At The Farm!

I'm currently hanging out with Kelli at her friend's farm, Magot (pronounced mag-oh, not maggot, as I first thought when I saw the sign). It is freaking gorgeous here. The farm is about 2 hours northeast of Toulouse, close to a little town called Vabre. The river Gijout is right nearby and crosses on the farm land. Kelli has been working here and using it as her base for travel for the past almost three months. Tomorrow we are leaving here together to go to Barcelona for almost a week.

It took 7 hours of travel (one train and 2 buses) to get here from Carcassonne. It was not particularly difficult travel, except the part where I had to sit next to a not-so-attractively unwashed and unshaven musician on the bus from Toulouse to Castres for 2 hours. He was quite.. fragrent... and overly familiar in the personal space area. But other than that, the trains and buses were comfortable and it was quite enjoyable to stop in every small French town along the way and get to see a little of the countryside.

I was greeted at the farm with a lovely home cooked meal as well, so that was pretty awesome. Shared the Blanquette de Limoux with the girls over a game of crazy crazy rummy rummy, which made for a pretty enjoyable evening.

Today we woke and went for a hike into Vabre (about an hour), where I battled both my fear of ticks (there are A LOT here). I also woke with a cold and sore throat so this morning, and also had to battle both my sluggish lifestyle of the past year and my congested lungs on the LONG and very uphill walk home.

Tonight Kelli is making pasta (yay!) for dinner and I definitely have plans to drink some of their expired liquor products they got on sale from a friend that owns a restaurant in the area. I think my favorite is Panache' (pronounced Pan-ah-shay) (that I can't stop calling Pin-oh-shay for some reason) that is basically sprite with 1% beer. It tastes strangely reminiscent to me of the Cactus Cooler that my mom used to drink). So good times.

Next stop Barcelona!

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

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>> 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.
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>> 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.
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>> 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.
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>> 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.
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>> 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.
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>> 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.
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>> 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:
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>> 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.
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>> 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.
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>> Cheers!
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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!