyonnais

Rhone

Conclusion: It was an odd experience and quite hard to do, as the guy really liked to walk and seemed to walk forever, but interesting nonetheless.

Who is he?
I believe he is a student as he lives next to the university, and maybe interested in ecology. He stopped one time to look closely at some plants (1st pic) and he seemed to look at some threes for a little while. He also entered a couple of biological stores.
He also entered a couple of book stores, so maybe a book lover. That's all I could take from what I saw.

House party in Lyon - how did I end up there?

Last Saturday I went to an awesome house party here in Lyon!
The theme of this party was Masquerade Ball - I wasn't able to buy a mask, so I brought a fancy hat I had from Halloween, and made my own mask from a cereal box...it was a poor attempt but I had a mask!
I met some really interesting and special people at this party, I spoke in French, Portuguese and English, drank a few glasses of red wine, ate quite a lot of food and also danced a lot.
The party started at 20.30 and the atmosphere was so awesome throughout the whole evening that it lasted until 6am!
C'etait super!

 

Afterwards, when I was cycling home at 6.30am, I started thinking about how random it was that I was invited to this party...and also how lucky I was because I really liked all the people I met there and realised that if it wasn't for certain situations and connections that happened since my arrival in Lyon, I wouldn't have been there, and wouldn't have met those people.
So, I decided I was going to write down the pathway that led me to be invited and to attend this party, and here I am doing this...

Before though, I'll make a few points just in case you are wondering:

- I am not religious
- I don't believe in reincarnation
- I don't believe in destiny
- I believe we make our own destiny (maybe I am slightly existentialist like Jean-Paul Sartre)
- I believe we can influence our own luck and randomness

The three important moments that happened, which resulted in me being at this house party were the following:

1. As most of you know, I moved to Lyon at the end of September and started learning French at Alliance Francaise in October. I could have picked any french school in Lyon and I could have started any month, but I decided to start in October...
In my class I met B, who became a close friend of mine. B, was only studying at Alliance for one month - October so, I think the odds of us being put together in the same class (morning class + A1N2 level) were low, but then made it possible for other connections and situations to happen afterwards.
Probability of meeting B: Medium to Low 5-10%

2. B and I then started to go to every possible party or soiree for students in Lyon and we met some great people in the process.
One evening we decided to go to a bar - the awesome Livestation DIY -  close to where B lives with other friends of ours. We tried to get into this bar before but it was always packed, the first time we managed to get a table there was this specific Thursday!
After some food and a few drinks, B spotted a gorgeous man (her own words) sat behind me.
We chatted with him for maybe 10 minutes but he had to leave...When he was just about to leave the bar, B asked me if I could go and get his phone number...so I did that...to his surprise! (he thought I was interested in him!).
B got in touch with him by text afterwards so that's how we randomly connected with D.
Probability of meeting D and staying in touch with him: Very low 0.25%

At Livestation with the gang! D was just behind me...

Jam Session at Livestation

3. For B's birthday later that month, we went to Livestation, for drinks and cake. She invited D, and he invited his housemate P.
We had one drink at the bar and then D and P very kindly asked us if we wanted to continue the birthday celebration at their place, which was just around the corner - we said "of course", so off we went.
Their house was really cool, spacious, high ceilings, nicely decorated, a really great place to live and to have friends over.
There we met the 3rd housemate Ce there, who joined us for the birthday celebration and some Brazilian singing, dancing and chatting.
We all really enjoyed the evening and I believe we got on really well with each other.
I then asked P to add me on Facebook just before I left and a few days after he invited me to this his house party with the theme Masquerade Ball. I accepted immediately and there I went...et voila!
Probability of meeting D again and P and being invited to their party: Medium: 15%

Probability of me being invited to this house party when I landed in Lyon: 0.001%

I do believe that we make our own luck and random moments. By this, I don't mean we do this conscientiously, however we can improve the probability of our own luck or randomness.
For example, if we keep doing the same things everyday and keep following the same routine, the probability of meeting someone knew or learning something new is very low.
Getting out of a routine, experiencing something new and getting out of our comfort zone even just once in a while, allows us to experience very random events which lead to often special moments and special people, enriching one's life.
Yes, cheesy but true, non?

Even though I don't believe in destiny, sometimes I find it weird and spooky - but truly fantastic, that I connect so strongly with some people. It sometimes feels like meeting certain people was always inevitable - even though often the events that allowed us to meet might have been the most random ever.

But the real moral of this story is: if your friend asks you to get a phone number from a random person, just do it no matter what - you might end up in an awesome house party a few weeks afterwards!!

PS: The above probabilities were calculated with a very robust software found on a poker website combined with my amazing maths skills learned from watching "Good will hunting".

