Azur Hotel Epinal

... 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 ...

... of its conception! We had only intended staying one night here, but out kind hosts invited us to stay on and as we were really enjoying their company and the beautiful countryside and as our alternative was to head to the city, we gratefully accepted. The next day we had a drive to Lac des Corbeaux and walked around this picturesque glacial lake where Francois showed us how to look for amethyst on the shoreline, and on the way back Francois ...

... set and we sat down and had a 3 course meal. After the delicious stuffed artichoke entree (which I just realised I forgot to get the recipe for) I was given a portion of pasta roughly the size of my own head. I'd eaten on the train, and would have been quite happy without the artichoke, but the pasta was ridiculous. I ...

... 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 ...

So we took a little day trip to the town Gerardmer which is about 45km away. It's situated around a lake up in the hills so it's a 'pretty' place to visit. There's paddle boats, kayaks, and canoes that you can rent and there's also little beach areas to hang out. It seems to be pretty popular with the locals. There was a little camping/RV lot where tons of ...

... 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 ...

... shower and sink) and separate room for the toilet. I think the toilet is designed for Germans as it has a thing at the bottom to stop the **** from sinking. When you flush it, the water level comes up and then its like a big vacuum and sucks everything down. If any of you REALLY want to see what it looks like, I can take a pic. I'd much rather have a regular toilet like in Adam's room.

... smoke here. I'd guess that about 1 in 5 are smoking anywhere in the outdoor seating areas. Anyways, we got some food, Adam had a chocolate covered waffle for dessert, and then we got back on the road to Epinal. Nancy is only about an hour drive away from Epinal, so I'll probably go check it out one weekend as the guys at work tell me it's the closest place with a nightlife. Got into Epinal... it's a small town...