Au revoir France, Hola Spain!

Just got internet access for the first time in three whole days. I know you all are chomping at the bit for an update so here it is:

July 18

I made my way out to Charles De Gaulle to pick up Jess without a hitch. Stood in front of Jess’ gate and within five minutes she strolled out. It was so nice to see a familiar face! We hugged for about 20 minutes and then walked back toward the RER trains to Paris. We stopped in a little airport bar, ordered some champagne and toasted to our birthdays and our European adventure. Jess made me the coolest card.

We finally got the Metro and decided to run to the train. I made it on and Jess didn’t! I got off at the next stop and circled back to meet her. It wasn’t a very nice introduction to the Metro.

We got off at the Bastille stop to take advantage of the little walk back to the hotel to give Jess a look at the neighborhood. We stopped by a little market and picked up a 2 euro bottle of champagne to take back to our room. We staying in the same hotel that I had been staying in during classes but tonight we had booked a triple instead of a double. The room was easily twice the size and we had a balcony overlooking the Bastille. Jess and I stepped out on the balcony and popped open the champagne. Swank.

We decided to have French food for dinner and we went to a local bistro. Jess had her first croque monsieur and loved it. In traditional French style our meal lasted about 2 hours. We had so much catching up to do.

We hoped to head to the Eiffel Tower that night and see the lights but unfortunately it was raining by the time we left the restaurant. We were both exhausted and we headed to the hotel to get a good night sleep for the next day.

July 19th

Paris here we come

This was Jess’ only full day in Paris and we needed to make the most of it. We had a traditional French breakfast at the hotel and smuggled out 2 ham sandwiches for a picnic lunch.

Atop the Eiffel Tower

First things first, we hit the Eiffel Tower. It was only 10 am by the time we got there but the lines were already snaking around under the tower. We figured that if we got in line it could be at least an hour before we even got tickets for the lifts. We noticed that there was barely a line at one of the pillars. It was for the stairs. Tickets were half price and there was no wait. There were tons of stairs but it saved us hours of waiting. We only went to the second floor because from there you have to take a lift and the lines were crazy. I hadn’t been up the tower during the day and the views were incredible. We took a ton of pictures and then headed to the Louvre.

We bought a couple pastries and ate our lunch in the grass overlooking the Louvre complex. It was another beautiful day in Paris. I have really been lucky with the weather since I arrived. We finished our lunch and headed inside to see the collection. Yet again, 4 hours in the Louvre wasn’t enough. We got to see a lot but I’m sure there are so many things we missed.


We had to catch a train later that evening and Jess really wanted to hit the Carnavalet Museum and walk around the Marais neighborhood before we left. We headed back toward the Carnavalet Museum (which is very near the hotel) and took a look around. A painting in the museum’s collection is one of my favorite things I have come across during my stay. We also took a look at the French Revolution room and got see locks of Marie Antoinette’s hair and the furniture from the royal family’s jail cell. Very cool.

Unfortunately our time in Paris was up, so we grabbed our stuff from the hotel and headed for the train station. It was only one stop down the track on the Metro so I figured and hour would be plenty of time. I was horrified to see our train pass the stop we needed. For some reason the stop was closed for the weekend! We just had to get off at the next stop. Luckily I found someone who spoke English and we ran to the station. We were running a little late but had time to grab a sandwich. Then we realized that we had forgotten to validate Jess’ rail pass about 5 minutes before our train left. We ran through the station and we were able to get everything taken care of just about 1 minute before the train left. If we hadn’t made it we would have been stuck in Paris for another 3 hours. Close call!

Marseille by night

We made it to Marseille in just 3 hours. Our hostel was very close to the station and the other major sights in the city, completely adorable, super clean, and super cheap. Jackpot. I love the internet for helping me find this place. It was a dream come true. We dropped off our stuff and decided to have a look around. It was nearly 11 pm but the hostel had a little bar and courtyard. We split a bottle of wine and chatted.

Down the street from the hostel we found this tiny locals bar and went inside. The bartender didn’t speak any English but we managed to get our drinks and find a seat. He turned on the jukebox and rainbow disco ball just for us. It was so fun.

Headed back to the hostel and dragged my tired self up a ladder and into my bunk bed. Now that is not as easy as it used to be.

July 20

We woke up the next morning and decided to walk down to the port. Along the way we found a beautiful cathedral and managed to catch the end of Sunday mass. The hymns were so beautiful in French. Just outside the church were two sculptures of giraffes made out of books. Very cool.

Port of Marseille

Down a side street we found a farmer’s market complete with open air butcheries and fish mongers, produce, and baked goods. Apparently there is a very large Muslim community in the city of Marseille and their influence was very apparent at the market. This whole section of the city felt very much like Cairo complete with hookah bars and tea shops. Then we walked the rest of the way down to the port and harbor. This area felt very much like Greece. The Mediterranean is such an amazing color – almost like dark blue velvet. All around the harbor vendors had little tables set up selling jewelry, soap, lavender products (very famous export of Provence), shirts, baskets, everything you can think of. We found one vendor selling antique postcards of Marseille and bought a couple.


