A quick overview of the last little while:

Went back to Paris for 3 days.

Skied for a couple of days in Innsbruck, Austria.

Hung out in Munich with Moritz for a day or two.

Flew from Frankfurt to Bangkok the 5th December.

Met Mum and Dad in Bangkok.

Got major culture shock and jet lag on arriving in Thailand.

Travelled across the Thai border into Laos.

Trekked to a Laotian tribal village in Luang Num Tha.

Travelled to Luang Prabang - Sightseeing, night markets, lots of monks and temples.

Currently in Vang Vieng - Rode an inner tube 6km down a river yesterday, partied at the “Smile Bar”on the river’s edge last night with abunch of other backpackers.

Leaving for Vientiane (capital of Laos) today.

Will go into more detail at a later date when I have more time and of course there are photos coming. (I have 250 on my memory card currently!)

Hope everyone is well.

Mia

She’s just adorable!

Don’t worry, Dan. The cluckiness will wear off.

Paris was also short lived. Although I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to get out because of Train strikes. Turns out I just couldn’t get around.

Métro drivers were on strike. Astonishingly enough the trains were still more frequent than Connex services.

I came, I voted, I left. I suppose I did a bit of walking around in between. I didn’t do any serious sightseeing because I saw the big things last time. Although it’s quite difficult to avoid seeing the Eiffel Tower. Every taxi I took seemed to need to go past it. I think they do it on purpose if you ask me.

I’m in love with the town of Lyon. He is handsome, he treats me well, he’s not sleazy, he is a bit bourgeois. Unfortunately our affair was a short one.

I went to Lyon with the purpose of seeing Cat Empire in concert. Who would have thought I’d find the love of my life at the same time. I only had 2 days there as I wanted to get to Paris to vote at the Embassy, but it was great and I will be going back.

I spent some of my time trying to decipher the strange accent of a French-Canadian guy, called Vincent, who I met randomly in the street. It turned out our Hotels were right next to each other so we went sight-seeing together.

The food was fabulous, the sights were gorgeous and the wine wasn’t bad either!

The Cat Empire concert was really great. I decided not to take my camera so no photos of them but you all know what they look like anyway!  They only played 2 songs off the new album and weren’t even promoting it, which was a shame. I think it’s a wonderful album and cannot stop listening to it!

Conclusion: Lyon= Favourite city so far.

a) I use the trains to get…uh…everywhere

b) I am using the trains a fair bit in the next week

So I don’t know exactly what’s going on yet but all I know is that services are going to be cancelled and those that aren’t cancelled are going to be very very full and I need to be in Lyon by 8:30pm Sunday for the Cat Empire concert. Fingers crossed.

In other news:

I took a little trip west last week to visit Carcasson (try pronouncing it with a French accent…Seriously, it’s fun) and Toulouse. The trip was fairly uneventful but pleasant nonetheless.

There is some seriously good food in Toulouse. When I arrived it was lunch time so I went in search of a restaurant that does local cuisine (tourist brochures can be good for this). I had myself a gastronomic feast of marinated mussels, fresh pasta with smoked salmon and dark chocolate mousse. It was as good as it sounds.

Toulouse was also my first Hotel stay for my entire trip. I had one night in a two star, basic but comfortable and clean room. Privacy! My god, I’d almost forgotten what the word meant.

Well I forgot that word pretty quickly when the next night I was back in a backpackers in Carcasson.

Carcasson is a walled medieval village reconstructed in the 1800s. There are two parts to Carcasson in fact, there is the main town which was created as the business centre and just up the hill is the walled village which was restored and in it’s time was one of a strongest fortresses in France.

Now the village consists of souvenir stores and overpriced restaurants. However the castle is still there and you can do a tour through it. It has an immense amount of history, most of which I’ve forgotten.

Cobble stones in Carcasson mean I trip over 112% more than usual!

The Youth Hostel is actually inside the medieval village which is pretty cool but it is institutionalized (Hostelling International), the staff are rude (maybe that’s just the French though) and the beds creeeaaaakk at the slightest movement.

I have kind of a sour view of this particular hostel. The fact that I got 2 hours sleep in total in it doesn’t help either. This hostel was my first experience of being in a room with a snorer.

It all started when I was talking to a lovely old (slightly overexcited) lady from Sydney when we realised we were in the same room. “Oh it’s nice to know the people that I’m in a room with” I thought. I’d met the other person earlier that evening, an over-inquisitive German Biochemical engineer (female).

Bed time came and no sooner had I almost fallen asleep did it start. It started as a “I fell asleep on my back and my throat isn’t quite what it used to be” kind of snore but after a while turned into “My god is she trying to start up a lawn mower? Really really loudly? Over and over? ALL NIGHT?”

