Strasbourg

Next stop - Strasbourg. The Capital of Europe.
In Strasbourg I was hosted by a friendly young couple who are currently making their own plans to travel the world.
They took me out to some fun bars where we listened to live music - lots of violins, accordions and clarinets - and drank rose flavoured beer.

The next day we went to "The Park of Two Shores". There you can walk across a bridge to Germany... which i did. And the German garden was a little neater. But the French one had heaps more cool stuff. Like pumpkins growing out of blue glass and giant chairs and a table. There were also fun swings to play on.

Later that day I got a tour or Strasbourg from a friendly Moroccan.


That night he took me to an Irish pub where Ireland were playing Namibia in the world cup. In return for my tour, I was able to explain the rules of rugby.

And then it was Monday, and i had to go to Germany to work.

Marseilles

I left Brittany and headed south for Marseilles, determined to get to the Mediterranean, even though i only had a few days before i had to be in Germany. The train ride was pretty, although delayed so i didn't arrive till well after dark.

My host was a very friendly doctor, originally from Berlin. He recommended some good places to go walking to get out of the city. So, the next day, I set off for the city and discovered it was full of All Blacks supporters! Marseilles has a very Italian feel to it - or perhaps it's just a Mediterranean thing. It felt muchlivelier than the north of France, and of course, it was much much hotter!



The hoards of NZers (and French pretending to be) soon drove me out of town to the Calanques. In less than an hour i was in a tiny fishing village on the edge of beautiful white rocks falling into the blue blue sea.

I walked along the rocks, there were quite a few boats out fishing, and a few other people walking.

I walked until i found my own private beach, where i swam and got stung by a jellyfish!

Then it was time to make my way back to town for a big Hospitality Club meeting.

Marseilles won me over and i will be back in the South of France as soon as i can!

Mont Saint Michel

Mont St. Michel is this amazing abby on the north-west coast of France. The tide was out so i took a walk on the muddy sand to escape the hoards of tourists. Here's some pics and a video too!

Paris

I've been staying with Dominic in Paris for the last 6 days.
It's been a little bit overwhelming after spending the last two and a half weeks in a town of 620 people. So many people, buildings towering over everything and a language that i wish i spoke.
Dominic lives in a beautiful apartment with its own private fountain in the courtyard below. There are patisseries and fruit & vege shops on every corner. Everyone is very well dressed.
Walking around the Luxembourg Gardens on Tuesday it felt like the whole city was on holiday. The parked was packed with people reading, pinicing, playing petanqué, sailing mini boats, eating, wandering, socialising.... and so on.
Dominic is a bit of a night owl so we've been hanging out in some great bars and getting up late.

On Friday i went to Versailles - wow, that is one grandiose place. Despite the hoards of tourists i still managed to find myself alone in corners of the gardens, imagining i was a princess running away from my tapestries.

On Saturday we wandered througha street antique market and afterwards went to La Fayette-a huge department store with rediculous prices and some awesome shoes.

After a night of discussions about French politics and history and of course lots of wine and food i slept extremely well and on Sunday i visited the Pompidou Centre. I liked it much more than the Louvre i think.

Later on Sunday dom and i met up with Helen and Nic and now i am staying with them in Rennes. Helen and Nic are both primary school teachers and today Nic took me to school with him and i sang "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" many times!