Carcassonne, Not in Pictures

Bonjour mes amis! I'm writing from Carcassone, in the Languedoc region of France. It is very pretty here, and the highlight and reason for being here, is that Carcassonne was originally a fortified city, so basically has a giant castle. Unfortunately all of my pictures were taken with my good camera and not my phone though, so I can't add any now. I'm meeting up with my sister tomorrow though, so hopefully can add some pictures from her computer.

Quite a few years ago, I read a novel that happened to be set in Carcassonne. I love medieval everything, so the idea of a traditional walled city and citadel is pretty magical, and I decided I should visit while I'm here as it very close to the farm where Kelli has been staying for the past few months. I left Toulouse yesterday morning and took a train (just under an hour) to Carcassonne. My journey to the train was an adventure in itself, as everything was in French. I have been so bad with the planning this trip, and I didn't really bother to check out the metro routes to the train station, or anything like that, thinking that it would be easy enough. I forgot that station announcements and automated ticket dispensers would be all in French, and not have handy English subtitles underneath or beside like everything in French-speaking Canada does. But I actually figured everything out and managed the metro station and the transfer to the train station (made somewhat easier I'm sure due to the fact that Toulouse only has 2 metro lines - although I've even managed to get on the C-train going the wrong way in Calgary, which only has 2 lines AND is in English, so you never know). The worst part was actually getting on the train in Toulouse - there are a million platforms, with numbers only and no names of which trains are coming, and there are no announcements or anything when the trains get there. Also there are no attendants or conductors, or anyone to ask questions to. I was panicking a bit, since my train was due to leave in two minutes, so I randomly picked a platform. My ticket had a train number on it, but I could NOT find a number on the actual train. So I got on the train, and randomly parle vous englais'd a nice looking woman, who told me a petite peu, which happened to be enough to tell me that yes, magically, I was on the right train, but that I was not in the right car. I was second class, and she was first. Nothing on my ticket gave me any indication of which car I should go to, but the train was not full so I chose another and settled in for the lovely ride through the French countryside.

My hotel, the Adonis Hotel de la Barbicane, is at the bottom of the hill below La Cite (the medieval city), with the rest of Carcassonne (the main town) spread below. My hotel (which is not really a hotel but more like a budget residence hotel with apartments and studios) had strange hours, and is closed from 12-3 everyday. I arrived at 11:57 so had 3 hours to kill with my giant backpack. I was not about to climb the hill to La Cite with that bitch, so I wandered down the hill (less of a hill) to a cafe that did not have wifi, but did have wine, and ordered the soup du jour (because, as Danielle told me before I left, when in doubt, you can't go wrong with the soup du jour) and wine. And creme brûlée.

This morning I spent about 4 hours exploring La Cite. Originally a masterpiece of medieval fortification, the walled city had been besieged (a new word I learned today) many a time and was somewhat in disrepair until it was restored in the 1950's. It is now a world heritage site. Although the center of the city is now filled with many many tourist shops and cafes, it is still fun to wander around and browse. You can also pay 8.50 euros to tour the castle and the ramparts. I did, and recommend it, as I think I spend about 2 or so hours wandering the ramparts and the inside part of the main castle. I also wandered around the shops a bit, as I enjoy shopping. I bought a cute, cheap travel watch and some blanquette (which is a sparkling wine made in Limoux, a town right near Carcassonne). I actually had a fabulous 20 minute chat with the woman who owned the shop where I bought the blanquette, in which I practiced my French and she her English.

Now I'm at the hotel using the internet. I had booked a studio, but was upgraded to an apartment when I got here (which is nothing really awesome or anything, since all it has extra is a small pull out couch and larger living room), but it is in a building across the courtyard and out of the range of the wifi. So I have to wait until the hours that the main reception area is open to be able to come in and access the internet.

Tonight I plan to go and eat Cassoulet, which is basically a bean and meat casserole as far as I can tell (although I admit I have not done really any research on it). It is one of the traditional foods of the area, so I thought I should try it. Tomorrow I am off to meet Kelli and visit the farm where she has been staying.

