After missing my early-morning flight to Amsterdam (thanks, in part to the 10-minute check-out process at the hostel, and not entirely to a *slight* sleep-in) and spending another day roaming around Prague, I finally made it here Tuesday night. Since the French countryside hadn't offered many opportunities for legendary European partying, I had timed my arrival to coincide with Queensday in the Netherlands - a national celebration of the Queen's birthday that turns all of Amsterdam into an outdoor club on the last two days of April each year. With Koert (already featured in last year's [diar [View Full Entry]

---

---

I had all but given up on seeing my Czech friend, Jana, while I was in Prague. After convincing myself she was probably okay and had just forgotten about my arrival, I went about making the most of my stay at Chili Hostel. My second night, which was supposed to be quiet and "responsible" despite its being a Saturday, turned wild after I relieved my two Kiwi friends from a bottle of wine they could no longer bear to drink. I planned on drinking no more than a couple of glasses before bed, but soon found myself having profound conversations with [View Full Entry]

---

---

“All’s well that ends well,” said my Grade 3 teacher, Mrs. Karr, after losing one of my workbooks, vehemently blaming me for having lost it, and then finding it again while cleaning her desk. As an eight year-old I wasn’t convinced that story had ended well, but I’ve taken to repeating this phrase often over the last few years - every time everything seems to be going wrong but ends up working out. I used it most recently upon arrival at Prague Airport, where I thought I was supposed to meet an old friend from my Japan days who seems to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Juju and the young Ls waved me off, old-style minus the hankies, at Maintenon train station Thursday as I ended six months of attempting to become French. Obviously, it made me more Canadian than ever, but I still felt a little twinge of regret as the train doors closed and we closed this cohabitative chapter of our lives. I made sure to pay close attention to the verdant fields and forests between Maintenon and Paris as I rode by them for the last time; and by the time I met up with Yael, L-Daddy’s little sister and my dinner date, I [View Full Entry]

---

---

Six months. It took me six months and the decision to go back to Canada before I finally visited another Calgary friend, Quentin, living just an overnight bus ride (less by any other, more expensive mode of transportation) from Paris in the middle of the stunningly Rockies-like Swiss Alps. And if I had been more organized, I might not be leaving France as I expect to next Friday. As we stood on the edge of Lac Leman last Friday morning catching up about the three years that had passed since we met through the Calgary Outdoors Club and discussing the similar [View Full Entry]

---

---

In honour of half of L-Daddy's family being born between March 30th and April 2nd, the entire clan gathered at a countryside guesthouse in Normandy for a three-in-one celebration. Under grey skies we gathered at the Grange St. Leger , an old restored and immaculately decorated barn where owners Mary and Denis Roussel welcome guests as members of their own family. If the weather was disappointing, our hearts were warmed and our moods brightened by their quaint rooms, fireside lounge and easy chit-chat about the history of the area, the names of their anim [View Full Entry]

---

---

Gaudi; what a guy. A name I've heard many times, I actually had no idea how important he was before my trip last weekend to Barcelona, much less imagined he had shaped and represented the culture of an entire city with his mosaics! If you're bad with name associations, as I am, you might say "aha!" upon seeing his colourful sculptures of geckos and curvaceous candy-colored buildings. Either way, if you visit Barcelona, there is no escaping his omnipresent style. I ended up there quite on a whim after impulsively booking a cheap flight aboard Europe's infamous low-cost carrier, RyanAir. [View Full Entry]

---

---

After five months of saving, one month of planning and seventeen hours in transit, Turkey welcomed my Calgary friend, Jordin, and me with open arms; but not without first testing our resolve to be there. After waltzing too easily through Immigration and baggage pick-up at 11pm, we prepared to slide into our rental car and drive off into the breezy ocean-scented night. An hour later, sitting in an Antalyan police station, our watery eyes made contact over steaming glasses of tea, half laughing and half sighing that maybe we should take another stab at a seamless arrival. Next to us, the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi All! One last entry from my TravelBlog account to let you know that I'm switching to a more sedentary blog address to write about my French adventures. Come and find me at . As you've probably noticed, I won't be blogging as JapanEms anymore...I needed to find a more appropriate globe-trotting name for myself. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for you), with Blogger I won't be able to send e-mail notices every time I update, but I hope you'll check out my page sometimes when you think of me. Also, I'm waiting for my recently-repaired cam [View Full Entry]

---

---

I have a confession to make: I am a travel addict. I thought a trip to Japan would relieve my curiosity about life on the other side of the world, but it has only worsened my condition. I am writing from a country house in the county of Changé - not even in Chartres and too small to have been listed in the Travelblog locations list - and I am 4 days into an 11-month stint as a nanny. While my friends are home building careers and buying condos, I am on the road again, spending my savings and pedalling backwards [View Full Entry]

---

---