Le Manoir Chf 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.. 

... of the place. We were actually in a little village called Mennagio. It's a tourist village, very quaint and charming, but busy. As we were locked out of the hostel from 10-4, we decided to make the most of the sun and go for a swim. Turns out, the only place to swim in the village is fenced off and you have to pay €6 to get in!! We payed the dosh and headed for the artificial sand to get some pre-swim sun. We were headed off by a very brown and wrinkled Italian Stallion ...

Lucette had arranged with her sister Giselle and husband Francois for us to stay with her in Lorraine in the north east of France. They live in the most delightful little place called Cornimont, which is nearby a popular skiing area at La Bresse. The whole area is a maze of hills covered in bright green grass and a sprinkling of wildflowers (mostly yellow, purple and white) with lovely stone house or wooden chalets dotted at uneven intervals all ...

... 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.

... 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 ...

... 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!

... in our workout clothes. I cut my hair really short before coming over here because I figured I wouldn't get to cut it. Anyways, one of the girls thought we were military! Off on a little tangent, but the guys here are pretty weak overall. There's this little gym called Samourai and it's like someones garage.. but anyways, Adam and I are probably the two strongest guys there. It's pretty sad... Back to the Japanese place... the girl ...

... 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...