Balladins Epinal Nord

... 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 ...

... told us that our €6 wasn't enough to utilise the chairs and umbrellas. Defeated, I complied (curious about what I actually paid for) and headed for a grassed area that was populated by all the fat old chicks from Mennagio and surrounding villages. I was desperate to go for a swim but after the initial temp test, I got scared and decided on more sun; it was set resemble a swim in Mount Franklin, fresh, clean and ice cold. I finally plucked up the courage and braved the cold ...

... no Ducatis Roy!, and roared off down the mountain past the poor cyclists who had managed to struggle up to the top were getting quite wet in the mist the clouds were bringing on the way down. H has been loving the fact that the cyclists are everywhere in this country, even on the highest mountains in the snow, and he takes every opportunity to have a chat with them. That night we were treated to dinner of homemade quiche Lorraine - in the very ...

They make crystal in Baccarat but we didn't have long enough at the museum for me to understand how it works, much to my disappointment. We stayed with our Muslim cousin, and then his Christian children came over for Christmas, so it was very multicultural/secular. When we arrived, at about 11:30 in the evening, the table ...

... indoors anywhere in France is the number of people smoking in there. I swear at least half the people in there were smoking. BUT, after talking with some girls, they told us that France passed a law that bans smoking indoors starting in 2008! By the way, a small jack and coke cost me 5 euros... so roughly 6.75. It's about LA prices, except this is in a tiny country town! Hate to find out how much it'll cost in Paris...

... 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 ...

... 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...