http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/ShellyAbroad/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from ShellyAbroad en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:59:20 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:59:20 +0000 Bonjour tous le mondehere are some photos of the trip to Chenonceau that I took with Phil it wasn't a long trip just about 45 minutes from Chatellerault by train. The Chateau is gorgeous and right on the Loire. We enjoyed yummy baguettes with Peanut butter and jelly in the castle's gardens. There were not very many people there except a highschool tour group of Americans... can we say hormona http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Pays-de-la-Loire/blog-122678.html 'Ello Fellow English speakersI did it I took a break much needed rather from the land of Babel lost in translation and mix up that comes with living in a foreign speaking land. Katie Kelly Carla and I decided to hop the English Channel over to the land of crumpets red phone booths tea hot accents princes too and the Queen. We all figured that Of Course London will be such a bree http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-122679.html Hitting the Alps Salut tous le monde Onward with the journey mes amies From Paris Phil and I boarded a train enroute to Chamonix in the French Alps. Immediately the adventure of the twelve hour french sleeper train commenced. One would imagine that on said train that one could most definately find a dining car...pas de problem non Try it again buddy. After getting prepped for a night on th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Rh-ne-Alpes/Chamonix/blog-118209.html From under the Eiffel Tower to the most beautiful Gothic Cathedral....Phil and I continued on and took a day trip to the infamous Chartres Cathdrale de NotreDamea special merci to the Dimons The cathedral is a must see on any visit to France. Only about an hour by train from Paris and you can see one of the most if not the most beautiful examples of Gothic architecture in Europe. There ar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Centre/Chartres/blog-121504.html Bonne Anne Happy New Year What a way to ring in 2007 Once back in Paris and reunited with my buddies from abroad including an exciting new addition who some of you might know as Phil the festivities began. We started off the Happy New Year Happy Hour in the hotel with lots of red wine champagne fine french fromage and baguettes and of course les chocolat. Once we were completely fire http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-118198.html Updates are on the way more photos are yet to be uploaded just wait Hello Friends from around the world I apologize for going under the radar lately internet is very sloooww here in my town and makes updates difficult. More blogs and photos are coming though so no need to fret The next several blogs are about my vacation for the Christmas hoolidays Germany Paris the Alps around France http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Hamburg/Hamburg/blog-118195.html Dobr Jitro EveryoneAfter the few days in Budapest we moved onNext up was Prague which meant back on the beloved autocar but this time our sentence was only 12 hours this thrilled me Once in Prague we had to regroup yet again change currency yet againand try and figure out the Signs all in Czech yet again...Whern we arrive to our hotel I was a little worried when I saw and smelled the i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-103338.html Szervusztok from Hungary I recently got back from a trip to Eastern Europe. A good thing about the frenchies is that they take a lot of vacations and time offTeachers work an average of 18 hours a week and usually have three day weekendsIf the grueling work week is too much to handle the government gladlysecures several national holidays in which everything is closed downthis includes all pu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-103337.html This past weekend I took a short visit with Katie and Kelly to Tours a city between my town and Paris. I love highspeed trains the ride only took 45 minutes We just stayed for one night but we packed in a lot of fun times. Tours lies in the beautiful valley of the Loire river and is a jumping off point for visits to chateaux in quaint medieval towns. We went straight to the small town of Ambois http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Centre/Tours/blog-95536.html Bonjour to you from Chatellerault It was a complicated trip from Paris to Chatellerault but I made it after a noshow taxi and bolt through the Paris train station that ended in a missed train and a purchase of an entirely new ticket. Isabelle my supervisor here at the highschool picked me and Kelly up from the train station and welcomed us into her home. She cooked us a big dinner yum The http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Poitou-Charentes/Ch-tellerault/blog-94539.html Salut mes amiesAre you hanging on for more tales of excitement hmmm and mishaps definitely while your friend Shelly putzes around France I left off while I was still in Paris..... Among the many sites seen in Paris I can not forget to includeLa SainteChapelleWe learned about this beautiful cathedral in Medieval studies with Dr. Spear Middle Ages Extraordinaire. Under Louis IX construct http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-93995.html Bonjour everyone I have not fallen off the face of the Earth in fact just the opposite Finding my way to a computer was difficult while in Paris so blogging never happened. In an attempt to fill you all in on the travels thus far I have written several blogs to document the past two weeks. So far this journey has seemed like a sample from a chapter of a book titled How to Survive Unexpected http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-92510.html Hey everyone I bought my plane ticket to Paris I will flying in a month and Kelly is meeting me there. We will spend about 5 days exploring the city before we head through the Loire Valley and into Poitiers where we will teach English. Please make a note that I am changing my Travelblog Nickname to ShellyAbroad My NZ Fiji blogs will still be visible but under the new blog address at www.trave http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/North-Carolina/Hendersonville/blog-81736.html Hi FriendsHope everyone is doing well... Here are some photos of a hike to John Rock in the beautiful Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. Also on the hike were Grace and Anna two of my housemates. We hiked for about a total of 3 hours and then went to a swimming hole at a waterfall near by. brr...the water is cold up here It was a great half day trip and I hope to get my hike on again soo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/North-Carolina/Hendersonville/blog-77219.html Once we got into our second rental car affectionately named Hot Tamale we were back in action. This time we had brakes that worked and a radio plus a Coldplay tape we got from the cottage. Our drive was about 3 hours long. From the Bay of Islands on the Pacific we were headed west to Ahipara on the Tasman. Along the way we stopped at Matauri Bay in the Bay of Islands and spent a few hours http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Bay-of-Islands/blog-28816.html HHi EveryoneI'm at Endless Summer Lodge in Ahipara on ninety mile beach. The hostel is straight out of a surfer flick. Right on the beach hammocks out front boards in the back smells like sun tan lotion and sand. We went sand boarding on the huge sand dunes nearby which was quite hot and sandy....and not as exhilarating as I imagined. We walked about 45 minutes in low tide to get to the sand http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-28817.html I returned from my trip to New Zealand and Fiji in November 2005. I was busy with finishing college and neglected the last entry to my travel blog...i received several comments from blog readers asking to be put back in the loop so here it is my Final blog Feel free to leave a comment Since my first blog entry in June 2005 ShellyinWellyNZ has been viewed a total of 7156 times and over http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Yasawa-Islands/blog-45176.html Hi everyone You know you are in paradise when its beautiful even when it is pouring down rain. Apparently our trip falls in the monsoon season so we have been experiencing some rain After breakfast on South Sea the rains started coming in and the little island became a really wet and windy place. Rachel and I thought we should do a 'sun dance' to get the sun to shine. We said Movai fijian fo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Yasawa-Islands/blog-32407.html Hey friends If you ever want to escape I suggest coming to Fiji...the land is everything one would expect gorgeous untouched and absolutely heavenly. But in my opinion it is the people who make this country of islands so wonderful and so unique. Fijians are often referred to as th friendliest people on Earth...and I can assure you it is the truth Everyperson I have encountered is full of http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Yasawa-Islands/blog-28820.html The three hour plane ride from Auckland NZ to Nadi Fiji gave me a chance to transition from my experience in NZ to looking foward to my time in Fiji. Flying over the south pacific i was expecting to see a glimpse of several little green spots floating in a deep blue sea which I imagined was Fiji in the Pacific. But as the plane approached I was surprised at how large the islands really seemed http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Yasawa-Islands/blog-28818.html