Auberge De L'Amateur Chavelot

... and work, me from doing nothing but eating subway.  We had a nice Sunday lunch with Marion's extended family and I think I coped okay. 40% of the people there spoke some English. I had to count how many places to set in French in front of everyone and out loud and I smashed it to pieces. We spoke of Australian actors and animals over lunch, I even got to say "G'day" a couple of times.  Marion's Grandfather is a big deal over there. He is an artist who has worked for the ...

... in our disposal; our thumbs. That's right, we hitchhiked! Well sort of, we payed and it was pre-arranged but it was a strange driver in a strange car driving us from Paris to Nancy, so I'm chalking it up!  We were picked up from a tube station at the edge of town and were met by our driver. He was wearing a matching tracksuit and didn't speak English. Of this I was glad, he didn't have much going on upstairs. Because ...

... so, so, so, so, so cold but oh so refreshing. The water was so cold that I decided that I can never shower in public again.. Severe shrinkage, there should have been a warning sign. We got some rays and by the time we had had enough we were able to go back to the hostel to change. We had to pay for our stay and after handing the money over to our gay Italian friend, he became very friendly; sankyou verymarch!! We went out for dinner and actually had a nice meal for the first ...

... to see a nest of baby Bergeronets in the wall of the swimming pool and get a great photo of them with their mouths wide open waiting for dinner. There are also a few cows in fields and I loved the special Vosges cows which are black and white with a large white saddle across their backs. Francois & Gisele drove us around the area, to Hohneck near the Col de la Schlucht (alt.1,362 metres) and up to the top of the mountain range at La Grande ...

... enough of it to be what I considered the minimum of 'polite' and was fairly sure I had ripped the lining of my stomach. But I'm ok now. They eat late in Europe. And they don't have the healthy fear of carbs that seems to permeate my English-speaking life. It snowed, it was pretty. Not a hell of a lot to do in Baccarat.

... the outdoor tables that the restaurants always have setup. It's a drastic change from a few weekends ago when I was walking around on a Sunday, and I swore I was in the movie 28 Days Later or something. It was a complete ghost town. Anyways, hit up this little bar called Le Wellington. They had a karaoke night going on so it was interesting to hear all these girls belting out French songs. The one thing that sucks about ...

... were; basically groups for friends with a tent just hanging out. Adam and I ended up just going for a hike around the lake as there's a trail that goes all the way around. I'd guess that it took us around an hour, maybe a bit more. Afterwards, got some food at a restaurant by the lake and then headed back to Epinal. Overall, not a bad place to go for a daytrip!

... but the food is a little better than college dorm food. One of the food serving guys is pretty cool and helps us out with naming the food. Oh, one thing that is annoying are the ultra small glasses! We're talking triple shot size... you basically can take it down in one gulp. So you end up draining the thing, fill it up, and drain it again. Same glass size at the hotel. For dinner, there's a ton of little restaurants around here ...

So... the company has us put up in the Kyriad Hotel which is a 2-star hotel, whatever that means. It has a really narrow entry-way into the really small garage. Driving the Peugeot in there requires a few three point turns. My room is pretty nice; it's a little suite. The front room has a foldout couch which takes up the entire room when it is folded out, then there's the hallway with the ...

... It was great. On the way home, we got to Germany ok, but then on the A6, we couldn't get off art our exit, because the exits were closed off for construction. So, after a 10K detour, we were back in Landstuhl. Quotes from the weekend: 1. "I've got money to blow." -- Bonnie M. regarding her leaving *sniff* to go back to the US on Tuesday 2. "I see a half moon rising over there." regarding the "Say no to crack" campaign we saw at the Cathedral...dude, pull your pants up!