Hostellerie Les Rosiers Epinal

... of the Dalai Lama. He carves the image into wood and then prints them onto paper. Sounds simple, not so. The images are amazing and so intricate. The work he did for the Dalai Lama (a complete Buddist medical journal) took him 13 years to complete. I toured his workshop and was lucky enough to get one of his originals. We stole a lift to Nancy with Marion's brother and were back in the capital that evening and snuck back into the nunnery for the last week on the continent..

The day after the night before.. I was a bit heavy headed but it was well worth it and I was well looked after. Today we were heading to Marion's hometown of Epinal for a week at home. To get there via train it would cost an arm and a leg (they are quite traditional still, i think the exchange rate called for a forearm and two ankles.. anything?), so we decided to think outside the oblong and utilise the most powerful ...

... 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 ...

It took a bit of train hopping at three different stations, one cup of hot chocolate and six games of Jin Rummy, Go Fish, and War before we made it to our stop . . . Okay a little background first . . . last year Les asked me if I could go anywhere in the world, where would I go? I surprised him by saying Ronchamp, which is very small town in France(just across the border from Switzerland), which is home to Notre Dame ...

... 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 ...

... s fine me. The most important thing is to remember taking the clothes I need to complete the outfit I'll wear for performing during the festival. And warm clothes too... I've been todl that it was especially cold these days though usual weather is close to the once we're having here in France. That's all for today. I'll try to get pictures of the festival though I'll be busy!

... 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...

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 ...

... as few people that live here, there's so many different little places to eat. Just don't count on them always being open... especially on Sunday! Out of the at least fifty little places I've walked by, ONE was open serving lunch on Sunday. The restaurant next to my hotel is pretty good and they take American Express (corporate card)! There's a Sushi place down the block which is just okay. First time Adam and I went in there, we ...

Thank goodness for navigation systems... The signs on the highways around Paris are a bit confusing because instead of saying 'north, south, east, west', it says the town that it's heading too. That's great if you know all of the towns, but for someone not familar, it's pretty much useless. Ended up taking a small country highway from Paris towards Nancy which is one lane each direction. The speed limit varies ...