Say hell to my 'Lidl' friend

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I am starting this journal entry on a bumpy, hot train and typing it on word ready to copy and paste later, said train is the one from Paris st Lazare - Valognes (Normandy) and not the overnight train we got a few days ago which could also be described as being in the same condition.

The last week has been one of the best weeks since we started travelling, the short visit from Nick and Col was amazing and seeing familiar english speaking faces was exactally what we needed, wombats hostel was great and deserves all the good reviews it gets, everything from the cosy lounge area equipt with hammocks and the one euro beer during happy hour were spot on. During the boys 2 day mini holiday we went to a fairytale castle which was beautiful so took many photos but was a little disapointed with the 12 euro tour. We also went to Munich olympic stadium which made chief Lidl bag carrier Col a very happy young man and went up an observation tower. Aswell as these places we downed many 1/2 litres of german beer (im going to miss that) and ate delicious food and enjoyed one of our meals at the famous hofbrohaus which was top on my 'to do' list. All in all an expensive but great few days which ultimatly made me realise how much i miss home but also how much i love travelling.

We dropped Nick and Col off @ the airport as the ticket they purchased was valid for up to 5 people and then had another 7 hours to kill before the night train, despite checking out of wombats at 10am as instructed we still managed to sneak into the lounge room and do some internety stuff to make sure we knew where we were going next and our hosts knew we were coming.

The 10.46 train from Munich - Paris East was the next journey, our first glimpse of the train automatically told us we were in for a long night and we were right, the train was hot, cramped and noisey and sleeping was pratically impossible even allowing for the fact that i had had 4 hostel nights with just a few hours of sleep and was un-naturally exhausted. The 11 hours seemed that long and not a second shorter and we couldnt wait to reach our 'desinger' hostel and have a shower, change out of the clothes we had been wearing 26 hours and get some sleep before exploring Paris. On arrival at OOOPS hostel we learnt that nobody was allowed to be in the room between 11-4 for cleaning - so now showers or naps for us then, instead we explored in dirty clothes, baggy eyes, less luggage and less money.

During this time we walked around for 6 hours and climbed the Eiffel tower - 700 steps up and 700 down, the photos of me look terrible and im not even sure im awake in half of them but the weather was gorgeous and the city was somewhere new.

Yesterday we went to notre-dame and to jim morrisons grave - the cemetary was huge and most people around were looking lost and confused with maps in their hands, we caught the metro back to our hostel as our feet had well and truly done enough walking around. We finally was given the key card to room 103 and lugged our luggage to the tiny room which was nicely decorated and minamalistic - i guess it got the title 'designer' because of the cow print walls, sinks that are flat, rainbow coloured seating area and bright red statement shower curtains but no awards for 'practical' or 'affordable' - there were no lockers, no seats or desks and no little personal bedside lamps so lights could not be switched off until everyone was ready to sleep so in concusion prob not worth 120 euros.

We are now in normandy and watching english tv!! first time in 10weeks! and are at our next host which is a carefully selected english lady called Jackie, the house is right near a very prettty beach and im excited to explore the area and get to know Jackie and marmalade the cat, i can smell lasagne cooking...

SARAH X

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