The amazing Murals of Lyon

Lyon keeps surprising me - apart from the great gastronomy, nice people and beautiful city overall, it seems that Lyon is also one of the cities in the world with the most number of mural paintings (frescos)!

I had already come across a couple of these during my walks and bike rides around the city, however, I didn't have a clue that there were so many!!

Today was a bank holiday and it was sunny, so I decided to track some of the most famous ones and took a few pictures...

"Mur des Canuts"
The most famous mural in Lyon, and the the largest fresco in Europe covering 1200 m2!!
It's called a "trompe l'oeil" (= optical illusion) as everything you see on the wall is an illusion.
The first edition of this painting was done in 1987, and was updated in 1997 and 2013.

"Mur des Canuts"
Can you find Tiago?

"La Fresque des Lyonnais"
This one isn't as large (800 m2) as the Mur des Canuts. but it is as famous!
This mural represents 30 historical people from Lyon!

Where is Tiago again? Or should I say "Wally"?

The side of the mural with a few more historical characters from Lyon.

Le Musee Urbain Tony Garnier

I was then made aware of an outside museum made of 20 + murals/frescos in just one neighbourhood, called "Le Musee Urbain Tony Garnier". Tony Garnier was an urbanist avant garde and central figure in the architectural and social history of Lyon. These are truly incredible, I will post some of them in here, but better seen in person!

A little video

French clichés - true or false?

There are a lot of French cliches and stereotypes out there, and after spending two weeks in Lyon, I can address some of them already - this is my point of view d'accord?

They eat baguettes all the time - TRUE
Seriously, I see so many people on the tram, VeloV and on the street holding a baguette, its crazy. In the supermarket, the main available bread is baguette and all sorts of different types and sizes. Their baguettes taste really good so there is a reason for this craze.



Love cheese - TRUE
Well, I was shocked when I entered Carrefour and found just an aisle with cheese, a full long one. There were maybe 20 varieties of Camembert, maybe more...the variety is really insane just in a normal supermarket. It's even more on an outside market on a Saturday or Sunday morning. French people love to buy cheese and they really don't care how much it is, they know what type of cheese they like and that's it.

A small sample of the variety of cheese in a Market

Drink a lot of wine - TRUE
I am not a wine drinker, but because they drink it all the time, and its quite cheap in here, I started drinking it myself! In Lidl you can buy wine, and not the disgusting type, for €2-€3!! Of course if you have €5-10€ you can really buy some good wine in the supermarket! The variety is again huge, so its impossible not to find wine for all tastes!



They don't speak other languages - FALSE
So this one was one that I was a bit worried about. OK, older French people in some supermarkets, banks or administration jobs cannot speak other languages other than French, which actually is exactly what happens in the UK and Portugal for the same age group. However, I have met and talked with around 30-40 young people since I got here, and all of those could speak English and quite a few could also speak other languages such as Spanish, German and Portuguese!
I always make the effort to speak French, even though its really tough in some situations (such as in a bank), but they really are patient and sometimes to help me out explain it in English or Portuguese for my own sake! Smiling always helps too :)

They all dress well - TRUE 
OK this one is a generalisation of course but, yes most French men and women dress really well. I have been on trams, metro and on the street, and they have a great sense of style. They even look great riding a bicycle or a scooter.

They are slim and healthy - TRUE
Again, I wasn't sure about this one with all the cheese, bread and food they eat but it is true! I think I have seen only 1 overweight person!! This is a massive difference compared to what I see in the UK for example.
One of the reasons I believe, is that French people like to eat good food and not really keen on junk cheap food, its cultural! They eat a lot but well.
Another reason might be - if I compare it to the UK, is that the sweets/junk food in the supermarkets is actually advertised with massive discounts, or on the way in or out of the supermarkets, enticing the customers to buy those!
Another reason is that French people, at least in Lyon, are really sporty. So many people cycle to and from work using either there own bicycle or the VeloV, that its bound to make a difference. They run a lot too, and they tend to go to classes and be quite active.

They smoke a lot - TRUE
They do smoke quite a lot and they don't seem to care about second hand smoking! Not sure why this is the case, as would be interesting to know why in the majority of the countries the numbers of smokers is going down, and a country like France seems to be an outlier!

Burocracy is painful, slow and not efficient - TRUE
Going to a supermarket queue in the UK takes about 5 minutes maximum, even on a busy day - in a normal day in France, it can take up to 10-15 minutes.
The bank queues are also painful and it seems only one person is attending the customers. The phone stores such as ORANGE have the same issues- on day I was there, there was such a big queue that French customers were screaming complaining to the staff.

Their are cold, arrogant and not friendly - FALSE
I spoke a little about this one at the end of my previous blog, but had to mention it again.
I have met maybe 20-25 French men/women since I got here, and I don't remember one person being cold or not friendly with me. OK, I am aware that most times I am out socially, and French are known to be more friendly during their nights out, so maybe I have to wait until I work with French people to really see this.
I have made some really good French friends already, and I really like them. They aren't as outgoing/crazy as us Portuguese/Spanish, but there is no need, they are really friendly and great people.