We noticed a little gas powered train that takes tourists around the city. We hopped on and for only 7 euro we got a great tour of the city and a free ride to the Basilica at the highest point in the Marseille. This area was much more mountainous and rocky than I expected. Along the way we got to see the island prison that inspired the Alexander Dumas book The Count of Monte Cristo and panoramic views of the sprawling city of Marseille.

The Basilica. See the boats?

Finally at the top of the hill was the stunning Basilica de Notre Dame de la Garde. Inside models of boats and planes hung from the ceiling on long strings and the walls were covered with paintings of maritime and aviation disasters. The church is dedicated to the struggle of pilgrims in their journeys and so is covered with images of boats and planes. I have never seen anything like it. The outside of the Basilica also bears scars from battles fought there during World War II. We sat for a while in the church and then hit he church cafeteria for a crepe and hot chocolate and bought a couple of things at the gift shop. The wind was strong at the top of the hill and so ended the day with both windburn and sunburn! Totally worth it though!

We went back to the hostel to share a 3 euro bottle of wine and write postcards (which we still haven’t had a chance to mail – dang post office). Later that night met an 8 year old who totally schooled me in French and then did the moonwalk.

July 21

Early morning train and again we’re running! Even though we give ourselves plenty of time to make it to the station there is always some miscommunication and confusion to clear up before we are safely aboard our train. While the train system here is extremely impressive and comfortable I’ve been surprised to find that most rail employees have no idea what they are looking at when I show them my rail pass. The rail passes are written in English and for the most part the conductors look at the passes shake their head and shrug their shoulders. They just let us sit on the train and for the most part they aren’t making us fill in the dates on our passes. We purchased 5 days of travel and so far we have used 4 of those days but have only had 2 days documented. We traveled all the way from Paris to Marseille on a TGV (high speed train) and we didn’t have to use a day of our passes. The tickets for that train run about 200 US dollars. We basically got to Marseille for free! Now we have an extra day of train travel to use when we are in Spain that we planned to pay for out of pocket.

Lunch in Arles. This fan has turned out to be the best 4 euro I ever spent.

Anyway, off to Arles then on to Nimes to spend the night. Arles turned out to be really cool. This was the place I wanted to see most in Provence and it didn’t disappoint. The city is riddled with history and we strolled around with our packs taking in the sights that ranged from Roman to Medieval to Renaissance.

The city’s claim to fame is that Van Gogh painted some of his best works and cut off his ear while living in Arles. The sun is hot here but it is very pleasant in the shade. We had lunch at a little café. I ordered something from the menu that said steak hache and frites. What came out was a baguette filled with salisbury steak and topped with French fries. Surprise, it was delicious.

Packin' it in

Around three we left Arles for Nimes. Jess and I had been lugging our packs around all day and we were exhausted by the time we got to the hotel we decided to take a shower and a nap. We took a look at the local amphitheater (the best preserved) and withdrew to the quiet cool of our hotel. The Hotel de Provence turned out to be an adorable ramshackle place with a tiny one person lift, floor to ceiling windows, and pink toilet paper. Jess and I had another two hour meal – I had real fettuccine carbonara complete with a raw egg cracked right on top. The yolk was bright orange and frankly it was a little scary. I mixed it in and miraculously it made a creamy sauce. It was very good.

Hotel de Provence. Doing laundry French style.

On our way to dinner. The hotel had these huge mirrors in every hallway.

We are on our way to Barcelona. I have been accidently speaking Spanish to every person in France and I’m looking forward to being able to read signs. I have become accustomed to the sound of French and picked up some vocab that has made things easier. It is hard to imagine that in under a week I will be headed home. I will miss this so much. But we have Spain to conquer before then.

p.s.- I know, I know I talk a lot about food. Let me know if it's annoying.

Mounting the Mont

The train to Mont St. Michel was absolutely beautiful (I know I keep saying everything is beautiful but that’s because it is!). I stared out the window as the amber and emerald French countryside slid past the window. The train was pleasantly devoid of passengers, a nice change from the crush of the Parisian metro. We got on the train at about 8 am. It was an early morning after staying up till 2 am saying goodbye to all my classmates.

We had a layover in Folligny for about an hour. We walked a little ways from the train station hoping to get something to eat. Unfortunately there was nothing to this town but a few houses so we headed back to the station. I wanted to use the bathroom but they only had one of those porcelain holes in the ground that I saw all over Egypt and Turkey. No thanks! I have no idea how to use those things. They seem like something that would take A LOT of practice. Here are a couple of pictures of Folligny.

