I never meant to stay in Calais. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. I just didn’t’ mean to stay there. But with my first taste of driving in rain on the scooter, total darkness, a new, non-English speaking country, and 100 miles from my destination --- I decided to call it a day. Besides, this trip is supposed to be enjoyable, not unnecessarily dangerous. So after crossing the channel, I stopped for fuel, or “essence,” as they call it in France, and asked for directions to the nearest hostel. The attractive young cashier mistook me for a Frenchman, and ratt [View Full Entry]

---

---

I've threatened it before, but this time it's true. I've got fond of this TravelBlog site, but it no longer really reflects what I do.... journeys all the way to the veg. patch or Lavelanet market don't really count as Travel with a big T, I don't think. So I've started a blog in Wordpress, called Life in Laroque. Try www.margaret21.wordpress.com if you'd like to have a look. It would be good to hear from you there. [View Full Entry]

---

---

My dear colleague is certainly the most dedicated, experienced and trained person I have ever worked with. I know how much he/she is devoted to our "guests" and our duties. I wrote a letter to him/her asking for his/her expertise, knowing how hard it was for him/her to find even a few seconds of his/her time. But he/she is so knowledgeable about so many sensitive fields that I really felt in need of his/her advice. I had no answer to my letter and I could dig that out easily. We are busy. I just don't get how he/she found time to [View Full Entry]

---

---

I am back from my trip to Nepal since 05 november. I came back with an unshaved beard and long hair. I made no change in my way of commenting my daily life and in my peaceful approach to it since my post publishing on O3 and here. But what is the link with the bearded, depressive guy of 2002 and 2003 who got complete shave and hair cut when french laws came to autorize taping and filming privates.NONE. If there is any, then what does it mean? That I am still not having a complete control of what should be [View Full Entry]

---

---

A MUST for anyone who likes waves! A long weekend in Biaritz is really more than enough to discover and enjoy this very charming coastal town giving onto the Atlantic. My advice would be to check the weather forecast before going there. Because like all beach towns giving onto an open ocean, when the wind blows...It ain't a joke! The atmosphere is vibrant and young, eventhough there is a lot of JetSet hanging around. There is a great selection of restaurants, not to mention shopping of any type. You can stay in one of the many Bed & Breakfasts, or choose [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 1 Me and my roommate, Caryn and our friend, Ben, on our abroad program went to Paris this past weekend. We flew into Paris Friday morning through AirFrance. We got in around 9:30am but we spent 2 hours in traffic on the way to the hotel. I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep so i was frustrated but once we were out of traffic it was fine. We got to the hotel, we stayed at Le Meridien. It was very very nice and everyone was so nice to us and helped us out a lot. The rooms were also [View Full Entry]

---

---

The most scenic way to burn 700-800 calories Yesterday my roommate and I hiked from our apartment in Cimiez to Ville-Franche (the next town over from Nice) and took the Sentier Littoral. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! It was sunny and warm--for most of the day I wore just a tshirt, and it's almost the end of November! So we walked down from our apartment through town to the port, and then when we hiked around the cap of Nice past Coco Beach to the Sentier Littoral trail head. The trail is a lot of fun, not quite real hiking [View Full Entry]

---

---

It’s a strange life!! For the past few weeks after daylight saving finished in Europe we had been waking in the morning quite late,sometimes not until 8am even.Yet this morning,without a car for the first time in months to get to our next destination,we are awake at 5.30am!!!And all this because we had programmed out minds to think that we must be awake so we can get prepared and over to the station so we don’t miss our train to Paris at 9.30am, four hours away!! We did manage to get some further shuteye before we got serious about rising at [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today - The Mairie of the 14th is a striking building, very symmetrical and pleasing to the eye. It sits at the end of a pretty, well cared for park, a place of comparative silence, far away from the bustle of the Denfert Rochereau metro station and the rattle of the RER trains. Venture into the Mairie and you will probably be engaged for some time as there are not many visitors, it seems, yet the staff are very friendly and anxious to please. Ask lots of questions - you will lighten up their day! But, further afield is the Montparnasse [View Full Entry]

---

---

The really great thing about the 14th is that you can escape all of the hubbub of central Paris if you want to in the parc Montsouris. It's big enough to get lost in and the lake is probably the best inside the Periphérique. So, I've included a few more pictures and some of the pretty houses in the streets nearby: a quiet neighbourhood. And, after a trip to Rennes for the weekend, upon our return to Montparnasse TGV station, we decided to have a cocktail at the top of the Tour Montparnasse (strictly speaking in the 15th, but right on [View Full Entry]

---

---