laurel || maughan || [has a] || blog: THE SUN IS OUT!

both today and yesterday there have been significant amounts of joyful, rejuvenating sunshine. i felt MUCH better once i could look outside and see the sun for once! yesterday i still played it pretty lowkey, but scottie and i took a walk to the fabric museum. we lots of really, really old cloth. after that, exciting as it was, i was kind of beat. we dashed into monoprix and then came home and stayed in for the night. we ate ice cream and watched the opening ceremony for the olympics on scottie's bed. it was pretty cool! there was some crazy modern dance kind of stuff but they also had some dancing, a recreation of a rennaissance garden party with crazy costumes, and a brief performance by luciano pavarotti (wow!) louise came for a little bit because she was really upset -- she had gone to see a symphony performance and the conductor had a heart attack right in the middle of it.

today has turned out to be pretty good, so far. i woke up early to talk to jake online and also ended up chatting with fran, mundy, and daniel crane.... then scottie came over and we had our first attempt at crepes. (YUM!) Then, refusing to let my sickness get the best of me, i ventured outside for a walk.... that turned into a three and a half hour walk. *whew* I started off wandering in Vieux Lyon. I went into the cathedral St Jean and was suitably impressed by its stained glass windows and remarkably high ceilings. They also had an "astrological clock" that had been built around 1378. It was huge! It had dials for minutes; for days, weeks, and years; and for the position of the sun, and on the hour is has figurines that move around and dance. It was really pretty cool! Next I wandered around some more in Vieux Lyon, then somehow thought to myself, "I should walk up to Croix Russe"... after a little more wandering on the Presqu'Ile, I found a first staircase that went up by the Trois Gauls Amphitheater - the one where Saint Blandine was martyred - and then a central set of stairs called the "marches de la cite". It was a long climb, bu these stairs passed through a lovely public garden and ended up pretty close to the main square where the metro is. I explored a bit and looked at

the shops - there are lots up there - then bought myself a tasty croissant to fortify me for the walk back. The view from the top of the stairs was amazing -- the picture just doesn't capture it. The sunlight seemed particularly powerful today, maybe because we haven't had much sun for a week. Even though I was getting tired, I made it all the way down and back to the apt without taking the metro. yes! I don't feel as tired as I haved after other excursions - maybe because I didn't have to chat with other people, but all the same i'm feeling pretty beat. i may lay down for a bit. hopefully we'll find something fun to do tonight; louise said that she wants to hang out with us. in any case i hope to leave the apartment!!