The festival of lights is an annual occurrence in Lyon to give thanks to Mary (or Marie in French). As the town was struck by the plague in 1643, people prayed to Mary and promised that if she would spare the town they would pay tribute to her. Therefore ever since they have offered a tribute and led a procession up to the Basilica of Fourvière to honour the promise they made to her. Traditionally people would put out candles on their balconies or in their windows on December 8th to show their respect and gratitude. However over the years the tradition has developed into a world renowned festival celebrated over a whole four days to which thousands of people from many different countries flock to Lyon to see!

Tilly studied French and Spanish at the University of Manchester and spent her year abroad teaching adults English at the Association pour la Formation Professionelle des Adultes in Lyon. She graduated in 2010 and now works for a subtitling and dubbing company.

So, I’ve lived in France for two whole months now. What can I say? It’s been a whirlwind. A whirlwind of meeting tons of lovely new people, exploring new places and… (I have to admit) huge, huge piles of paperwork. One thing that all of us ERASMUS students seem to have noticed here in France is that they love their bureaucracy. You will quickly find yourself caught up in vicious circles of paperwork and on goose chases for some random piece of paper without which you won’t be able to do something vital… It’s all very strange.