Rainy Day Wandering, or, My Introduction to Toulouse

>>
>> Ok this first picture has nothing to do with rain, or Toulouse, but since I forgot to take pictures of almost anything else today, or on my first ever business class plane ride, I will show you a picture of my first G&T of the trip. Served in a real glass, cuz that's what first class is like yo. This wasn't my first drink of the trip, probably more like third, but still.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> So basically yesterday is a long travel blur, we were delayed leaving Calgary and then again in Frankfurt. I will hopefully do a post later on plane travel, complete with some pics (I'll try and remember to take pictures of the pod on the way home), but let me just say that concourse B in the Frankfurt airport is not an exciting place to be for 5 hours, especially if you are trying to stay awake so that you can sleep that night.
>>
>> Got to Toulouse, splurged on a taxi to the hostel. Glad that I did, since my lack of direction plus how tired I was when I got in last night would most likely have left me wandering for who knows how long.
>>
>> This is my dorm room at Le Petite Auberge de Compostelle.
>> My bed is the bottom one in the center. Pure luxury as you can see.
>>
>>
>>
>> My dorm was completely full, as was the hostel. As it was still early (8:30) when I got in, but was exhausted and wanted to kill jet lag by sleeping for a solid 12 or so hours, I immediately put on my sleep mask, earplugs and took a sleeping pill. Until about 11:00, when my dorm mates came back and proceeded to study (found out today they have entrance exams at one of the Uni's here today) until 1:00 or so. Boo sleeping pill for not keeping me sleeping through that.
>>
>> I still managed to sleep in until 8:30, and then headed out. Here is where the rain comes in. I really hadn't planned too much on what to do in Toulouse. My basic plans for today were to wander around the sights that the hostel manager circled on my map for me last night, drink some coffee, and maybe eat some pastries. Big plans. That were somewhat spoiled when the 'slight chance of showers' forecast turned out to mean, its going to rain, a lot, all day. So don't don't leave the hostel in capris and a t-shirt and a laughably small umbrella that you borrowed from your Dad at the last minute.
>>
>> Something I have learned about myself that is not so good for solo travel when you don't have anyone else to rely on is that I hate looking at maps in public. So I basically just sort of wandered around and attempted not to look lost. I had no real plans anyway, so I thought I would test out my sense of direction and just wander where I saw fit. My sense of direction is not good. I managed to wander to the Basilica St. Sernin (sorry, no pictures, it was raining), which was nice, but also, it was raining. After a couple of soggy hours of wandering I ducked into a cafe for a cafe au lait, beer and salad. Which also happen to maybe be the only words I know in French. However, when you order salade, be prepared for this:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm calling it the French Fish Salad. Ok maybe salade poisson, since I do know how to say that after years of watching Disney's The Little Mermaid. There was a large amount of small little fish on the salad, perhaps anchovies? And prosciutto. Strange but not bad at the same time. Also the beer was delicious. Although I didn't know how to properly specify DARK beer, but it worked out somehow.
>>
>> Now I am at the hostel; I decided that I needed full pants and perhaps a jacket, before heading back out in the rain. I am going to wander again, possible with somewhat of a direction in mind this time. I will probably make my way to the Canal du Midi this time.
>>
>> Cheers!
>>

Rainy Day Wandering, or, My Introduction to Toulouse

Ok this first picture has nothing to do with rain, or Toulouse, but since I forgot to take pictures of almost anything else today, or on my first ever business class plane ride, I will show you a picture of my first G&T of the trip. Served in a real glass, cuz that's what first class is like yo. This wasn't my first drink of the trip, probably more like third, but still.

Travel Day!

Hello! Today is the day! I'm packed (almost) and finally finished with the very long list of all of the work items that Needed to get done before I go away for three weeks without my computer.
This ( most likely very short ) post is my first attempt at an email post. I'm going to also try attaching pictures from my phone and see how that works. This is my gear for the trip - one 60 L pack and one day/camera bag. I will be gone for three weeks, so really not that long, but long enough that I had a somewhat difficult time packing. I think I'm pretty happy with what I ended up with. I will be in France and Spain, so mostly nice weather but also it has been quite rainy lately and the forecast for the next week looks like rain on quite a few days so I wanted to be prepared for that.

