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I have been meaning to write here for a good long while. Since my return from Venise, in fact. But as soon as I returned I was swept away in May, and it came and shook me up, and left. Busiest. Month. Ever!

So. I went to Marseille on the spur of the moment, very early yesterday morning, and now I am back in my beautiful, albeit stormy, Lyon. Marseille was interesting - I had this Italy vibe happening the whole time, I kept feeling like I was back in Venise. Strange! I nearly said "buongiorno" to the bus driver...? I went because it was the tail-end of Katie's Toulouse-Marseille trip and I thought it would be fun. It was just what I needed right now I think. I had to get up early yesterday to farewell Alicia who visited last week, so while I was at the station I went and asked for tickets for the next train to Marseille and that's how it all went down. It's really exciting going to a ticket vendor and being like "so, I need to catch a train across the country this morning - what can you do for me?" I felt badass! I wanna do that at an airport one day. Oooohhh impromptu travel...! I dig it. Marseille was very hilly and pretty. We saw a really spectacular storm yesterday. It was cool, but sadly also the reason why we couldn't swim. We went running into the beach right near our hostel, and a lifeguard came out and told us not to go in because it was too polluted, and that we had to wash our legs. Eek! Something about the rain making the water more polluted than usual!? I don't know... ever since I survived my night time swim in the water-feature by the Rhone (la la la...) I feel like I could swim in anything and survive.

Alicia visited last week! We had a lot of fun, over-indulged on French/Lyonnaise treats, wandered about, hung out in a park, saw some great art at the Institution of Contemporary Art in Villeurbanne. Spent most of the last day of her visit locked in my apartment... won't explain the details but, yes... we managed to do some cool stuff in the afternoon once we were free but it was unfortunate that it had to be the last day.

Which reminds me - my apartment! Not sure if anyone even realises I moved out of res. I am, sadly, no longer an Allixienne. Well, once an Allixienne always an Allixienne, but still... res in Vieux is no longer my home. No. I'm living in Napoleon in Croix Rousse until the end of June.
Napoleon?
Well. The French word for apartment, very similar to English, is appartement. For short they are commonly called an appart. This appart is good... bon... bon appart. Bonaparte, first name Napoléon. Voici la manière dans laquelle j’ai nicknamée mon appart Napoléon. I realise that's incredibly dorky... This apartment I'm in is gorgeous! I am in a room with floorboards, more spacious than at res, with a view of my beloved Fourviere and Lyon's mini-tour Eiffel...and the city, and the Rhone river. It's so dreamy. Sometimes I feel like my heart will burst as I look out my window, especially at night. All of the twinkling lights. It's too perfect, I almost can't take it.

There is a market in Croix Rousse 6 out of 7 days, and Tuesday's the biggest day for it. So whatever I'm making for lunch/dinner I can get the ingredients for in the morning. Fresh! There is a lot of great cafes, bars, second-hand stores, a record/book shop that's very cool. I'm really spoilt here. It's great to be here for the final weeks of life in Lyon. And I think also that it was a really great distraction in the midst of farewelling people, moving here. Last Saturday night me and Alicia were too tired to sortir so we stayed in. It was really nice, but I had this huge pang for the res lifestyle, the way the weekends more or less started on Wednesday night and just spiralled out of control until Sunday. A Saturday night at res was never quiet! We would all eat together, get ready, head out somewhere. So many good times.

Last Sunday I farewelled my Lyon bestie, Emilie-Anne. Tellement dur! We breakfasted randomly in Croix Rousse, then farewelled by the merry-go-round in the centre of the boulevard. Me and Katie had a tear attack. I returned home very slowly in the rain, and spent the day trying (in vain) to unpack. For a few hours I went through a cycle of unpacking the contents of a bag onto my bed... sorting through some of it... falling asleep on it. Waking up, putting it away... Goodbyes are not le fun. But they are also not la fin!

Au courant I'm planning my new radio show that I want to start ASAP on return to Melbourne. I'm learning Japanese again! Doing some writing for one of Sarah's friends. This week I'll organise my trip to Nantes (I recently found out that the Lu cookie factory is there. Oh no oh my. So excited.) It's all good.

I could continue, by backtracking through and talking about Venise or the madness of May, but I don't have the energy or time right now. I hope everyone's super dooper! Oh, and, because my itinerary is on my desk and people keep asking - I return to Melbourne at 7.20am on Thursday, the 10th of July. Who wants to haul themselves out of their nice warm bed in the early hours and pick me up from the airport?!

***EDIT: Yeah I initally wrote Wednesday the 9th. It's Thursday the 10th in fact.