Tag Archives: Pedrata

Pedrata’s Take on Lyon

That’s me, Pedrata. I’m a rat. A Mexican rat.

Why Mexican?

Because I came from Mexico. On a boat.

All the way to Hawaii from Mexico. On a boat.

Darn tootin’ that was fun!!!

But I’m not just any rat. I’m a rat who loves to travel, a bit like my gal pal, Sj. We two females love to travel. Si!, I’m female. If I were male, I’d be PedratO, but I’m not, I’m PedratA.

I enjoyed Lyon. To da max. Here are some of my fav memories.

Enjoy!

✷ Pedrata ✷

First to get to Lyon, we had to leave Paris.

It was pretty comfortable on the train.

Only about a 3 hour ride.

Then we were there.

In Lyon at Gare Part-Dieu.

If you remember nothing else about Lyon, remember this:

there are 2 rivers: le Rhône

and la Saone. Why one is masculine and one female? I have no idea.

Sj was here to study French.

And eat a croque-madame. Why madame? Think about it.

There were activities after school.

This was one of my all time favs.

Prof Marion was a great tour guide.

We took a break so we could eat a cookie (or two).

And to take our picture.

Sj didn't bring me to school every day.

My job was to make sure she was prepared.

Why else do you think the 4 rats wons?

Seems to be a lot of

anger in the air.

I want to participate too!

Assignment? Create a unique animal.

William's showing off their creation.

Sj's compter died . . . we were both crossing our fingers

and it did start up from the back up!

But . . . alas, the start up was dead, despite that blue light.

Fortunately, the mac shop close by brought it back to life.

These kids gave me a quick tour of the really hip playground.

I'm not sure why Sj bought this old briefcase for all of 4 Euros.

It wasn't quite as comfortable to go to school in.

I decided to shop for some art.

I liked her art . . .

but not how she played with my ear.

Call it a self portrait of sorts.

Sj wouldn't show you this, but I thought it was worth noticing the behind-the-scenes.

Yes, Sj actually came here to study.

Moi? I love the old Roman ruins.

And especially a concert . . .

in an actual Roman ruin.

The day before we sussed it out.

And then . . .

the people arrived.

Lots of people.

And it was frickin'

amazing!

Except for when they threw the cushions. That hurt a little bit.

Merci beaucoup Moondog for ze musique!!!

LOVED riding a vélo!

But now and then, they were all taken.

But the beauty of walking is that . . .

you stumble upon some extraordinary things.

Like this mural.

No, he's not real, but maybe the bike is.

Pizza. Moi loves pizza.

One day they played "hangman." The word? Moi: rat.

They used this room to show educational videos.

And movies. Some of which Sj has seen over 5 million times.

And for making art

out of strips of marshmallow.

Ahh . . . the pengiuns and I

had so much fun together !!!

: )))))))

Classic Lyon view

This is from Fourvière.

His name is Pierre Scize.

Sj lived here 7 years ago.

She had a rock wall in her bedroom.

I thought I'd see how that felt.

Netflix en francais. Sj appeared to be in heaven.

Moi? I loved Friday croissant day best.

Au Revior Lyon!

Time to take a wee little nap.

p.s. for whatever reason, these 4 pix didn’t want to be part of they gallery . . . so they’re here all by their lonesome. : )

And especially a concert . . .

I’m not sure why Sj bought this old briefcase for all of 4 Euros.

had so much fun together !!!

Hmm . . .

My cuz, Sj Daisy, is here too from time to time . . .

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You can check out her and Pedrata on YouTube. Be sure and click on the CC button for closed captioning.

Tonight

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We’re going to see Moondog.

I’m not exactly sure what it will be, but I expect that it will be spectacular.

It takes place in an actual Roman amphitheater. For real.

Yesterday we went to check it out. The percussionist was amazing; yes, we eavesdropped on a rehearsal. Incroyable!

I think they’ve done this before.

Les quatres rats ont gagné!

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Yesterday marked the completion of week one at ALPADIA in Lyon.

What does that mean exactly?

That we each got to have a complimentary croissant.
That we were to take a test covering this past week’s topic: le subjonctif.
And that we were to play a game of guessing WHO or WHAT someone or something was.

“Such as?” you ask.

Name at least 3 French présidents. I wrote Charles de Gaulle and Mitterand. A teammate wrote Sarcozi. (Must have been right because we got a point : )

Who is this French singer? Someone one of my teammates knew. Pas moi.

Who’s playing the guitar? Jimmy Hendrix

Etcetera.

We were to give our team a name. Three guesses what our team was called.

And on a side note: the French verb rater is a clue, BUT it didn’t really apply because in French rater means to miss or to fail . . . ;-)

So . . . with that I shall sign off. Enjoy les photos!

My job was to make sure she was prepared.

We four comprised our team.

We watched a funny video of a cat doing all kinds of things to its owner. Then we were to guess what it would do next.