I'm flying from Calgary to Frankfurt today, then to Toulouse after a five hour layover. This is my first trip where I get to fly business class (ever! Yay!) so expect some updates on that. Yes, I will be the lame-o taking pictures in first class.
Other things to possibly stay tuned for: my first time traveling solo stories; what I'm sure will be hilarious attempts at speaking both French and Spanish; and figuring out just how well I did with the packing. And maybe some other stuff about what I did and, of course, eating and drinking.
Bon voyage! (I can say that to myself right?)

Long time... and a test post!

Seeing how annoying it is to type a blog post using only my new mobile keyboard and my iphone, (so far pretty annoying). i am hoping to get used to the slightly smaller size and key configuration of the keyboard. my other big concern is going to be adding pictures to the blog. since i will not be bringing a computer on my upcoming trip to France, i am thinking that the only pictures i will be able to upload are those taken on my phone. i will try to upload one i have on the phone here. if you have other ideas on how to tranfer photos from a camera without actually having a computer, please let me know.
sorry for the boring post, hopefully they will only get better from here! (also sorry for the lack of capital letters - there is a wierd crampy finger action required to hit the shift key so close to the other keys on the smaller keyboard... i will work on it).



ok, seems i cannot actually add photos off the phone. i will look into that.

Rosanna! Rosanna

My friend Denise anounced last fall that she was getting married and her dream was to have it on a beach! She decided on the destination, so off to Nassau, Bahamas we went. I was pretty excited about it seeing as how I hadn't been to the Bahamas since I was 18, which (here i am daing myself) was ONLY 22 years ago! I remember they had just started digging the great Atlantis complex and we spent most of our time on Cabbage Beach (which i swear was called Paradise Beach a long time ago!) Anyway, we (Denise, Steve, Jill, Anita, Danielle, Erica, Erin, Kane, Dave, Lisa, Amanda and Roger - and i'm sure more but i forget) landed on a Saturday and took the shuttlebus to our home for the next 7 days, Superclubs Breezes - All-inclusive Resort. There we met up with a few more wedding attenders - Kyla and Gunter from Toronto. We thought the best course of action for the first night was to try as many tropical drinks as we could stomach before we eat! How's that for smart thinking! We had: champagne cocktail, yellow bird, hummingbird and a dirty banana. They were all very enjoyable! We chowed down on some serious buffet and then were entertained by the Junkanoo parade through the hotel lobby. It was loud and very very cool! I got video, but not pictures.


Our first full day was spent at the beach laying around and relaxing, with project frecklization at full throttle! I could see freckles "popping" out of my skin right in front of my eyes! I was like my own personal rice krispie! I was excited! Other than the the annoying captain walking around trying to sell everyone tickets to the booze cruise ("we slam the jam!!"), the insanely loud "music" coming from the booze cruise boats that you could here miles away, the marenge dance lessons and the general screaming and yelling going on at the pool, it was a beautiful beach and we all enjoyed ourselves a little too much as we met in the foyer of the restaurant all various shades of light dusty pink to red lobster!! The bridesmaids were concerned that perhaps they might have tan or burn lines for the wedding. but luckily Erica is a makeup artist and "don't worry Erica can airbrush me!" was a common phrase that night. (You can never go wrong sleeping with a makeup artist!) That night, i managed to use 3/4 of a bottle of aloe vera gel to tame my red lobster legs! lucky me, only 6 more days to go! (Sidenote: this has solidified my decision to never go to another all-inclusive ever again!)

Day two, we got on the reggae bus and headed into downtown Nassau to check out the goods and get away from the all-inclusive insanity! The bus rides in the Caribbean are always entertaining! Music blaring, locals hanging out the door, honking at everyone and everything, slamming on the brakes and accelerating at high speeds. So much fun! I think this is where the discussion on Foreigner vs. Toto started. In the end i think Toto won out and we were guaranteed to hear these lyrics randomly "sung" out at any point in time during the next 6 days.... "all i wanna do in the middle of the night is hold you tight! Rosanna! Rosanna!" thanks to Erica. It was an overcast day when we left the hotel and by mid day is was pretty soggy. So we kept ourselves dry by ducking into the local liquor store and self-serve sampling some wares! (mango rum is pretty good) The rest of the rainy day was sadly spent indoors playing gnip-gnop. I believe that Jody and Dan arrived this day and were fairly primed when we met up with them and Jody was telling us stories of the brides "sparking vagina", which, as you can imagine, had us laughing hysterically!

