October 30th

I'm always the late one. Today I skipped breakfast due to the fact that I overslept and was slow at becoming ready for the day. Damnit. Kate was none too pleased about this, she's pretty punctual, and the most I could do for being about eight minutes behind schedule was to not allow myself the included breakfast. Good thing I like pain au chocolat so much, every bakery has them even ones in indoor French markets. Finding our way there was a lot of fun. By a lot of fun, I mean a pain in the ass. By a pain in the ass, I mean I was the navigator. Damn again. The route to the market required the metro, the tram, and the bus. We were really using the Lyon public transport system, which I must say is very good. Once we were at the indoor market, everything was fine. It was such a simple but clever concept. All of us seemed to enjoy the market, they literally had everything there from a fresh produce area to skinned rabbits with the heads still attached. France, I just don't understand the concept of eating a cute harmless little creature like a bunny. Sure it's meat, so are dogs, cats, and people. Doesn't mean I'd eat them! Ahem, I needed to express that discomfort, now back to the market. Everyone nabbed some produce, I grabbed an apple and some blackberries, and a few of us even bought some baguettes to share. Before we left we all had a little coffee just to wake us up, only a smidge. It was so strange for me to be eating with a random group of kids that I had just met, and yet it wasn't weird at all. It was as if we had been friends for months, even though in reality it had only been a few hours. After all of us had finished our coffee, we set out for the park. Now this park was special for within its tall gates there was a free zoo where wild deer and emus were held in captivity. Ok so the zoo wasn't that great, still the animals were cute. The five of us sat on a bench and ate our market goodies in the crisp sunshine. Autumn is a beautiful season; the cool air, the taste of winter, and the colors of leaves all make it stunning. Afterwards we decided to explore the older areas of Lyon where the fabled alley ways, traboules, were located. We found a few, and some sweet graffiti walls along the way of our aimless route. In the end we returned to the hostel exhausted from exploring the city, but not too tired to make dinner. Everyone pitched in and some delicious spaghetti was served. Spaghetti isn't my favorite, but ever since I've been in France I've discovered that I actually like a lot of American food that I hated before. For instance orange juice, it used to always be too acidic for me but now it's my bread and butter at breakfast. That's another thing, breakfast, I actually eat it. Due to my night owl lifestyle I often eat very late and skip breakfast in the morning for two reasons; first off I'm not hungry if I've had a bowl of oatmeal at two in the morning, and second eating before nine AM tends to make my stomach turn upside down. But in France, when you never know what your next meal will be, breakfast is necessary to make it through the day. When I return home I have a feeling that I will be more American than when I left. Funny how it takes another culture and menu to show one that.