WAKING UP IN LYON

How deep sleep and misadventure led me to a new friend

by POOJA SHAH

Panic. My phone battery was in the red and the charging cord was in hiding. I had been depending on Google Translate to overcome language barriers. Now here I was, alone in a crowd in a strange city at night, half-asleep, confused, and disconnected.

Until that night, my solo trip through Europe had built my confidence and extinguished my fear of strangers. I loved London’s Hyde Park. Devoured chocolate waffles in Brussels. And couldn’t get enough of Paris’ nightlife. It had been absolute perfection.

Perhaps it was that very flawlessness, and a dazzling Parisian night, that gave me the nerve to indulge a whim and hop an overnight mega-bus to Amsterdam. As I climbed aboard, I imagined waking up to Amsterdam’s famous friets smothered in hot sauce, ordered with the help of Google. Instead, I woke up at two a.m. in Lyon.

Lyon is France’s third-largest city. Once I regained internet access, I learned that Lyon’s Confluence Neighborhood rivals the rest of Europe for ultramodern architecture, museums, and shopping. They have underground passageways, Roman ruins, a basilica, Les Halles de Lyon food market, and silk! Lyon’s textile industry is legendary. Or so I read.

At the time, I didn’t know any of that. I was close to tears and ached to call my parents. Then another passenger tapped me on my shoulder and, with a mixture of FrenchEnglish and hand gestures, reassured me it would be okay.

Marie drove me to Lyon-Perrache to catch another bus to Amsterdam. On route, we shared our dreams and aspirations. I told her I wanted to write a book. She told me she wanted to work in Paris and improve her English. “One day,” she said when she dropped me off, “you will look at this moment and laugh.”

It’s been five years since Marie and I met. Thanks to her, I see opportunities for kindness everywhere I go and every stranger I meet is a potential friend. Next spring, my fiancé and I plan to return to France for our mini-moon. We will visit Lyon, this time intentionally.

Lyon’s Fête des Lumières

Travelers who happen to be in Lyon – whether intentionally or unintentionally – on December 8th are in for a real treat. That’s the start of the city’s annual four-day festival of lights, which coincides with the Catholic Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Each night, families all over town place fluted candles on their window sills. Sections of the city, reserved for pedestrians only, host technicolor light shows, live performances, and food vendors. The main focal points are the Basilica of Fourvière and the Place des Terreaux.

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