With all that rain there is bound to be some serious humidity. We decided to conquer the humidity by going on a day trip sailing and snorkeling out to Rose Island. I had a lot of Greece and Turkey flashbacks during this sailing trip. It was so awesome! the brightly colored fish and coral were a great sight. And Rose Island was a tiny little piece of land that was barely inhabited by anyone but us that day. We met some other Canadians who gave us some tips on more great day trips to a place called Harbour Island.





After our exhausting day, we decided to take it easy at the beach the next day. We did a lot of people watching, napping, reading and sea-kayaking. And because we vegetated most of the day and enjoyed the sun, we decided to go out for dinner to this fabulous restaurant called the Humidor for Brazilian BBQ! this was a good choice, holy cow was it good! We also found out later that they have a side room sweatshop where they roll all the cigars.
Day 5 was wedding day. I have to say it went without a hitch which was amazing considering the wedding planner didn't do a single thing towards planning anything on Monday. So the bride and groom spent a few stressful hours on monday re-planning the wedding! All in all, a very gorgeous, beautiful day!
Our last full day in Bahamas was spent on a day trip to Harbour Island. We started the morning at 6:20 with the wakeup call, a 7 am bus pickup and to the marina by 7:30 for the Bahamasfast ferry departure at 8 am. The ride was over 2 hours and started off really wet and rainy. However after our pitstop at Spanish Wells, we arrived with smiles on our faces at Dunmore Town on Harbour Island. We got into our golf carts (the only vehicle to get around in) and Danielle took the drivers seat on the lefthand side! We toured the entire Island in about 4 hours which included every church, school, restaurant, haunted house, regular house and the most important feature the pink sand beach!! I'm not kidding, it was pink!
All in all, a very enjoyable time and if i had to go back to the Bahamas, I would, just maybe rent a house and do way more island hopping!

My Adventure on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean in a commercial fishing vessel.

When I received the call asking me if I liked boats, I have to say I was floored when i was told my next job was on-board a commercial fishing vessel. What did I know about fishing vessels? And how was I going to pull this one out of my you know what! So I proceeded to book my plane ticket and started making a lot of lists for this adventure of a lifetime! And as the time drew closer and closer to leaving, I have to admit, I was a slight scaredy cat only because I had no idea what to expect!

I was told that I had to be at the dock by noon, cause when the boat was ready to leave, I had to be on it as this was the last trip of the season. Of course, there was no guarantee of when I was getting off, it all depended on “the fish”. Currently the plan is to get me off on Monday, which is the earliest day they can charter a sea taxi to take me to the land.

While preparing for this trip I had to research a few things about this fishing business: they fish about 4 times a year and each trip is between 20 & 60 days long, there is 5% turnover a year in employees (those who do it, like it a lot!), a small “bag” of fish is 40 tonnes.

I landed at 10 am at the airport, was picked up and taken to the Pier. I toured the boat and after 2 hours on the boat, this is what I learned:
- I needed a nap
- the boat is HUGE!
- the people are so friendly, kinda like Island people but different. A huge mix of nationalities (Guatemalan, Mexican, African, Caucasian, philipino, Chinese)
- My private room is opposite of the galley, so when I get hungry I walk 15 feet to eat
- My bathroom has a tub!
- We “steam” out t find fish for 24 hours and then we process 24/7 until the fish are done.
- I will never master my location or where to go on this boat in 4 days!

The first order of business is orientation, which included: location of WHMIS documents, always wear protective gear, zero tolerance for harassment and always remember where the muster point is in case of man overboard. So I’m thinking to myself, do I need to know where WHMIS binder is or my protective gear and where is my muster point!, I don’t even know where I am right now! Needless to say, I had to get extra muster lessons from the 1st Mate, and then I followed the head steward around like a puppy dog so I wouldn’t make a mistake during the muster drill, geez I was nervous!

