Le temps passe

I can’t believe it’s been 14 year since I lived in Lyon. I stepped out of the airport shuttle and into Part Dieu station and it felt like yesterday that I was here. The smells of the boulangeries, the taste of the bread, the dog poo on the ground everywhere and the smell of cigarettes all pervading; these are the things that make Lyon feel, taste and smell like home. It’s an ugly city really, full of pollution and urban sprawl. But when I was 18 it felt like the most exotic place on earth. The old cobblestone streets of Vieux Lyon (which are still beautiful), la Place Bellecour, Cathedrale Fouviere, Parc de la Tete d'Or, and the two rivers La Saone and Le Rhone, they all bring back such memories of a magical year which, perhaps more than any other, helped shape the direction of my life. The friendships I made that year are some of the most enduring of my life. I don’t see those friends often as they are spread across the far reaches of the world, but when we do see each other the bonds that began here in Lyon hold strong. As I was taking the metro today I saw a group of 4 or 5 girls, maybe 18 or 19 years old. They were mimicking the metro announcement in French just as my friends and I used to. Then they started chatting and laughing aloud in English, just as we used to. I wonder if they will still be friends in 14 years? How will their lives have changed and what memories will they still hold dear when they return?