Chad Is Everywhere

Finaly made it to the Rock. Or well the Monestary on the island called Mont Saint Michel. As a personal note I had always wanted to visit this place since about 1989 when it became the focus of my high school French class assignment. Gee this is a great day. Too many tourists in the end. The big tip here is that is you want to beat the crowds making just a day trip, then arrive early. I arrived about 9:30am and it was probably just about the right time. It took me about 2 hours before I completed the actually monestary tour itself. By the time I was out in the little street of tourist shops again it was packed to the rafters. From about 12:30pm until when I left at 2pm it was standing room only around all the restaurant entrances. All I wanted to do was leave. But I had to wait for the La Poste to reopen just so I could send a postcard. Seriously if there is one country you want to get working rights to its France. Post offices in tourist centres closing from 12:30pm to 1:30pm ...

They're not kidding in France when they say they have big tides here. I've never actually noticed this before but when I was in La Rochelle there was a big difference between low and high tide. And then on the drive to Mont Saint Michel in the small town of Pornic I stopped for a breather. Wow! Tide's out. I mean these tides made this river based town a mudflat trickle through the most important restaurant precinct.

I've just spent 2 nights in La Rochelle. Never met her. In my eyes I did all the rights things. I walked around the harbour. No Rochelle. I walked to several Plage / Beaches. No Rochelle. So I sat down and had dinner. No Rochelle. Had the Moules and Frites. Might of helped if I asked one of the locals to see if they knew a Rochelle. But I don't speak French.

As a purely cultural stop on the road towards Mont Saint Michel I inserted an overnight stay in Cognac. This stop was on one of their more important festivals of the year. It was something to do with street art. I'd be lying to say that was what attracted me. Anyway after lucking out with the Martell Cognac brand for an English tour my hotel was able to find an English tour with Hennessy. Being the only distiller of the 6 or so main cognac distillers I would take I decided to pay the little bit extra for the XO & Chocolate tour. Little did I know was the fact that this was the Golden Ticket. I ended up the only person on my tour of about 8 Europeans, and 20 or so package tour Chinese who paid for the better quality nip at the end. Everyone else just got the 2 nips of the standard cognac, and some other drink they produce. Heck the Chinese were on a classic tour, shoot and shuffle timetable. They weren't even staying to savour the drop so much.  I on the ...

I have to admit when I arrived into Bordeaux in the afternoon I was a bit disappointed and concerned. My hotel near the station was okay, the area was less than desirable. I walked the streets for a few hours before meeting with couchsurfers in Bordeaux for a picnic. There were some English conversations but I didn't really feel relaxed. I also probably should have gotten used to the tram system before staying out until nearly midnight. The couchsurfers were very nice in explaining how it worked. The tram system of Bordeaux ended up being very useful. Their trams are awesome for getting around. The city has an abundance of old stone buildings in the inner city, and is easily walked. But the Trams were just to convenient not to make use of. Going into the second day I started to really enjoy the best bits. I found the main historical buildings and just relaxed soaking up the city. In the evening of the second night I met with another non-local couchsurfer for dinner. It gave m...

Carcassonne is one of those French cities you don't fully understand the historical importance until visiting. Now I've seen it on coverage of the Tour De France. So I knew it seemed to be impressive, and the commentators would highlight the castle. But now having visited I am going away appreciative of the history available in what would seem to be nowhere important France. It was actually the French boundary to Catalan. A critical stronghold. I don't remember ever visiting a city with such a large restored castle and gate before. This is over a square km. Apparently it required 1300 soldiers just to guard it when fully staffed. Sure the other shops inside the gates are overrun with tourist shopping. But it helps pay the upkeep I guess.  And more importantly my friends nailed it in terms of finding a great apartment. The view was great.

So I've noticed we're driving a long way to the town of Girona from Grenoble. We just had a picnic lunch in Beziers. Very pretty. Anyway now that we're back on the road I've noticed there are a few ladies on the side of the road waiting for their friends. Kinda weird time and place to be wearing their cocktail dresses in the afternoon. Just in random points too. Must all be going to the same party. And we can't offer a lift. Oh dear how will they get there... Sorry ladies Spain calls. Tomatoes to be thrown. But now instead of playing a game of "I spy", I'm counting...

My time in Strasbourg with side trip to Colmar was quite the walking festival. Every day I would be walking more and more in the wrong direction. The improvement of GPS tracking via maps lets me know when I have been walking the wrong way. However what I have found is that this feature requires one to look at the phone more frequently. If you don't then maps can't fix stupid. I also tend to just keep going longer than before this functionality. So mistakes are bigger. Arrival into Strasbourg was attacked with an immediate canal tour around the old town. Alas it was not until 4:15pm I completed the tour. By the end I felt like a ice cube. Strasbourg was definitely cooler once the sun disappeared. Later that evening marked the opposite dinner for me. I caught up with a couch surfer I hosted in Brisbane. It's always good to meet others on the other side of the world. This dinner also ticked the box in my having a traditional Alsace meal. The next day I spent taking a d...