I was able to settle in after a few hours by taking a nap, eating a few Gluten Free snacks and then finally after 7 hours on-board, when the boat was loaded with goodies for the trip, we finally left the Pier. However you don’t actually realize you’re moving and I certainly didn’t expect this at all. I was sitting in my room and barely noticed a slight wave of movement every now and then, so I decided to brave my way to the deck to see what was going on. We were moving albeit slowly and lucky for me I brought my camera, as the downtown skyline was so gorgeous! I had to manoeuvre my way back down to my cabin for my hoodie but managed to make it back to take a few more pics and talk to the Captain (who, by the way, wears shorts and a t-shirt for work – totally not what I had pictured in my head) He informed me that we are filling up with diesel (450,000 lbs capacity) and should be done in about 4 hours! Once fuelling is done, he believes it will take us 24 hours to get to the perfect fishing spot, 30 miles west.

I managed to stay awake until after 10 pm and from what I could tell, we weren’t finished gassing up yet, but I had taken a half a blue sleeping pill so it could be hazy in my head. I did discover, while getting ready for bed, that everyday they have 4 movie channels going non-stop, so I started watching some al pacino flick and realized I missed the ending, so maybe if I’m lucky I can watch the last half sometime today. I managed to sleep through most of the night, I woke up around 1:30 to some commotion but not sure what that was, the combination earplugs and extra 3” insulation duct taped to the back of my door, make it slightly hard to hear what’s going on!

Today is day two, and we are still “steaming” out to the fishing point at, I’m going to guess, at least 50 knots (which i later found out was 15!). I managed to sleep really well, woke up, had a shower and a fairly decent breakfast. Some examples of breakfast food are: boxed cereal, fruits, yogurt, home made crème brulee(?), milk, juice, coffee, scrambled eggs, omelettes, bacon, sausage, toast, bagels, I could go on but you get the picture, no worries about not having gluten free options! But they also have burgers, fries and broccoli for those coming off the night shift and want a dinner before bed, very strange. And during the day, they always have fruit, yogurt, pop, juice, milk, ice cream, sandwich fixings available if you need a snack.

So today, I assume we won’t get to where we are going for another 10 hours so my plan is to go up to the small conference room and start a documentation review, how fun is that going to be! There is also employee refresher training and then a “factory” cleanup today. Its very Bri’ish to say “factory” instead of plant or processing area. I went up to the deck to see if I could find some whales, but alas I saw none. We are also in an area off the coast that you can still see land on both sides, it’s far away mind you, but I can still see it. I have managed to watch the crew preparing the nets and this is quite the feat. These are all jobs I never new existed and are really kind of neat. It makes me wonder if I grew up on the west coast, would I have ever ended up in this type of industry. It’s quite fascinating to me now.

I MISSED WHALE WATCHING! Crap, I was bummed when I heard that from the bridge. I, of course, was reviewing documentation in a hot room on the 4th level of the bow for 3 hours, while the bridge was watching whales. Darn, hopefully I’ll see then tomorrow. This afternoon we have continued to steam out, estimated time that fishing will begin is anytime between 5 pm and midnight, how’s that for timing and accuracy?! But let’s reflect back to this morning, I was quite excited about the breakfast and the foods I could eat. Then around 9:30 I went to gather the documents I needed and managed to take up the entire table, however within about 30 minutes my guts we’re telling me a different story about breakfast. I decided to run (quickly walk) down the stairs to go get my behind the ear magic bandaid medication that was highly recommended to me and put it on. Oh good, I thought, this should kick in anytime. So I carried on with my work and about every 20 minutes had to go outside for fresh air and a quick view at the horizon. When did I turn into Miss wimp on the ocean? I was fine in the Mediterranean? I thought this boat “glided” through water and you hardly felt anything? That’s what I was told yesterday. Oh no, today, not so great. And I kept thinking when the hell is this medication going to kick in. So after 4 hours of fighting with the nausea in my stomach and the heat of the room, I had to get the hell outta dodge and go to my room where a. it was cooler and b. I could peuk if I needed to. So before I laid down on the bed, I read the directions for the magic band aid behind my ear. And its states “take 12 hours before needed”. WHAT! 12 hours before needed? How do I know I’m going to be nauseous 12 hours before? Not to mention, I don’t have 12 hours to wait to do my job! So I laid down at 2. and by 2:45 it was like magic, my stomach immediately stopped being so angry with me! Thank goodness, so I got up and ate a GF donut and some water. I was so dehydrated, cause any time I even though I was going to put fluid to my lips, my stomach told me something else. So now I’m going to drink some aj and water. I may have forgot to mention, that the swells in the ocean right now are about 10-15’ minimum right now!

