news from England, no. 2

I've been a bit knocked out by the Willesden Green Flu but trying to have a good time anyway. Not easy. I've been sleeping a lot and getting out of the house in the late afternoon. Today I went to see Artia again (friend from high school) who took me to a really cool place called the ICA. Don't remember what that stands for. Very useful I know. Sorry about that. Anyway, have a look at my pix. I've taken some lovely ones. Now that I've figured out what was wrong with the camera. Thanks Brigitte! love to you all and see you soon. E

news from England, no. 1

Hey fans. I am really not up to much today... have been flattened by
the infamous Willesden Green Flu!

Quick recap: Wednesday St-Malo, lovely lovely lovely. Rented a pretty red beach cruiser at the hostel (which is truly excellent, my favourite so far. really close to the beach, nice facilities, friendly staff) and rode along the beach to the old town, where I enjoyed my final Breton meal before leaving the continent. mmmm. Back to watch the sun set over the ocean and hit the sack early.

Thursday morning I headed off to Portsmouth via ferry, 8 hours wasted. won't be doing that next time... Portsmouth -- bus to London -- arrive at Sarah's -- collapse in a heap. Friday I wander around Hyde Park for several hours and take a quick tour bus ride. Saturday we went to Brighton. Which is okay I guess. Probably a great place if you're 20 years old and it's summer time. Yesterday, Sunday, I hooked up with an old high school friend who lives here now. He took me to East London, which I adored: Columbia Road Flower Market, Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane. Crowded energetic chaotic fun.

Well today I'm not in top shape, so we are off to a very late start, but we'll probably have a chance to do a thing or two before I collapse once again.
ta ta then!

nouvelles de la france, no. 3

Hi all
little catching up to do. Had a hard time prying myself away from Angers... (was it the free private room? was it the adorable kids? was it fear of improvising? or was it pure laziness?)

Finally got a train Sunday evening for Le Croisic. Approaching the town I could see the countryside changing -- oh wow I'm going to the ocean I'm going to the ocean I'm going to the ocean yay! Salt marshes everywhere, didn't see any paludiers (salt farmers? what do they call those guys in English anyway?) in action -- the French take Sundays pretty seriously -- but it was still exciting to know my fancy salt came from around here.

Ah Le Croisic! Lovely tiny sweet town full of old people (don't get offended, mom...). I reserved a room and a taxi from the train. Really nice taxi driver appears to be the only one in town, travels around with her super-licky dog in a minivan. Castel Moor: cheapo ugly decor, not very good food, inconsistent service. But the view is fabulous, I can smell the salt air and hear the scary scavenging birds preparing to attack from my room. Love it love it love it.

Since Le Croisic is lovely but limited, I decide to head to Nantes the next day (Monday). My idea was to leave my stuff in the storage locker, put the bare essentials in my backpack, and travel around seeing stuff until I have to be in St Malo on Wednesday. Goddamned baggage scanner was out of service at Nantes. I call the Nantes Youth Hostel and they're closed until 4 pm. rrrrrrrrr. I decide to go to
Rennes. With an hour and a half to kill before the train to Rennes I leap into a taxi and ask the driver to show me around Nantes. The very nice but unwashed man gave me a quick tour -- cathedral, castle, Place Something, fine arts museum, city hall, zoom zoom zoom.

ok Rennes. University town. Young revelers everywhere. Lots of dogs on string too. hmmm. The hostel is nice, right on a canal, with really nice people working there and an interesting mix of travelers from all over the place. I decide to settle in for 2 days. Go out for a really heavy meal on Monday night, yummy traditional Breton food. Tuesday I head to Vannes and took a 3-hour cruise in the Golfe du Morbihan. Next time I have to go for the longer tour. It was fantastic. Gotta love those 7,000-year-old rocks! Ok back to Rennes. I decide to put earplugs in for sleeping to block out the noisy Germans who gather outside the window most of the night. Bad move. I slept through everything, right up until 15 minutes before I'm supposed to clear out of my room!

Ok this is too long. More soon. E

nouvelles de la france, no. 2

yikes. sorry it's been a while I haven't written, but many crazy things have been happening. I did the Paris scooter tour with Franck on Saturday, which was fabulous, though a bit scary at times (I will NEVER drive in Paris!!). We sped by every single monument there was to see, and spent some time in two of the coolest neighbourhoods, Le Marais and Montmartre. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I wandered around the city -- the flea market (wow!), Saint Germain, fancy Passy, ritzy Neuilly, and icky Clichy. The Youth Hostel wasn't so great, but I met a few nice people visiting from around the world, which is always cool.

Wednesday I said bubye to Paris and dragged my sorry self and huge bag to Montparnasse. Left my bag in a locker and indulged in a quick shopping frenzy before jumping on the train. Then Angers. Herveline bought a lovely house with her husband in downtown Angers and I got my OWN ROOM! Paradise. Thursday morning when I woke up Herveline informed me that her grandmother had passed away during the night and that she was going to have to leave ASAP. So much for all our plans. Oh well, these things happen. Now I'm reorganizing my trip, trying to figure out where I want to go over the next few days. She's only leaving tomorrow, so I did have Thursday to get lost in Angers (tried to find the castle and somehow didn't get there) and today we went to Saumur. Gorgeous. We visited the castle, checked out some wacky underground
scuptures, and admired the river. A perfect day. The rain started as we were heading back to Angers so we're hanging out at home with the kidlets. Tomorrow I should be able to do some more visiting.

when I have a chance I'll put some more photos up. Most of them seem a bit fuzzy, which is probably due to my inability to figure out Sophia's camera. Well at least the memories are sharp and clear.

more news soon. I smooch you.

nouvelles de la france, no. 1

hey gang! (pls forward to whoever wants to read this crap)

keyboqrds different here ,qybe I should just go qheqd qnd type the
sq,e qnd leqve it up to you to decipher: did you get thqt?

no? ok I'll make an effort.

Arrived yesterday morning, at Charles-de-Gaulle, having not slept much at all in the plane. Pure torture. Went outside, bent over to get something out of my carry-on and toppled over from the weight of my backpack! I just sat there giggling, then a lovely couple asked me if I needed help up. I said no thank you and that I needed to get used to it. And they understood me! And I thought my accent would be so impossible that I would end up having to use sign language! Maybe it won't be that bad after all!

Franck picked me up at the Gare du nord on his scooter so I could leave my stuff at his place in Montmartre and then go out and stimulate my senses to fight the extreme fatigue. In town I wandered along the Champs elysées in a stupour, stopping occasionally to check out the various public washroom options. I encountered an interesting variety, covering the full spectrum in terms of style and cleanliness.
it was raining so I didn't do as much walking outdoors as I would have liked, but it is truly lovely nonetheless. I stopped for a coffee and entertained the locals by asking what they call a "briquet" here. (It's called a "briquet")

First French meal last night at l'Olivier in Montmartre. I held back and did not order all of the richest food on the menu, but I did spoil myself with a lovely magret de canard. The staff was adorable, charming atmosphere, a guy wandering around with a guitar singing French classics (everyone singing along except me -- just like in Mexico).

Today we're going on a scooter tour to check out a bunch of places the names of which I cannot remember. There was Saint Somebody, and then Saint Somebody Else, followed by a stop at Saint Number Three. The weather seems to be holding up for now, but the forecast says rain so I will have my raincoat with me.

I don't know why all of my pictures from day one look like garbage (maybe my camera was jetlagged too) but there you go.