September 23, 2009

So after having Guillaume explain to me how to go from his place to the Gare Part-Dieu (train station), I set off all by myself for the first time in Lyon. I wasn’t scared but just a little nervous. I took the Metro B to Part Dieu and then had to walk a good 5 minutes to finally get to the train station. As I took the escalators up, I was shocked to see how big the train station was and how many people were running in and out of it. I had never seen a train station so busy in my life! Not even in Paris!

I was already running a little late since I was supposed to be back in Lyon by 6pm. I got to the train station at 9:50 and figured it would take me at least 30 minutes to get to Villefranche. I get in line and pick up one of the schedules from the information racks. I notice that there is a train leaving at 10:22. I look for a clock and it’s 10. I was a little stressed because the line was pretty long and not moving fast.

I finally got to the window and bought my ticket aller-retour (round trip). But, the ticket that I ended up buying was for a bus since that was the only option at the time. By the time I had my ticket in hand I had to run to find where I had to get on the bus. I found it right away and got on. Thank goodness I made it just in time. I think the bus was only there for about another 2 minutes before it closed the door and started moving. That’s also when I finally noticed that the bus ride would be an hour – twice as long as I had anticipated. Oh, well.

The bus ride wasn’t bad at all. I liked taking the bus because I was able to see what is between the big city of Lyon and Villefranche-sur-Saône. The bus went all along the Saône (one of the two big rivers that cross Lyon). Seeing the forest and all the little towns along the way was very relaxing.

Once I got to Villefranche I started my adventure immediately. I guess adventure would not be the best way to describe it since I had a lot of stuff to take care of in a short amount of time. It was 11:20 and I knew that I would have to hurry and get as much done as I could before noon. Everything closed between noon and 2pm. So, I walk into a sandwich shop, buy some food and then ask where the closest “agence immobilier” (housing agency) is. The woman in the shop points outside and shows me the agency across the street. I go in and ask for a studio or one bedroom apartment, but with no luck. I left Guillaume’s number since I didn’t have a cell phone yet. Then, it was noon so I had nothing else to do but wait until the other agency reopened.

While I waited, I just decided to walk around and check out the town since I figured that it wouldn’t hurt considering that I plan on living there. The town is small but pretty busy. There were people walking all over the Rue Nationale – the main street in Villefranche. From what I had seen on Google maps, I thought the town was pretty big. But, it actually took about 30 minutes to walk around the main areas. I’m sure there was a lot more that I didn’t see, but I have a pretty good idea of how the town is divided.

So after waiting for an hour or so, I finally walk into the agency and ask about the apartments that I had seen online. It was too late. They had already been taken. So, I asked if there were anymore available and fortunately yes. I was a little confused because I thought that someone would go with me to show me the apartments but instead, I left my passport and they gave me the keys for 5 different apartments. I had to go to each one by myself.

It was actually pretty scary. The first apartment was all the way at the top of a small 3-story building – the scary part was that the stairs sounded like they were ready to give out. So that one was a definite no. By the end, I had gone to 5 apartments of which 2 were ok – just ok. I was a little bummed but I knew that I couldn’t give up.

Once I was done with that I went to a cell phone store and asked about prepaid phones. And, they are not cheap! In France, you get charged about 50 centimes for each minute and 10 centimes for each “sms/texto”. I knew it was going to be expensive but I didn’t have a much of a choice since I needed one for work and to get in contact with people. I paid 79 euros and walked out with a phone and 40 euros of credit. Turns out it wasn’t such a bad deal because now anyone who wants to call me from the States can and I don’t lose any credit. But, I don’t know how expensive it will be for my parents for example.

Overall it was a pretty good day because I was able to go around Lyon and finally see Villefranche in person.