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Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Lyon September 7th 2004

Hi all you special people, finally I've got time to sit down and write an update! Everything has been really busy here, since we only had a week to hang out before class started. Oh and by the way, french keyboards totally suck, so please excuse any speeling or grammatical errors ;) First of all, partly just to gloat, gotta say how hot it is here at the moment. We don't have a tv, so no weather reports but my guess would be upwards of mid twenties every day! No need for any more than shorts/skirt and a singlet. People also dress up here alot more than at home. SO onto the stuff we've been doing. Basically Cat (also from Otago) and Torse (my australian roommate) and I have been hanging out lots and seeign heaps ... read more

Europe » France » Alsace September 7th 2004

Washing day! It took us a while to figure out that a Laundromat is called a “Laverie” but we eventually made the connection. The Laverie would not be a bad idea for a second income if you live in the area. It was all coin operated, with a mobile phone number on the wall if anything went wrong. Yet another warm, sunny day in Alsace. According to our mate Paul, it was raining back home, which is wonderful for our garden. After our entertaining morning of clothes washing, we took a drive to the Ballon D’Alsace, which is the second highest peak in the Vosges mountain range. We went to the Ballon, via the town of Thann. Wonderful views from the top of the peak and a lovely statue of Joan of Arc looking toward Lorraine ... read more
Ballon d'Alsace
Ballon d'Alsace
Ballon d'Alsace

Europe » France » Alsace » Niedermorschwihr September 6th 2004

Today was a very special day! At 11am, precisely as arranged my distant cousin Jean arrived to collect us from our hotel. He was accompanied by his friends Danni, Christine and Jacque from Paris and Nice respectively. They took a quick tour around Bergheim and then met us at our car so we could follow them to Niedermorschwihr, not far from Colmar. There we met Jean’s wife Beatrice and her cousin Lilly (actually Nelly). I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about meeting them, or was it just anxiety and excitement? We joined them for a lovely lunch and Beatrice exclaimed happily to her friends that I had a striking resemblance to my Uncle Max who they had met a number of times over the last 20 years or so. I also liked ... read more

Europe » France » Alsace September 3rd 2004

Had breakfast at the hotel, breads, croissants, jam, coffee, orange juice. Then we drove to Colmar. The scenery was spectacular, vineyards as far as the eye can see, mountains and wonderful medieval villages. Colmar was interesting, a bustling town full of tourists. Like Amsterdam, it has no high rise buildings and lots of quaint streets. We parked in a parking station and had trouble finding our way to the street. A guy in his mid fifties, who we presumed was French, pointed us to the exit. We wandered about, and then grabbed a coffee near the cathedral. We spotted the guy from the car park with his wife and gave them a wave. I invited them to join us for coffee in my best French and then found out they are from Kent in England! We ... read more
Haut Konigsbeorg
Alsace beer is a good drop!
Mmm Rob looks a little serious

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Lyon September 2nd 2004

hi everyone, well finally found the uni computer lab but this will have to be quick cos ive gotta go meet my roommate back in the courtyard to walk home. she's called torse, like wars, short for victoria and is australian but very lovely! i think it's gonna be good living with her. our appartment is pretty cool, quite central and a good size room. tiny kitchen, just an alcove off the path past the bathroom towards the nmain living/sleeping area. we went grocery shopping this morning, everything is so different and cool. lyon is absolutely beautiful. cat a girl from french at otago and i went shopping at la Part Dieu yesterday, this huge shopping mall right by this huge tower called le crayon. very ugly. its really hot here, especially in this lab....im sweltering. ... read more

Europe » France » Alsace » Strasbourg September 2nd 2004

Slept ok but our room was close to a few nightclubs and a small casino so it was a bit noisy. Took a walk about and found myself in a hair salon with my fingers crossed as a young gay hairdresser commenced to cut and colour my hair. It was a funny experience, he with no English and me with my wonderful French I had learnt 28 years ago and never used until now! The result was interesting after about two hours I had almost bright red hair that looked something like I had stuck my fingers in a light socket. Obviously my attempts to say I would just like a trim please did not translate well! So, with my new look we headed from Strasbourg to find the village of Bergheim, about one hours drive ... read more
New look
Hillside above Bergheim
Hillside aove Bergheim

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris August 31st 2004

Decided to go to Paris with Vix for a weekend of shopping, eating and sightseeing. We arrived in Paris in the early evening and from the airport we cook a coach to central Paris where we then took a taxi to our hotel. It was only around 9pm, so we decided to go out and get something to eat and also walk about Paris for a bit. It was pretty wet when we first arrived in Paris, but when we were walking, it turned out to be pretty nice. The shops were all closed, but that was a good thing!!! After walking about a bit we went to eat at a Bistro down a nice looking cobbled street! The food was great and Vix and I talked for a long time about everything! It's amazing ... read more
Paris Street
Paris Traffic
Champs Elysees

Europe » France August 30th 2004

I returned to the west a skeleton. Over the course of a year in China I had somehow managed to lose 25 pounds. I am still not quite sure how it could have happened. I was living in a country famed for its cuisine and because of the nice exchange rate I could order a meal akin to my families thanksgiving dinner every night of the week for a miniscule amount of money. Yet, regardless of how much I ate, my dwindling frame continued to shrink. It didn’t make sense. France was the perfect answer for this. I would be entering a land filled with hundreds of cheeses, fresh baguettes, chocolate croissants and herbed meats. If this mixture of foods didn’t fix me up I didn’t know what would. And sure enough, after a couple of ... read more
The Village
Fromage Warrior
Holding Down the Hut

Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Lille August 28th 2004

Sue's official hen weekend trip on the Eurostar to Lille with the chosen few ! Beaucoup de vin rouge and moules mariniere. ... read more

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris August 26th 2004

You can't go to Europe without visiting Paris. Cobbled streets, delicious food and delightfully strange people, what is there not to love? The city itself is full of history and gorgeous scenes from the past. My first visit to Paris was shortly after I arrived in London, for Bjorn's 30th birthday. From London, the cheapest and easiest way to get to Paris is via Eurostar. The Eurostar Terminal in Paris is located at Gare du Nord, which is right in the heart of Paris. From the main train station, the Metro is just a short navigation through (sometimes) confusing tunnels. The Metro itself is fairly easy to navigate, if not a little confusing when it comes to trying to figure out where the hell you should be going (there are a lot of stations) but once ... read more




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