Premiere Classe Epinal

... 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 ...

... 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 ...

... the hills, and he ever present majestic Sapin Tree, a beautiful tall pine. Some of the tiny roads up the top of the hills are rather hairy when you meet a car coming the other way. Great for a game of chicken! Roses seem to grow wild and flower prolifically, none better than the one in Gisele's driveway a highly perfumed fuchsia coloured tree rather than a bush. And the birds are everywhere, and singing at the top of their voices. H was ...

... 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 ...

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 ...

... but the food is a little better than college dorm food. One of the food serving guys is pretty cool and helps us out with naming the food. Oh, one thing that is annoying are the ultra small glasses! We're talking triple shot size... you basically can take it down in one gulp. So you end up draining the thing, fill it up, and drain it again. Same glass size at the hotel. For dinner, there's a ton of little restaurants around here ...

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 ...

... 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...