Tonight I had salad for supper with sliced cheese. This was about the only option for us GF’ers as the dinner options were pizza (two kinds), tripe soup, whole fish head-on skin-on and bone-in, (I was not in the mood for Mediterranean fish without Pickle or Kevin to de-bone it for me!), pasta and some coconut cream pie. So that’s how I opted for salad and water. I might just make it home pounds lighter and may recommend this type of weight loss to anyone who might want to. I went up to the bridge to see the action and by action I mean the cool computer screens that find fish via GPS and bright red lights! While up there, we heard a distress call over the radio, the boat in distress was out over 200 miles off-shore and we were 25 miles off shore so we couldn’t go help. I found out the next day that the coast guard found a body in the ocean with a life jacket on.

I slept not to bad last night, with no blue pill, just earplugs and the serious rocking of the boat luckily lulled me to sleep.

After lunch we managed to watch them unload the fish from the nets into two of the aft cargo tanks, It’s really neat. I made my way through the entire factory down to the bowels of the boat to see a guy who could pass for “thor” filling bags of fishmeal. I also ventured down into the cold storage area where the finished product is held and they stack boxes onto pallets and then use this overhead crane on a track to move the pallets to the holding area about 15 feet below where we were standing, it was really cool! Who knew there was so much involved to in an on-board fish factory!

I found out on the morning of day 4, that the taxi will come and pick me up sometime this afternoon. I’m excited about going home actually. It feels really cut off from the world being on this vessel. I got to use the satellite phone yesterday and connect with the real world. I haven’t been able to text anyone for 2 days! When I heard I was leaving this afternoon, I got excited to pack my bag and get myself ready for the “skiff”. I decided last night, to take out my behind the ear magic bandaid medication cause it was making me feel off. I read the side effects on the box (dizziness, red eyes, dilated pupils, sleepy) and it said to remove it from your ear if you feel that way. Well I had been feeling that way since I put it on, I guess I need to read warnings before trying it. My pupils this morning are still dilated and I am having issues with lights being on but damn I am so not quesy, which was the whole point. I only need the anti-nausea stuff for about 12 hours I think and then I’m good. I managed to get my sea legs back too, so the hand sanitizer isn’t a necessity anymore!

I’m back on land and can I say thank goodness! Mike and Bill, my skiffers of Miss Raven, arrived around 4-ish and I was lowered down in the orange lifeboat and transported over to Miss Raven. Um, at this point in time can I remention the swells in the ocean (10-12”) and in a large vessel it is not noticeable to me anymore but when you get into a (this will show my age) Jesse-style tug skiff boat (from the Beachcombers), oh my lord can you feel the swells. I figured since I had been on the vessel for 4 days I wouldn’t’ have any issues with seasick, and before I got off, the medic asked me if I wanted any magic-band-aid behind-the-ear for the skiff? And I of course said no, I would be fine (there is no way I taking that stuff again the way my eyes went all wonky, and still are!) My pupils are still dilated, and I’m surprised no one said anything to me. At one point I swear I had no blue color only black in my eyes! Anyway, I made it to the skiff and we set off at 4:15 and our arrival time to Newport (30 miles away) was 7:30. Ok, so I stood up the ENTIRE ride and looked at the horizon. At one point I stopped talking as I had to pierce my lips together, luckily all I did was burp! WE even detoured for a few minutes and at first i was like, please just stay on course and get me to some land! but in the end i was glad cause i got to see HUMPBACK WHALES! So awesome! Mike and Bill got me back to land safely without any "issues" on my end and Mike volunteered his wife to drive me to my hotel. I have to admit, everyone seemed to be really going out of their way for me and I kinda felt like a star! And I was ok with it! And now I’m on land in my hotel and swaying like a drunkard! I managed to walk across the street and eat some superb Halibut at a little restaurant called FishTails and going to settle into my king sized bed. Don’t know if I will be able to sleep in a non-moving environment with no noise? Could be a challenge but I’m up for it. Tomorrow I fly into Portland, then onto Vancouver and finally home to Calgary by 9 pm. Fun. Somehow I thought this should be way more glamorous, but nope, this is it!

I’m pretty sure that is the end of my adventures on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean. I loved it, but sure enjoyed stepping foot back on land again.