After my night in Valence I headed straight back to Davézieux, looking forward to a chance to rest up, maybe take a much needed nap. Unfortunately, I totally forgot that I had a lunch date with the teachers of Vissenty, so after stowing away my overnight stuff I hopped on my bike and rode down to the school to carpool out to the restaurant with my coworkers. No nap.
We went to this sortof classy place in Annonay, where I think everybody but one person ordered the salmon (a very popular item throughout all the restaurants I would dare say). About halfway through the meal I thought it would be nice if I anonymously picked up the tab, to the point where I started getting nervous. It was kind of weird. It's not like I don't do nice things for people and then I was getting nervous to do it for the first time or anything like that, but for some reason I was feeling…tingly.
So as soon and as discretely as I could I got up to 'look for the bathroom,' found the waitress and asked to pay for the bill. In my haste I forgot to mention that I didn't want the others to know, so when I headed back to the table and someone asked for the check, the waitress just told them I had just paid for it. I was so embarrassed! My coworkers gave me a hard time about it, which made me feel worse, but I really wanted to do something nice for them all as a thank you for being so welcoming, helpful and friendly towards me so I pretty much begged them to let it go haha. Tingly feeling gone.
They were really appreciative, but I could tell they were still a little…not bothered, but maybe just thought it was too much for me to take, so I wasn't surprised when, the following week, they all pitched in to get me a gift card to Intersport (a big sporting goods store). It was really nice of them, but I'm still kicking myself for botching project Anonymous Amiable American.
After lunch, I biked back home and probably played guitar or xbox at home until I had to head back to the school to meet up with the boys I babysit. Their mom was there, which I wasn't expecting since I was under the impression that I would just walk the kids home, but I guess she wanted to meet me and talk with me a little bit before she took off for work, which makes sense. After making me feel even more comfortable in their house than I had been before by telling me her home was mine, she left me with the boys for the next couple hours.
I had made copies of some Christmas flash cards that I thought we could go over for our English lesson for the day, and after we went over all of them the boys brought me into the living room to play this game on their TV, which was actually pretty fun. They think I am a legend because I helped them beat a few levels of their game haha, I love it. I could play older brother forever! And get paid for it? In France?! Life complete.
After their mom came back, I biked back home and got ready for the big night in Lyon. The city of lights! We had been planning the trip for a while, and I was really excited. I had watched videos, heard people talk about it, seen pictures - I was ready to see it with mine own eyes!
Side note - do you know why they have the Illuminations? Not even a lot people in France know much about it, it's pretty much just the Rhône Alps region that puts on the show, and even more specifically Lyon. Anyway, if understood correctly, either in the Medieval Times or around then there was a plague that swept through Lyon, and the people all gathered at the top of one of the mountains and prayed to the Virgin Mary to save everybody, and the plague miraculously ended! 
Since then they've given thanks to her by lighting up candles and putting them on their windowsills, and obviously it evolved from that. They still have a big "Merci Mary" sign lit up at the bastille up on the mountain where they gathered hundreds of years ago. The end! 
So, Alex, Guillemette, and I met up at my house and we were off. An hour and a half or so later we rolled into town, along with about 2 million other people. I think the greatest blessing of the day was that as we were circling around looking for parking, someone pulled out of their spot just in front of a hotel, so we parked there and the hotel attendant said that normally you had to be a customer to park there but for that night only we were allowed to stay there. 
It was right next to a train station, so it would be really easy to find on our back, Plus, Guillemette had done some of her studies in Lyon, so she knew her way around really well. We walked maybe a mile tops to get into the center of town, where it seemed the rest of the world was also gathered in celebration. We walked around and admired some of the different set ups of lights and shops they had set up, and then met up with Océane and her friend to look at some other stuff. Like McDonald's! Just kidding…we were hungry, so we stopped there to eat. 
After we were done ordering we split up with Océane and her friend to go see one of the coolest shows that night, which was this building that was all lit up on the side where the lights played out a pinball scene. The windows lit up, the gargoyles 'moved,' the doors and the pillars were a part of the game, it was really impressive! I think I have a video if no pictures...
We met up with more of our friends, Ana (from St. Ètienne) and her friend, where we saw a bunch of lit up eyes. I didn't get it, but it was cool haha.
It wasn't longer after meeting up that we said bye to them, and went to go watch this big show that played on the side of several buildings surrounding a plaza, which was really cool except for the music which was actually kind of annoying haha. I only have a video of it I think, so if you wanna know more about it you'll have to meet up with me in person!
We didn't get to stay for long because both Alex and Guillemette had to get up early the next morning to work, so we left around midnight after having been there for 2 hours or so. On our way out of town Alex and I stopped for a crêpe, where we happened to run into Océane again! We chatted a little while before continuing on.
The car ride home was pretty quite, we were are really tired and ready to be home, where we rolled in around 1:30-2. Friday and the rest of the weekend still had a lot in store in for me though! Things don't ever really settle down for me haha, but I'm thankful for that. How much would it suck if I just sat around all day? I love my friends and their nonstop partying.
My Beats (by Dre.) came in the morning after the Illuminations, and I was in love at first…listen. I put on Cinema (Skrillex remix) and literally teared up when the bass dropped. These headphones are like nothing I've ever experienced. I pick up different sounds and instruments that I've never heard in certain songs before. Not to mention the noise canceling feature is truly a lifesaver…
I plugged in and listened to music all Friday and worked on my blog (from weeks before) until that night when I got a text from Thibaut inviting me to go out to pizza with him and Alex. We went to this little restaurant in Annonay that sells really good pizzas for like 5€, and you can rip off a ticket from the box and collect them to get free pizza!
