Le Commerce 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..

... 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.. 

... since Firenze. We headed back to the hostel and decided to watch a movie; Everything Is Illuminated. It is a really great movie and is a true story (I finished the book on the train to Como). Do yourself a favour and check it out! We had to get up early to get the 7.15 bus back into Como to catch the 9am train. We would travel to Zurich, then onto Nancy and we ended up here in Epinal 11 hours later! I'm really tired, a little drunk and feeling a little sick.. Until next time, The Dog

... the three of us off on top of the mountain and we walked back along paths past La Vierge (another huge statue of the Virgin) perched on top of the hill. The path took us through grassy countryside and finished just near the F&G's driveway. What a lovely balade. Francois cooked guinea fowl - pintard - for lunch (the first time either of us had tasted it) and there was delicious smoked salmon entrée. We have given this establishment six stars!

... 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.

... 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!

... 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...