Un Séjour à Lyon

“Séjour” is one of those beautiful French words that doesn’t really have a direct translation to English. Google Translate comes up with “stay” and “visit” as its possible English counterparts. So, for all of you non-French speakers, “Un Séjour à Lyon” roughly translates to: “A Stay in Lyon”, or “A Visit to Lyon”. But to me, “séjour” connotes more than just a simple visit or stay somewhere. To me, there’s something almost magical about a “séjour”…

I was only in Lyon for about 24 hours; that’s why I find “séjour” to be more appropriate than “trip” or “vacation”. I stayed with a family friend who had been studying at the university in Lyon. The first night, we wandered around the city before taking the Funicular up the large hill to reach the upper half of the city.

The Medieval Town of Zons

After almost a month in Europe, I am now home! About halfway through my trip, I realized that blogging while I was traveling was slowing me down a little bit, and it was hard to find time (and wifi connection) to put together posts. But now that I’m home, I’m planning on sorting through photos of my trip and working on posts for the next few weeks! I think it will actually be a good way to reflect and reminisce on my trip, starting where I left off: Germany!

On my last day in Germany, we took a drive to the small medieval town of Zons. It was one of the few medieval towns in the region to survive WWII (I’m sensing a theme of “famous places that survived WWII” as I’m writing about my time in Europe). It was a very, very tourist-y town, but beautiful nonetheless.

Just Outside of Cologne…

During my time in Germany, I stayed in the suburbs of Cologne. You would think the suburbs would be extremely boring. But in the case of German suburbs, nope. On the outskirts of the town there was a beautiful large field and a forest. With land like this, you would think this small town was an hour or so outside of the city, in the countryside, but in fact, it bordered Cologne. It was crazy that there was so much countryside just outside of the city. 

Out and About in Cologne, Germany

I have spent the past week in a small suburb of Cologne, Germany. Cologne is a very unique city. Apparently it was one of the only large German cities that wasn’t completely destroyed in WWII, so a lot of old architecture remains, especially in the Old Town. However, despite the old buildings, Cologne is a very modern, progressive city. In fact, it is one of Germany’s most eco-friendly and LGBT-friendly cities.

Cologne’s most famous sight is the Cologne Cathedral. It is a beautiful cathedral with intricate designs covering its exterior, and stained-glass windows and a sky-high chapel on the inside. I climbed up the 509 steps to reach the lookout point high up in the cathedral that gives you a sprawling view of all of Cologne.

A Night in Metz, France

The city of Luxembourg, although the largest city in the country of Luxembourg, is quite small compared to other state capitols such as Rome or Paris. A day and a half was quite enough time to see the big sights and do a little wandering, so the second night, we drove down to Metz, a city in North-Eastern France, only a 45 minute drive from Luxembourg.

The Many Layers of Luxembourg

Saying a city has layers could be taken to mean many different things. Take Luxembourg for example. You could say its culture has layers since the people of the city speak French, German, Luxembourgish and even Portuguese. Or you could say that its landscape has layers since the neighborhoods of Luxembourg blend seamlessly from a commercial business district with shops and bustling traffic to a quieter centre ville (city center) with cobblestone roads and an energetic restaurant scene, and finally to the vielle ville (old town), a quiet residential area with stunning old buildings and churches.

A Glimpse of Luxembourg

Yesterday I made it to Luxembourg around noon. I spent most of the afternoon wandering the streets and taking photos, I even stopped in to get an ice cream. The city completely blew me away with its beautiful architecture, parks and trees, and especially the bridge overlooking the “vielle ville” (old town) situated in a valley covered in forests that sits lower than the town.

My little exploration yesterday was 100% unplanned, I had no map or guide with me, but I found some incredible sights. Sometimes spontaneity is best.

5 Natural Wonders of the US in Honor of Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! Today is a day to celebrate the earth and promote eco-friendliness. I like to think that every time we visit a national or state park, we are contributing to the preservation of the earth, even if only just a little bit. The US has no lack of parks protecting its natural wonders, and it’s pretty incredible how diverse these parks are in terms of land forms and climates. From lakes to mountains, grassland to deserts, oceans and forests, the US park system has it all.

8 Reasons to Re-Think Texas

Texas? Oh, you mean the big southern state with cacti and cowboys and Ted Cruz? Well yes, but as I recently discovered on a trip down there this month, Texas so is much more than that. It’s a state like no other.

When I told people I was going to Texas for spring break, they were a little taken aback. Most people don’t realize what a wonderful travel destination Texas is. I didn’t realize it until I started researching this trip. Wonderful things about Texas started to pop out at me on travel

Deep Sea Fishing on the Gulf

Port Aransas is right on the Gulf of Mexico, making a great location for deep sea fishing. We spent a misty day on a fishing boat, floating on the Gulf and casting our lines out into the sea, hoping for a lucky catch. The view off the boat was beautiful. The fog stretched off into the distance, covering the vast ocean.