Have I talked much about the pizza here? It's not normal. They make pizza out of everything, and it's superb. Potatoes, ravioli, salmon, you name it. I got a pizza made with kebab meat.
Have I talked much about kebabs here? It's a sandwich that is typically made from a big slab of lamb that has been cooked rotisserie style for hours that they hack off and throw in between bread and it's most delicious. Here's the thing. In some cities, there is a kebab shop literally 5 stores away from another one. Down the whole street. You could walk around town and cross 50 kebab shops, not even exaggerating! They're 99% all run by Turks. That's right! There's a surprising amount of Turkish people here. I just typed in Valence Kebab in Google Maps and it came up with 1,039 results. No joke.
Anyway, the kebab pizza I ordered was delicious. I ate the whole thing :( I'm not gaining weight either, I've just been blessed with a metabolism equivalent to that of a Ferrari engine.
We said our au revoirs, but had plans to meet up again for two parties the next day so it wasn't a tearful goodbye.
I didn't have plans the next day and was ready to work more on my blog until our first party on Saturday night, but I got a text from Guillemette inviting me to visit her best friend in St. Vallier and then to go do some window shopping in Valence. I've been trying to say yes to every invitation, and that was no exception. An hour or two after waking up (around noon probably), I was in the car with my friend on our way to see her friend and her adorable three month old French Pitbull.
We all had lunch together before heading out to Valence. My goal was to eventually get to the Foot Locker so I could snag those sweet Adidas I had seen in St. Étienne, but I would have to wait while the girls checked out the Sephora (perfume/cologne) and FNAC (a Best Buy of sorts). While we were in the FNAC it pleased me to see my Beats (by Dre.) hanging on the wall for a mere 299€! Did I mention I got them for 120€. French Ebay. Love it.
Anyway, eventually we got to the Foot Locker, and I saw the shoes. That's when one of my infamous Casey Garland qualities came out, and real strong too. I immediately didn't want them anymore. I had spent at least an hour on the internet looking them up on Ebay, the Adidas website, all over. Now, I would love to have them. But for some reason sometimes when I get really into something that's kinda costly and finally arrive at the store to buy it, I back down 9 times out of 10. I can't imagine how much money I've saved by doing that. The end of the story is that I didn't buy the shoes and I don't regret it.
I had to be in St. Victor earlyish for Alex and Thibaut's friend Justine's birthday party, so I said ciao to Guillemette and company and caught a train up to Tournon where I would meet up with Thibaut and he would take me to St. Victor, where would we would wait for Alex to get done with work and meet us.
I can't remember what time we headed to Justine's party, but we were the first ones there. It was hosted at this community center-like house thing, where there was a dance floor, a kitchen, and a stage for the DJ. There were tables and enough seats for at least 80 people, and at least that many people came! It was really fun to meet more people, and I saw Marion there too. Justine's parents had a butt-ton of food ready for us - entrées, main dishes, desserts, etc. I think we were there for 3 hours or so before we headed out to Guillemette's party! We met her and some more friends at her place before we left for the Mykasa club, where we had a table reserved for us. 
After dancing and doing the whole clubbing thing for a while, which included picking up a free mustache tattoo, Alex, Thibaut and I called it a night and headed back home. I had a lunch date with my host mom and her friend (who happens to be a co worker of mine at Van Gogh) at noon the next day so I needed to get some sleep.
I pretty much rolled out of bed and into the car the next day, I was so tired. Evelyne, my co worker, had a great lunch lined up for us though, so that woke up me up pretty well. Her husband is hilarious. We chatted about soccer for a while over lunch and had laughs about a bunch of different things. The French love to talk. They will talk about anything, and they love to express their opinion, especially when they know more than your average Jean-Deau (pronounced John Doe. Get it?! ha…)
I was hoping we'd have a chance to go home and take a nap before going to Anouk's orchestra concert that night, but turns out we were at Evelyne's for FOUR hours. Lunch isn't just a drive through at MacDo here, especially if you're hosting it. You start with an appetizer and something to drink, then you have an entrée, then you have the main dish, then you have cheese, and THEN you have dessert. Yeah. Four hours.
We left from Evelyne's and went straight to the concert. I'm mad at myself for not bringing my camera, but I guess I wasn't expecting to be eating lunch for four hours either. The concert was great! Anouk's orchestra wasn't so big that you couldn't hear the flutes, which Isabelle says happens often, so we actually got to hear her play. What's more, the concert was held in a beautiful church and the sound was incredible.
There were some light refreshments served afterwards, and we were there for maybe 10 minutes before heading back home. We got lost on the way back, but thanks to modern technology I was able to locate our position accurate to 3 meters on my phone and successfully guided us back to the right direction. How about that? An American giving directions to French locals? I thought it was funny…
On the way home we stopped at the home of a close family friend and their family, whose kids Anouk has been babysitting for the last several years. It's the same family we'll be skiing with in February, they're so nice and kids are really cute.
We just stopped by to say hello but they insisted that we stay for a little while and to have drink. I've learned not to to say no to an insisting Frenchman/woman. You just can't ever win. Also I didn't really have a choice since I was following Isabelle haha.
Finally, we made our way home. I got to work on my blog a little more that night before cashing in and resting up for my last week of class before vacation!
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