Can someone explain this to me? It's a guy on a beach with a lighthouse in the backgrond. Is he kicking the sand? Is he dancing? Why isn't he wearing a shirt? Why would you paint this on the side of a truck? It was airbrushed by the way. Borderline amazing.

This is what there is to see in Folligny. Also, they have chickens. That's Beth on the right.

Finally our train to Pontorson arrived. I was shocked to see it had only one single car – about the size of an RV or bus. It was such a funny little train – really I didn’t know that they existed. From there it was only about 1 hour to Pontorson. We arrived to find a cute little resort town and we hopped a bus to the Mont. I had read repeatedly in guide books that Mont St. Michel is overrun with tourists but I guess that I didn’t really expect the hoards we encountered. The Mont has only narrow streets and alleyways for pedestrians. It was like Disney. You had to fall into a queue to get anywhere. Regardless of the crowds the trip was definitely worth it. The Mont springs from the sea surrounded by salt marshes as far as the eye can see. It’s built atop a rocky crag with the abbey at its summit. We had lunch and toured the abbey, cemetery, and shops then made our way back to the train station on a bus. We actually ran into two of our classmates on a tour of the abbey. Later we ran into another on the streets of Paris. It’s like I know everyone in France!

We had about a two hour layover in Dol-de-Bretagne which was the cutest little Brittany town. This region of France is near to the UK so they have a lot of British influence in their architecture. We sampled some local cider and had a sandwich. We also noticed the cathedral that the center of town and stopped info for a quick look around. I’ve spent some much time in cathedrals and churches in the past 3 weeks my grandmother must be thrilled! On a side note, I will never forget the time I was traveling with her in Greece. We were on the island of Santorini and we stopped in a little chapel to have a look around. My grandmother dipped her fingers into the holy water when we entered the church and crossed herself. Then she looked at me and started chasing me around with it trying to bless me with it. It was hilarious and something I will never forget.

Anyway, so then we took the TGV to Paris. Along the way a terrible storm broke out complete with hail and heavy winds. It reminded me so much of home. Luckily, I was safely tucked inside a train or under the streets of Paris in the Metro but apparently it was quite the storm. We saw a little flooding and wind damage to the trees as we made our way back to the hotel. Lightning lit up the sky every now and then. The thunder here sounds so funny echoing off all the buildings. It sounds hollow and it echoes on for a long time. It’s almost like when you put a shell to your ear and it sounds like the ocean. Very strange.

When we got to the hotel around 11 pm (long day!) we had a few problems checking in. We first room we were assigned didn’t have the beds made. The second was still destroyed by the prior guest. Finally the third room was clean and we collapsed into bed.

Today I slept in a little then headed out to run some errands in preparation for Jessica’s arrival. Hit the post office to ship some more things which turned out to be really easy. It was a hard process in London even without the language barrier. I was worried that Le Poste would be impossible. Turned out to be a breeze.

Should have known I was pressing my luck though. I went to the local lavarie to do laundry in preparation for the next leg of our trip. I accidentally shoved my laundry into a washing machine that had a black bathroom rug in it that belonged to some French guy. Of course I looked in the washing machine before I put my stuff in but it’s a front loader and I guess this rug was stuck to the roof of the machine so I didn’t see it. I should have shoved my arm in it and felt around before I put my clothes in. I’ll never make that mistake again. So anyway, I have no idea the rug is in there and this French guy comes in and starts trying to pull open the door of my washing machine and pushing all the buttons. I said, “Oh that’s my washer.” He spoke a little bit of English and pointed to this giant black rubber thing swirling around the washer along with everything I own including my unmentionables. This guy is pissed. Luckily there are two women from Montreal in the Laundromat who speak both English and French and they intervene and calm him down. At this point, there is still 30 minutes left on the wash cycle and we can’t get the washer to open. We were going to have to wait it out. I apologized profusely and the guy grimaced at me and left.

Fast forward 30 minutes. The wash cycle ends and the guy comes back. I pull out the rug and it’s the kind that you see in the doorways of buildings. We have them at the library. They are rubberized and are usually used commercially. This thing was mingling with my clothes for over 30 minutes creating some kind of disgusting bacterial marinade. I pulled out some of my clothes and they are covered with grit and hair. It is beyond gross. Obviously, I’m washing them again. Not the way I want to spend the day. They are just finishing their cycle now and I’m hoping that nothing is ruined. Everything I have with me is in there except for the clothes on my back.

Whew! After the second wash, everything came out just fine. Off to the Carnavalet Museum then to Charles De Gaulle to pick up Jessica!

Now that all my classmates have left and freed up the internet a little I finally got some pictures to post! Hooray!! Now i just have to go back and add pictures to all the Paris posts. I'm not sure when I'll have it finished but I'll be updating everything so make sure to take a look.