I woke her up about three times during the night but every time she got that lawn mower out again. When she finally got up at 7am I managed to get 2 hours sleep before lock out at 10am.

Next time, I take earplugs.

Photos! (all Carcasson)

It all began when I was looking at a map of France and realised “Oh my goodness, I’m that close to Spain. Cool, I’m totally going to Spain!”

So off I went indeed. I took a 5 hour train trip from Nimes to Barcelona at 5am last Wednesday morning.

Two days before hand however I thought I was going to have to cancel going altogether because I could not for the life of me find a Hostel with spare room. After slaving over and trawling through Hostel booking websites I finally found a free bed for 4 nights at the Catalonia Hostel. I had no idea where it was or what it was like but I was relieved to have found it!

It turned out the Hostel was in an ideal and very nice location just a 15 min walk from La Rambla which is the main tourist street. It happened to be situated in the most glamorous part of Barcelona as well. So I was surrounded by Valentino, Chanel and Gucci. It was a great hostel as well with very nice staff and a communal kitchen and sitting area. And free breakfast! Always a good thing.

In the Hostel I met some interesting people:

-A very left wing, but at the same time really timid Italian boy. I think he felt it was his duty to inform anybody who would listen about the mafia control of the Italian government.

-Two French female primary school teachers who were on schools holidays and partying a little too hard for my liking. I spent one day sightseeing with them. One was a total control freak so I opted out of a second day.

-A Senegalese, Parisian born guy who had spent 3 years in England and now studies in Barcelona. His accent when speaking English was to die for.

The first three days were passed very nicely. The only mistake I made, I think, was insisting to myself that the places I was going weren’t really that far away and it wasn’t worth taking the Metro to get there. However spending 20-30 minutes walking each way takes up a decent amount of time and I didn’t end up seeing everything that I wanted. This included the Picasso Museum and the Sagrada Familia which is a massively huge Cathedral on a hill that everyone insisted I had to see…well I saw it from a distance at least, it’s pretty hard to miss actually.

I did, however, do some very enjoyable things. Often they were things that I would just stumble upon whilst I was walking as well. Like the Aquarium!! I didn’t know Barcelona had an Aquarium! Señor Gaudi was everywhere you just couldn’t escape him! All his sights tended to be a little overrun with tourists. His architectural work is really amazing but the buildings in the city weren’t much to my liking. Maybe I need to refine my taste.

Unfortunately mon séjour was cut short prematurely because I had one night less in the Hostel than I thought. I found out at 10:30 Saturday morning that I was due to check out that day and I thought I was checking out Sunday. The next best train was at 11:30 so I quickly threw my stuff in my pack, (I mean…folded everything carefully and meticulously, Mum) checked out and got the Metro to the station.

I managed to escape Barcelona without having ANYTHING stolen *applause*. Seriously, pickpockets are terrible there. The day I arrived I spoke t two Australian girls in my hostel. One had her wallet stolen within 3 hours of being in the city. Their friend was staying in another Hostel but when he was outside the train station he had his entire bag stolen. Passport, laptop, iPod and all. Eek. I consider myself very lucky.

OK enough of that. Photo time!

Aww…Australia is everywhere.

I loved this statue. I always tried to figure out what she was waiting for so solemnly.

The guys with the huge sacks on their backs were incredible and so funny. Basically, they sell counterfeit designer handbags in the street. It’s illegal what they’re doing and every now and then the Police come past to try and catch them. They all work as a group so if one sees the police near by they whistle, bundle up their lot and run, run for the hills! Very funny to watch.

That instrument that he’s playing is exactly the same as a didgeridoo.

On the way up to Park Guèll. It’s a steep climb so they’ve got escalators for the overweight American tourists.

Park Guèll

The Sagrada Familia is that huge thing you can see on the very top of the hill. Oh yeah, I tried to put myself in some of the photos, but it’s difficult when visiting places by yourself and I was too paranoid about my camera being stolen to ask anyone to take them for me.

And the last but definitely not least. The best Graffiti I’ve seen to date.

“Why call it ‘Tourist Season’ if we can’t shoot them”

Brilliant.

Thanks!

My first week back with the Seguin’s (my host family from my high school exchange) was really great. Not much has changed there except that their eldest daughter (she’s my age) has just moved into an apartment by herself about 25 minutes away. Near Avignon. She goes to school there and works in Eyragues which is where her apartment is as well. The apartment is tiny with the kitchen/lounge-room just in one space and the bedroom up on a small mezzanine level. I think she’s happy there though because her boyfriend lives in that town too.

