A flatmate was travelling to Lyon for the Fête des Lumières and she literally told me about it three a week before she left Paris. So in that moment I knew I had to really take advantage of the opportunity to see a different region of France, and I therefore immediately decided to go along with her. Conveniently, my cousin is studying in Lyon, so when I told her of the trip she invited me over and told me I could stay at hers. It was fantastic, because it saved me the trouble of looking for a hotel (and also helped me in saving some money!).

After buying the tickets, (I honestly recommend OUIGO, as they have fairly affordable prices and are much cheaper than SNCF) and packing some essentials into my small suitcase, the day finally arrived and my flatmate and I were making our way to Marne-la-Vallee station to catch our train.

The trip was supposedly two hours and a half long (almost the same as London to Paris by Eurostar!), but it seriously only felt like 30 minutes long maybe because I was excited or something. Anyway, when we reached Saint Exupéry, we had to take the Rhone Express because unfortunately OUIGO didn't make any stops in the city of Lyon itself and because the station is right next to the airport, we had no choice but to take this form of transport (which was a painful 23 euros worth) and sit back as it was what took us to central Lyon where my cousin was waiting for us in the freeing cold.

Anyway, once we got there and hugged my cousin (whom I hadn't seen in three years) we quickly made our way to her campus, which was also the campus of my flatmate's friend with whom she was staying at. So it was like awesome, because we stayed so close to one another and when my cousin went to work I just walked over to her friend's dorm and chilled with them.

We travelled to Lyon for four days to have time to fully explore the city itself and attend the festival of lights which was frankly a-mazing! It truly was an outstanding and breathtaking event, which attracted visitors from all around the world. Some of the shows portrayed on the buildings of l'Opera, Place des Terraux and the Saint-Jean cathedral were honestly mind-blowing. They were seriously, so interesting and captivating that the people behind them honestly deserve the biggest round of a applause for such creativity.

I'm going to share with you some of my favourite snaps!

 How cute is this? Tea being poured into a cute little mug. (Well, the mug was actually half my size, and not so little after all).
These upside down flowers were so cute and initiative, that almost made me want to have something similar to decorate my own room back at home.

 Above is the Place des Terraux and its show was inspired by art. It showcased some of Monet's paintings which morphed into a telling of a story that was so beautifully designed as it projected across the two buildings of the square.
The show on the cathedral was so sick! It basically played with the lights to the beat of the music playing in the background. It gave me goosebumps, and was my favourite by far!

On the trip as well, we visited the museum of miniature and cinema which was so good it is honestly a must see! It had original costumes and props used during the filming of some major Hollywood films. I got to see the original wand of Harry Potter used in the Chamber of Secrets and one of the Hogwarts letters sent to him in the Philosopher's Stone. There were also the costumes of Hulk, and Superman as well as other superheroes and characters alike. The second half of the museum was where we spent most of out time, as it was where the miniature sets were being displayed. Each and every single set was so detailed that you could spend hours looking at them and wondering how on earth they made it all look life-like! We also went to Furvière as well and its basilica is so breathtaking I couldn't take my off its beautiful ceiling.

For dinner, my cousin invited me to this delicious Italian restaurant called Al Dente. Believe me when I say this, but that restaurant has the most mouthwatering and heavenly pizzas in all of Lyon (and even France itself)! They were really generously portioned pizzas, too well portioned that we couldn't finish ours as they were huge. But my goodness, did they taste good. If you're in Lyon, DO NOT miss this restaurant! It is located just next to the Fourvière téléphérique and you may miss it if you weren't looking for it, because it is down this small alley and away from any tourist attractions. But do look for it, because it is honestly amazing okay? okay. I might just make another trip to Lyon, just to go to that restaurant. I'm kidding.

This trip to Lyon has put a smile on my face, and I was so glad I got the chance to see it. It is definitely a place worth visiting. To end things, since the festival of lights was during the 5th-8th of December, it was also during the Christmas season and so we visited the Christmas market where I bought most of the Christmas presents I was taking back home! This market was was definitely a much better market than the one at Champs-Elysées because there was definitely more to see and the layout of it felt more homey and cosy. Also, the people of Lyon are so warm and welcoming, that I honestly felt right at home there I didn't want to leave!

[100happydays, Day 5]