A weekend of travels

Last week was somewhat uneventful, which is super refreshing. I've been needing a bit of break recently, as my end date is feeling a little distant. Let's just say that my energetic positivity from the Easter break has been dwindling away into nothingness for a while now. I'm trying to find ways to keep going for the remaining forty-odd days, but it's proving a tad difficult at the moment. Why must time go by so slowly? 

On Friday Melanie invited three of her friends over for a sleepover, while the rest of the family went out for a meal and to listen to a friend play music. It actually wasn't anywhere near as bad as it sounds. They made some pizzas, which I helped them cook, and spent most of the evening downstairs watching films. The four of them made sporadic visits upstairs throughout the night and were super talkative. It was actually a really lovely evening, apart from having to help Jason with his university application until 1am. 

Krisztina and I decided to go to Yvoire on Saturday, which is a few miles outside of Geneva. It was a bit of an odd day weather-wise, there were moments of warm, sunny weather, then others where it was wet and cloudy. The town is stunning, with really old buildings set upon the edge of lake. I got some lovely presents for my mum and dad, I just hope they get back to England in one piece! 

I managed to hit 20,000 miles on the clock this weekend, which just shows how much I've been adventuring while I've been here. When I bought my car this time last year, it had just over 15,000 miles to its name, so we've come a long way since then. 

The following day Brenda, her cousin and I got up early to drive to Lyon. It took two hours and cost a fair bit in tolls, but it was well worth the journey. I was a little anxious driving through the twisty mountains, especially being so tired, but I managed just fine (nobody died!) We were so lucky with the weather, the sun was shining without it being too hot. We ended up parking in a random spot, just to get a place, and then wandered around for a bit trying to find the centre. When we reached the bridge over the river, we looked up at the daunting walk up to the cathedral. 

Before setting off, we had a mooch around the old town and Brenda and I indulged in some expensive sweets...no shame.Thank god I had taken a wealth of snacks to eat, because that hike up to the summit was something else! I don't think I've ever been up steps that steep in my life and there was so many of them. Every time we thought we were close, there were another hundred or so steps to the next level. 

Anyway, we eventually made it up, breathless and tired, with shaky legs, but the view from the top was absolutely stunning! We took a few stereotypical tourist pictures and filled our bellies, before slowly descending back to the old town. 

On the way down, we discovered a rose garden which smelled incredible! Only downside was that it triggered my hayfever, which I've not really been suffering with until this point. It was well worth it though!

The three of us sat outside in a little cocktail bar called Le Paradis des Fruits, which boasted freshly pressed fruit juices and smoothies, as well as ones with alcohol. (Obviously I chose the alcohol-free option because I didn't need anything making the drive back even harder!) 

After our much-needed sit down, we were supposed to meet Jason at a park further outside of the city centre, but we got distracted by a band playing in the street. They are called La Fanfarovis and are super talented, definitely check them out on Facebook if you have a spare minute or two. 

When they'd finished it was a bit too late to go to the park, as it was a 4km walk and we'd not even started. We ended up sitting by a little skating area for a bit, watching the guys do crazy jumps and stunts while we ate more sugary snacks. 

After a while we headed back to the centre, where we decided to eat in a restaurant called Ninkasi. It was an awesome choice on Brenda's part, because the food wasn't that expensive and they played up and coming music while you ate. I don't know about the other two, but my food was fantastic, even though I had a salad (shock horror!) Brenda and I were both particularly impressed by their lemonade, which was very fizzy but beautifully refreshing. 

We spent a bit of time by the river with Jason and his friend, before heading home. I think all three of us were exhausted from the early start, all the walking and the bright sun, so we were glad to go back. I basically got in, had a shower and sparked out completely. Luckily, the kids are off so I got a bit of a lie in (thank the lord!)
I don't think I'll recover from this weekend for a while, but you won't hear me complaining about it. Roll on next weekend I say!