Blogs from France, Europe - page 1592

This is the last retroactive posts to be filled; the date is not the date I wrote it, but the last date of being in Paris, since we were there fore 3 nights. Before I go into the details of what we did in Paris, our journey there was very eventful since there was apparently a strike going on, starting the night before we were departing Interlaken (who has scheduled strikes with a begin and end date?). So there was apparently a good possibility that when we left our connecting train in Geneva, we might be there for a while since the train to Paris might be cancelled. Turns out our train happened to be just fine, so it was packed full of people who had been on cancelled trains, but we got to Paris just ... read more

We hadnt been on holiday for quite some time - 2001 to be exact and our holiday to the USA. What had happened in between was house hunting and house moving which got in the way on holidaying. We moved into our new house in 2001 just before we flew to Chicago and whilst the house seemed a good idea at the time gradually we began to realise it just wasnt what we wanted or needed. For a start we had two cars and a van. The house only had a small garage and drive and this meant that the van had to sit across the road which was hardly convenient. The estate seemed fairly quiet to begin with but gradually more and more houses were being built and with this more and more families moved ... read more

Ce qu'il advient demain, dans tous les cas, on ne le sait que demain. Parfois, on ne reussit à "comprendre" le signe que lorsque nous voyons l'évènement qui aurait été évité si nous l'avions compris avant, si simplement notre esprit avait été assez ouvert. J'essaie de mon mieux à ce que mon esprit ne se ferme pas, et je suis tres vigilant quand je m'entends penser qu'une chose est définitive ! Rien ne l'est, c'est la premiere verite des bouddhistes : ***l'Impermanence de toutes choses*** En ce moment, les signes sont là, mais ils le sont toujours, en réalité, c'est simplement nous qui sommes plus ou moins ouvert. La plupart du temps, notre vie n'exige pas de nous qu'on se retrouve dans une impasse, confronté a des choix douloureux, et là, que l'on s'ouvre (ou pas), ... read more

Cara here- I'm taking over the keyboard since it is too painful to watch Eric type! Today, we conquered the Louvre-- we decided to go late since that is when the crowds are supposedly less crazy. In order to prepare, we had a quiet day-- Eric found another outdoor market, and I snuck out shopping! I went to Etam, the French version of "H&M"-- although there is one of those on every street corner as well. I also rewarded myself with a handbag-- I was very excited and didn't need Eric to translate for me: "I want THAT, please" works just as well in english. =) The Louvre was... large. Apparently, it is where they keep all the art. And I do mean ALL the art. Did you know they had something called the "Mona Lisa" ... read more

Well, let's see where I left off... Nice at the hostel Hotel Paradis. Nice is a very cool city. It is a hard city to put into words. It's a mix of French and Italian cultures and I'm assuming that is why they call it the French Riviera. You have all of the traditional french stores and customs but it has that mediterranean flair of Italy. To get here you have to pass thru the Pyrenees mountains and that gives it's own little micro climate. The winters are really mild and in the summer it never gets really hot. I spent most of my time in what is known as "old town." It is literaly that... the oldest part of the town. Apparently until 10-15 yrs ago it was nothing but a trashy slum, but now ... read more