I’ve been having a nice time. I cruised around Avignon for 2 days seeing the sights. Some I had already seen and wanted to re-see, like the Palais de Papes. Which is the oldest Gothic palace in the world and has housed 9 popes in it’s time:

 I was there by myself so there aren’t many photos of me!

It was really nice, also, to go back to Nimes and have a look at my old school and walk around where I walked around so many times and get lost in the same places that I always used to get lost in!

Right now I am in Cotignac with Charlotte (my parent’s close friend’s niece). Well actually she’s out practicing for her boat license which she’s going for on Monday. For some reason I’m sitting inside doing this on the most glorious of glorious days! So glorious in fact that we dared try to 16°c pool!

I actually did go in but the computer overwrote the pictures with some other ones! Seriously!….no you don’t believe me do you….

Tonight we eat at a very traditional French restaurant that Charlotte used to work at in the village. Oh yeah the village, by the way, is the one of most adorable things I’ve ever seen. 

It’s set in a valley in between some mountains and it’s most famous aspect is a huge rock on the side of one of the mountains which was, once upon a time, sculpted by a river that ran through it.

It has remains of castles (about 400 years old) still built into the rock. The rock is 400 metres long and 80 metres high and gives the village a distinct, historic feeling.

 Charlotte’s house is around 300 years old and very very Provincial. It’s lovely.

Plans over the next few weeks:

Back to Seguin’s Tuesday

Leave for Barcelona Wednesday morning (oh, yeah!!)

Maybe going skiing with Charlotte one weekend

Go to Lyon on the 17th and 18th November for The Cat Empire

Go to Rennes to visit Pauline and Pascal 

Photo fun in the Couchette:

That was overnight from Gdansk to Berlin. We arrived in Berlin at 7:30am and found our Hostel easily. The Hostel was bright and welcoming (it’s called The Sunflower, go figure!) and they have washing machines that aren’t broken…much.

We did a bit of walking around Berlin. Not as much as I would have liked but we only had a day there. It’s definitely somewhere I want to go back to and check out the music scene properly and discover different areas of the city (it’s a huge city!). Our evening consisted of hanging out with Davina’s friend, Simon (pronounced ’seemen’ in German, no seriously it’s hilarious) drinking red wine, eating pizza and chatting.

Back to Amsterdam the next day. I ended up liking it and deciding that it was just the mood I was in at the time that made me dislike it.

Our first night back there of course consisted of the Ani Difranco concert. This left neither of us disappointed but completely and utterly fulfilled. There was a great vibe, a really nice crowd and a brilliant performer. It was a wonderful evening.

Thursday was the last day that Davina and I were together. She got on the train to Romania at 8 in the evening.

That night I was shown the three major gay bars in the town (all in a street I’d been in numerous times and hadn’t even realised it was the ‘gay’ area!) and also the ‘red light district’ which was fascinating to say the least. We were offered Coke at least 3 times (not the carbonated, caffeinated sugar water kind either). I was surprised to find out that the Red Light area is actually one of the safest area of the city (besides the pickpockets) because it’s under constant surveillance by the police and there are always Police officers patrolling (for leisure or work though, who can say!?)

My tour guide was a highly camp, extremely fabulous Maltese guy called Mark. He’s a lot of fun and really easy going and we got along well.

Friday: Mark had left so I was forced to spend the day with two gorgeous and very sweet Brazilian guys. Oh the trials and tribulations of travel! We visited the van Gogh museum (which was excellent and very interesting) and generally strolled around taking in the sights.

My favourite van Gogh painting:

Luis the Brazilian.

I left for France the next day. I’m really glad that I was able to see Amsterdam through happier eyes than the first time. I think my view of it would have been tainted for a long time if I hadn’t gone back.

Actually I have more of a summary than that. There are no photos yet because I’m only allowed on the Hostel computer for 15 minutes and that’ s not enough time. Soon though.

Poland is cold but beautiful. I’m very glad we came here. I’m feeling a lot happier and more invigorated about the whole “travel” thing. Gdansk turned out to be a “holiday within a holiday” kind of thing I guess.

The town of Gdansk was almost completely destroyed in WWII but pretty much all of it has been restored. It’s just beautiful. I think there is a fair bit of poverty as there are lots of people begging on the street but they don’t come up to you they just sit there with a sign so it’s not an annoyance.

Highlights have been climbing the tower of the biggest church in the town and having an amazing view of the whole town, discovering little restaurants and bars away from the main streets and the sleeping cabin in the train that we were in from Berlin to Gdansk. It was so cute and cosy!

We’re probably leaving for Berlin tomorrow. Davina has a friend that will let us stay with him if we bring him cigarettes, apparently.

-If you want to see photos that aren’t on the blog click here

More photos soon. I promise.

Update: Et voilà les photos!!