So how did I recover from the previous day's stair climb in Grenoble. With another stair climb in Lyon. This one I think was more insane. More walking to the start of the climb was involved. What is it with the French and putting things at the top of steep hills? I also have heard that Bouchon is the dish of the region. Did my study before actually getting a meal. Learnt I wouldn't stomach it. I just struggled with the thought of what it consists. I settled for more crepes.

One of the major historical facts I've learnt on this trip has been the story that "The Bastille" has never been taken over by invading forces. Of course the main threat came from the Italians I'm told. Well the is a reason for that. It's so far up a steep hill anyone would have just gone "screw that I'll go skiing instead". OMG how many stairs and switchbacks there were. Alas visiting in winter also meant no restaurant after making it to the top. Only an empty coke machine which still takes donations, and will continue to do so until the summer. And I did this walk on my first non skiing day. No rest for the weary. But for the patisserie after.

Looking back on the week in Val d'Isere it's hard to knock anything about the mountains. They big and up high. The worst negative really would be that the majority of green runs are up top. Which makes for an interesting ride home on a red or blue. But during the day that makes it great for beginners normally assigned to sloppy slopes lower down. In January there are no slushy afternoons. It only warmed up to a balmy -3 at best. This meant by the end of the week I could still walk, and ski out an afternoon if it was good. Negative though was there was a day with -34 degree wind chill. Importantly with Val d'Isere even when it's a poor snow season it still has it. Enclosed into the mountains protects what it gets for longer. Getting to the mountain via an English all inclusive tour company meant the accommodation felt like "Little Britain". But I wouldn't try to manage it any other way for convenience.

In the week before travelling I realised we could book hire skis online cheaper. So I went about this in my nonchalant way on the net. However true to form I made a mistake. After pressing back to add in. Ski helmet the date changed. My booking went to starting the week before I arrived. In the days preceding departure I madly tried to send emails to France asking it be corrected. After a flurry of emails I was initially informed the booked couldn't change as it had already started. Eventually I got a response saying it had been corrected and the ski helmet cancelled. So I gave up... Who knew what I would get. So it was not such a surprise that when I did collect the skis eventually it tweeked that ahh, you're Chad, and the assistant pointed to a sticky taped message on the cash register. They had been waiting for 3 days for my arrival. My futility was famous.

One of the joys of travel in France is the food. Within 2 days I had been introduced to 2 new items. The favourite Tarte Tartin is a caramel apple tart. Prepared by a local and you're set. The second has led on a challenge. Speculoos. It's a spread a bit like Nutella but different flavour. Sweet of course. So overdosing isn't good. The challenge thou his to find a supermarket stocking it. Not all the small ones have it.

Off I am again on another trip to be everywhere. This time around I organised to make use of my leave by extending the 1st day off. Friday! Wow what a long day that was. Flight left Brisbane at 2:30am. Managed to fend off initial muffin on boarding. I guess airlines have to been seen to provide a meal at whatever time they get up into the air. But for me the goal was sleep. So yes indeed I can confirm I got next to nothing. Importantly I became the poster child for in flight exercise and water consumption. Once is enough for me and DVT. Singapore refuel went without hitch. I got my coffee and re-boarded. And then connection in Dubai was tight again. I managed to walk straight from transit over to boarding gate with 10 to wait. Less than the refuel stop! I did manage to find sleep on the last leg. I guess I mentally knew I needed it. Flight into Lyon arrived at 7:40pm. And this was where the fun began. Plan was to meet at 9:30pm in Grenoble. By the time I left customs it wa...

If you're in Paris thats exactly what you do. Eat like the French, drink like the French, and be like the French, unless they're rude. Paris we figured to be a great place to meet up again. So Steve (my brother), and friends Darren, and Jason all met here. traveling from different parts of the world. So this is now the 3rd time I've been able to catch up with Daz in Europe, and this time Steve was here too. In retrospect this is still a cool concept however many times I repeat it. Being able to send a message to a friend to say, 'so which country we meeting in this time'. Perhaps you should try it if you've not already. Paris may of been where the World Cup Rugby was being played but somehow we ended up timing the trip to the 4 days where there was no Rugby to be seen. Go figure. But there were people to see, places to do. By the fourth day we were masters of the Paris Metro. Here is just a taste of what we experienced.