Kyriad Epinal Centre

... 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..

... my thick accent and the fact I don't speak French he presumed I was English. Marion kindly corrected him, sending his brain into meltdown. "Do they speak English in Australia?" he asked in French, "yes, of course" Marion replied, "So they don't speak Australian?" An uneducated Frenchman, what a sight! We payed 20 euro for the four hour drive and the only threat against our lives was **** music.  A week in Epinal ahead.. 

Like Robert Redford was Africa, I am Italy. I must say it is a little bit of a relief. The Italians are not like me, they are loud and for the most part, a little bit obnoxious. I am back in France staying with Marion's family in Epinal. We had a lovely dinner, perhaps a couple too many glasses of wine. I'm feeling a little bit crook! But don't tell the hosts, they are very welcoming; they even had an Australian flag in the doorway for my arrival! So the last day in Como changed my ...

... 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 ...

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...

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 ...

So... let me tell you a little bit about my daily meals. Start off with the breakfast buffet at the hotel and it's pretty good! There's croissants and sometimes pain au chocolat, bread, cheese, ham, eggs, cereal, fruit bowl, other fruits, yogurt, OJ, apple juice, and the person working brings you coffee and/or hot chocolate! I have no complaints. For lunch, there's a cafeteria at work where everyone eats. It reminds me of elementary ...

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 ...

... blinker on but numerous people were doing it. Adam and I decided to stop off in Nancy for dinner and found their centre-ville/downtown area. It's a big open square with restaurants on all sides. Lots of outdoor seating set into the open square area, like a hundred tables, for just having an appertif/drink. For actual eating, you sit next to the restaurant. One thing I had forgotten about France was that lots of ...