Lyon - love at first sight?

I have now been in Lyon for a full week, so I decided to resume here what I did during this past 7 days and how I am finding living in France and specifically Lyon.

I guess the title says it all, I really really like Lyon and this week has been incredible for many reasons, which I mention now...

Lyon is truly beautiful

I knew it coming in that it was but, after spending the past 6 out of 7 days in sunny but cold Lyon, I now know first hand how truly beautiful this city is. Here are some photos as proof!

Vieux Lyon

Lyon Cathedral

Rhone Quay

The view from "La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere"

Family making it special

As you remember, the main reason I chose Lyon was being closer to my Portuguese/French cousins. They have really helped me settling in Lyon, either by going out with me to street markets, picnics by the river, celebrating my birthday, or taking me out for a picnic on a cabin in the woods with their best friends...I have truly been spoiled by them since I got here! 

My 31st birthday

Sunday street market 

Picnic by the river - fromage, du pain...cliche but..who cares?

Cabin where we had lunch and conversed outside - awesome

Lake in front of the cabin

My cousin and I in L'Aid with her friends

The French school
I also really like the school I am studying French for the next 3 months. I am aware that it has only been one week but the majority of the teachers are very enthusiastic and great at what they do, and my colleagues are great.
The nationality diversity is incredible, in the morning class, we have 12 different nationalities - Portuguese, Brazilian, Syrienne, Korean, Japanese, Mexican, Spanish, Greek, American, Chinese, Australian and Equatorian! In the afternoon we also have Italian, Colombia, Iran and Kuwait!
All of them with just one aim, to learn French, it is very inspiring.

The lessons are accessible for me (A1N2) and I hope in the next month or two, I can move up a level (A2), which would mean I would be making good progress.

Friends in Lyon
I have made some friends in Lyon - a Brazilian (yes I know typical!), an Englishman (yes, can't get rid of you guys!) both from the french school, and in the past few days I have met some awesome people, mainly French, which have made this week truly unforgettable.

Out in a Jazz bar 

Celebrating my birthday with wine by the River Rhone

Other friends made at the Jazz bar

Running and cycling in Lyon
Well, I haven't run as much as I want because I have been busy sorting stuff out, but I have done enough to tell you that Lyon is very sports friendly. People here are very active, either running or cycling, or even using scooters, which here are really common.

I have joined the VeloV, a self-service bike rental that everyone uses. It costs €25/year and then the first 30 minutes of usage are free, and 0.75€ for the first additional 30min over those free 30min. I live far (3miles) from school and the city centre, and it takes me 30min to cycle, so this is perfect - no need to pay for public transport.

Parc de la tete D'Or

Running by the river in the morning is fantastic!

Running at night brings some surprises too!

Parc de la tete D'Or

Scooters - so many people use them

VeloV - the public bike that everyone uses

My "home"
So, for some of you wondering where I am staying at the moment, here it is. I am living in a student accommodation for the duration of my French language school (3 months). I only share the kitchen, which is a bonus as I don't have to wait for toilet or showers, but the room doesn't have much room to fit clothes or my things, apart from that, pas de problem!

The French and the french

Regarding my french, I am pleasantly surprised that I can manage to speak the basics!! 

I can hold a very basic conversation with a French person on what I do, why I came to Lyon, what I did before, what I want to do, what I like, etc etc..and I can also ask basic questions to them. I understand more than I speak but when they go quickly or talk about a topic I'm not used to, I have no chance! 

It is frustrating not being able to speak/hear to my full potential - compared to Portuguese/English, but I thought it would be even worse! I know I am impatient and it can be tough, but I know this is a slow and long process and I am embracing it. I am going to as many events as I can and I am trying to speak French at every occasion, so it can only get better...right?

As for the French people...either I have been very lucky, or people are wrong when categorising the French as cold and arrogant! I have met quite a few French people this past week, and seriously they have all been fantastic! Very interesting, they usual speak several languages, and are really friendly.
I only had a couple of cases of rudeness at an insurance office and at my accommodation office, but with one of them, I explained my point, smiled, and everything was fine straight away and we are know in great spirits with each other!

Summary:

I want to say I am in love with Lyon...because I am...however, I can't love Lyon just after 1 week right? It's a bit like a love relationship in the initial stages...Let's say that I am infatuated by Lyon, I am passionate about it, but I believe these feelings will naturally turn into love in the next few months!

I will leave you with a French saying that really speaks to me and to this experience in Lyon.
"Croquer la vie a pleines dents!" 
(loosely meaning, take chances in life/enjoy life to the fullest without worrying about risks)