Erasmus Experience in Lyon, France by Laura

Why did you choose to go to Lyon, France?

I chose Lyon as it looked like a pretty city, and somewhere that would be intersting to explore. Also with it being the second largest in France, I thought that there would be lots of interesting things to do here. I also really wanted to see the Fête des Lumières (festival of lights) as I heard it was a wonderful experience. However for me, due to the tragic events in Paris, the festival will not take place in its usual way.

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How long is the scholarship? How much money do you receive to help you with living costs?

I am here for 1 semester (Sep-Dec). I received my loan i get every year and then an extra €700 (approx). I would have got a bit more but there was no way I was able to fill in the paperwork and send it back.

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What is the student lifestyle like in Lyon?

The French stick to themselves and the exchange students stay to themselves. There are lots of Erasmus students all in the same position as you, therefore it is easy to make friends.

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Would you recommend the city and the University of Lyon to other students?

I would not recommend the University here as I feel it is very disorganized and the Erasmus students are always put second after the French students. The city is very pretty and I would recommend coming for a holiday, however all the fun things to do, you can do within a week. There is not a whole lot to do here on a student budget.

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What is the food like?

Personally, I do not like the traditional Lyonnais food as there is things like pigs snout and lambs brain. There are many Lyonnais food places so I would recommend trying them if you are interested in a different type of food. I have found that there are lots of pizza places here and they are really good!

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Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Lyon?

It ended up costing me almost £2000 before I found somewhere to live due to bad advice given before coming here. I did not get accommodation before arriving and because of that, I ended up being homeless in Lyon for 3 weeks. I had to stay in 2 different hostels, hotels and on the floor of a friends house. Because of this I ended up spending all of my university loan and was late for deadlines at my university. It was an extremely difficult time and was a huge strain on me and my family. I was unable to find accommodation due to the fact that I was only staying in Lyon for 1 semester, and most people wanted people to be paying rent for a year. Furthermore, a large number of people wanted a French garantor which I did not have. This is why I urge people to look online, on legit websites and book accommodation in advance. It will make you experience a whole lot easier.

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How much does it cost to live in Lyon?

My rent is €380 a month which is not too bad and food at the supermarkets are reasonably priced. Travel a month costs around €30. Altogether it does not have to be expensive to live in Lyon.

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Is the language easy to get to grips with? Are there language courses available at the University?

No. University is very different in France and it is very difficult to get used to. You have to make your own timetable and it gets very confusing and there is not much help available so you really need to be organised. Also lessons are 1h45 long which is tough to get used to at first especially the classes in French. It is a lot of concentration. There are language courses avaliable like SLM for example. I personnally think that it is OK but it is a bit tough considereing it is 3h30 long.

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What's the easiest or most economical way to travel to Lyon from your city?

Get a TCL card. It is definitely the best way. With this you pay €30 a month and you can travel on the metro, bus and tram as many times as you want which you need to get anywhere in Lyon.

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And for eating? Can you recommend some good restaurants in Lyon?

If you like burgers, Ninkasi (I think that's how it is spelt) does a student deal for €9. 90 for a burger/salad and a drink/desert which is well worth it. Ordering online, Allo Resto is the best place to go. It is just like "Just eat" and other websites like that. What I have found is that it is very hard to find a Chinese restaurant which is annoying but the pizza places are very good and for a decent size pizza it is about €7 which is really good.

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What good cultural sites are there to visit?

Fourvière is a nice place to go as it is a beautiful church and you can get a whole view of Lyon. A not very cultural site but a good place to shop is the Part-Dieu shopping centre. It has all the clothes/gift shops you could want and it also has a massive Carrefour which is great.

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Is there any other advice that you could give to students going to Lyon in the future?

Book accommodation before you go there as it is almost impossible while you are here. Make copies of all your important things like passport, driving license, etc., and do not carry everything all together as crime is very high here as I found out the hard way, more than once, so make sure you have copies of your ID.

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How safe is Lyon for students?

I think that with any city, you have to be careful and keep your possesions close to you. I found this out the hard way. While out one Saturday evening in Hotêl de Ville, I was talking to my friends outside sitting on some steps. I had my bag on my shoulder on a long strap and I was talking to my friends facing the other way. Without me noticing, someone flicked the strap off of my shoulder and took my bag off of me. Luckily, I was not harmed in this however they took almost everything that was important to me including: my purse with all of my money and cards, my keys to my place, my iPhone 6 and even worse my passport. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. You never think something like this will happen to you until it does. Because my keys were stolen, I could not get back into my building until Monday and so I had to stay at my friends place and borrow money for food, travel, etc.

I was also due to be coming home a couple weeks later because I had a week off of university, but with no passport, this became a real problem. I had to go to report this to the police however they wanted proof of who I was but in my bag was my was passport and my driving license which were the only forms of ID I had. I managed to get photocopies of my passport but the whole process was very long and I had to keep going back to the police station because they could not be bothered to deal with a foreign person. So after all of that, my mother flew over and gave me a new bank card and phone so I could contact people.

Two days later I was pickpocketed in Paris (I was there to go to the British embassy to get an emergency passport). It was my own fault because I should not have had it in my pocket. It was literally 30 seconds I had it in there but people in this country watch you, and prey on foreign people. This is why I urge you to take care of everything. I have found that it is a lot less safe in this country and that you have to take extra care. Never carry your passport around with you unless you have to and always have copies of it.