Pedrata checked out one of the other teams, but she soon saw that they had no chance against us!

Nous avons gagné! Yes! The team, The Four Rats, won!

Moi? I loved Friday croissant day best.

After the weekly test there was enough time to play a little hangman (or le pendu). Three guesses what William was spelling.

p.s. I zqs qble to uploqd the photos to ,y zebsite using ,y iPhone; but then the co,puter qt the school just decided it zqs ti,e for q lunch breqk: So : : : I too stopped qnd figured it knez best: I hqd the ,ost a,qwing rest of ,y dqy in Lyon : : : zqlking : : : tqking pictures : : : riding q bike : : : hqving q glqss of zine zith ,y hostess qnd q French of herùs : : : qnd then todqy; Sqturdqy; I found qn internet cqfe so thqt I could post it; ,qke chqnges thqt I cqnùt do zith ,y iPhone; etceterq : : : qnd; qs you see; the keyboqrd is q little different thqn ours: M ° ?qde it ,e q little chqllenging: M 0

Qlohq tous1

Pedrata makes a great study companion.

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Not sure how much she’s learning; she may be waiting until we get to Spain since Spanish is her native language, but she definitely helps keep me on track.

For example, she just reminded me to set the timer on my iPhone so I don’t forget to stop and go for a bike ride.

Merci beaucoup, Pedrata!

Will do!
Sj et P out.

Saturday in Paris ala Pedrata

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How a Rat Finds Its Way to Paris

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I like to always “suss” the plane before boarding.

We flew from Philly to Paris. Lots of delays so plenty of time to chill.

There was a malfunction to the fancy way to deplane. Sj’s-Exercise-Plan® kicks in.

Then we walked some more.

When in doubt, I follow my nose.

Sj’s-Exercise-Plan® continues.

Ready to get stamped and weighed.

Got our bag, Mamma Josie!

There are lots of Frenchmen in red vests giving out info . . . and who knows what all else.

First we had to leave l’aérport de Charlie.

Thank goodness I can read!

I hear it coming.

Okay metro, here we come!

This is before the commuters arrived.

It got a little crowded . . .

Decided to relish the quiet for a bit.

Those stairs were nothing after the zillion trillion in the metro.

I’ve spotted our hotel!

We made it! Home sweet home for 2 nuits. ;-)

Wow. C’est magnifique!

That’s where we came out of ze metro btw.

Time for a rest

But first a little tennis.

Go Serena go!

Came to Paris to watch the French Open from the comfort of my bed. Porqué non?

Sj et Pedrata out . . . for now. ;-)

The Where & the What 4s

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A friend commanded, “Blog!” And so I shall.

Mon ami, Pedrata, and I are travelling to Europe for the summer.

Yup, sure nuff we are!

Why?

Because we can. Yahoo!!!

And as long as this gal takes on teaching jobs, June and July is when we can get away for the longest time. I italicize the get away because leaving Kaua‘i isn’t about getting away. But that’s one of those expressions we use, and once we stop and think about what we’re really saying, we see it’s not really accurate.

So . . . rewind.

June and July is when I have a break from a real paying job.

Again, why italics?

Because we humans have some weird idea that a job is only real if we get a paycheck.

So again . . . rewind.

June and July is when I have a break. Period.

This gal’s life is about BE-ing, not doing or getting paid, or making money, or whatevahs.

It’s about Being me.

Who else could I be?

So I’m going to do it as passionately and with present moment awareness as possible.

Okay, I hear you all saying, “Get to the point, Sj!”

And so I shall.

WHO: Sj and her pal, Pedrata

WHAT: Traveling to Europe for a couple of months

WHERE: Paris for 2 nights then on to Lyon for 3 weeks of studying French at ESL (more on that later, this is where I studied in January 2009 btw).

THEN a week break when I’ll probably visit a family friend in Geneva (think CERN, Physics Professor, re-visit from shots from 2012), and THEN 4 weeks in San Sebastian, Spain to study Spanish. Yes, I know they speak Basque in that region. But I figured I was already going to *&%k with my mind, so why not go all the way.

And . . . here’s to hoping this Spanish teaching school does what it says. Teach Spanish. : )

Then on home by way of a Megabus ride! Yep! This gal and her pal rat are going to do an overnight trip on a Megabus. Yahoo! Here we come NYC and Pittsburgh.

WHEN: Right now! At the Philly airport ready to board. ;-)

WHY: Because I love learning languages, meeting people and being able to listen to Harry Potter in a couple of different languages. I’ve been itching to dive into Spanish, and before I do that, I want to make sure my French is up to speed. Locked in and pretty much “in the groove.”

HOW: Miles, miles, miles! Thank you airlines for the miles. Thank you, Sj, for the gumption. Thank you, Pedrata, for the companionship.

And now . . . it’s time to roll!

Roger over and out from Sj and little ‘ole Pedrata.