Mercure Epinal Centre 3m

... 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 ...

... 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

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 ...

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 ...

... 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 ...

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 ...

... 90 and 110 km/hr to it wasn't too bad. In the Peugeot though, you really have to plan ahead when you want to pass. I've been spoiled with the Nissan and the Evo where you drop a gear or two, and floor it and it takes off. This Peugeot only has about 207hp and it's about the size of camary. Needless to say, you have to get a running start to make a pass on a car. Anyways, eventually hit some normal 2-lane each ...