Living at the résidence and getting to French class

I arrived in Lyon at the end of March ready to start a month of learning French at the Alliance Française in Lyon. 

Due to the availability of flights, I arrived two days before I could move into the student résidence on 1 April. I stayed at two of the several hostels in the city travelling easily by public transport (a combination of tram, metro, and funicular). 

The first night was at the Hostelling International hostel, on the historic Fourvière hill, which features dorm rooms for up to six people. The second night was more comfortably spent in a single room at Éthic Étapes which is however further out from the city centre. 

Résidence Jussieu, which I was to call home for the next month, is a collection of multi-story student accommodation blocks opposite the campus of the Institut national des sciencés Appliquées de Lyon (INSA) in the north-east suburb of Villeurbanne. I found the office and completed the check-in procedures in a mixture of French and English.

My room is on the top (fourth) floor of one of the blocks. No elevator unfortunately, so I lugged my case up via the stairs.  The room is basic and small (10 m2) but has a large desk with a window overlooking trees and the sky. There is also a small fridge, shelves, a narrow cupboard, a slat bed, and an ensuite containing a wash basin, shower, toilet, and an outlet for an electric razor. The ensuite appears to be a modular unit that was added to the room at a later date. It is amazingly small, yet very usable and gives the room the feeling of a tiny apartment or even a train sleeper compartment. It is possible to rent a cheaper room without ensuite, or alternatively a studio, which is more expensive.

Each floor of my block has a shared basic kitchen featuring a sink, bench, microwave, and stovetop elements (no oven). Some of the kitchens also feature a table with chairs. If you want to cook, you will need to provide your own cooking utensils along with cleaning materials like dishwashing liquid. A supermarket and a boulanger are nearby, and every Sunday there is a local market.

Apart from the stairs and hallway, the kitchen is the main place at the résidence to meet other students. I found that a number of other Alliance Française students are living here, including several from my class.

Generally speaking, the résidence blocks are equipped with wifi, but unfortunately my building was not included in the network and only offered internet via cables. This is fine if you have a laptop, but not so useful if you are using a tablet or smart phone. 

Although the résidence is some way from the Alliance Française and the city centre, it is well linked by trams 1 and 4.  A tram stop is just across the road. Another transport option, which I use extensively, is the public bicycle service Vélo’v. One of the city’s 345 bike stations is beside the tram stop and another is only a few minutes walk from the school.

To go to and from classes I bike through the large Parc de la Tête d’Or and along the Rhône River. It is a picturesque route which includes the unusual bonus of being able to see giraffes and other wild animals at the park zoo. An additional advantage of this route is that it uses cycleways and avoids motor traffic as much as possible. Depending on the availability of bikes, the weather, the traffic conditions, and how fast I am going, the journey typically takes 30-40 minutes.