Au revior

Day 171
I got up at a descent time and packed up my stuff before I left for Paris. This was my last day, I had a night train to Hamburg at the end of the day.

When I got to Paris I walked up to Mont Martre, a hill that is above Paris. I had a bit of a problem with the scammers who try to tie a bracelet on people and then get money from them. I gave the guy my best don´t mess with me look though and he backed down.

At the top I took a walk around and tried to avoid the droves of tourists and guys trying to draw their pictures. I had thought that I would have lunch up here, but wasn´t the least big hungry. Instead I headed straight for the history museum. Apparently20the tourists haven´t found this place yet, it was almost empty.

Mont Martre started as a religious settlement. The Romans even had a temple here. Fast forward a few hundred years. Mont Martre was not considered to be part of Paris and was therefore not taxed. The once religious hill became a center of debauchery. Cabarets opened up, bars were overflowing and I´m sure there were some brothels mixed in as well. Artists flocked here and even Renoir lived here for a bit. Eventually it was incorporated into Paris and is now a really cute place to wander in.

I still wasn´t hungry when I finished the museum but felt compelled to have a street crepe. Yum. I walked down the opposite side of the steps thinking I would avoid the bracelet guys. The ones over here were much more aggressive though and when I ignored one of them he hit me on the shoulder as I walked past. I wanted to call him some names, but decided that I should really just keep moving. By the time I was close to the train station I was hungry and I grabbed some fast food.

Back in Langy I accidentally took a nap. I hadn´t meant to do that, I wanted to sleep on the train. It wasn´t long before I had to say goodbye to everyone. It was really sad.

Eliane took me to the town across the way and we fed the swans some bread before checking out the church. Saying goodbye to Eliane was re ally very sad. I had had such a great time talking20to her. I know that I will keep in touch though.

I got to Gare du Nord about 20 minutes before my train left. I had a beer in the restaurant car before calling it a night.

Charting the Course

Day 170
I got myself up earlier than I had been all week. I just made it by about 20 seconds for the 8 am train to Paris. I then raced to Montparnasse train station and ran for a train to Chartres. A little over an hour later I was there.

Chartres is a small town with a massive cathedral. I headed right for it. Well, it would have been really hard to miss, it was the absolute biggest thing in town. I was a bit disappointed that there was scaffolding on the front, but it was still beautiful. Inside it was much like the other medieval cathedrals that I have been to. Several of the French monarchs were buried here, but I couldn´t seem to find their memorials. The cathedral dates back to 1230, but sits on the foundations of a much older church.

The stained glass windows were just amazing. They have whole books you can buy on them, I declined though. Even without detailed descriptions I still found them to be memorizing. The stone sculptures around the apse were also stunning.

One of the main reasons for visiting this cathedral is the stunning labyrinth built into the floor. I had been looking forward to completing it and was really disappointed when there were chairs all over it. I only got a picture of part of it.

I wanted to take a tour of the crypts next but it didn't start20for about 3 hours. I explored Chartres for a bit but eventually ran out of streets to check out. I then did the next best thing I could come up with, I ate crepes. The crepes in France are so wonderful, I don´t know what I will do without them. I also spent some time writing in my journal.

The crypt tour was quite possibly the worst tour I have been on so far. It wasn´t in English and I was given a piece of paper to read about each of the highlights. They were all numbered, of course, the woman giving the tour in French didn´t go to each point in the same order and I had a lot of problems trying to figure out what was what. She also talked a lot about everything. I had the entire paper read before she even finished going over the first part. I was getting very sleepy. I took some probably not allowed pictures when the guide wasn´t looking. The main relic down there was Mary´s veil. I couldn´t seem to find it though, so I don´t know if I actually saw it or not. The frescoes were quite nice, I just couldn´t understand what their significance was.

After about an hour th e group was lead outside and she began pointing to carvings. Th ere was nothing on my paper about the out side and I simply walked away. I didn´t want to be rude, but I was really beyond bored by the whole thing.

I slept for the entirety of the train ride back to Paris. At Montparnasse while I waited in line to buy a metro ticket the woman ahead of me got into a yelling match with the ticket guy. After a while a guy behind him came out and helped me to use the machine to buy a ticket.

Back in Langy I had another wonderful dinner with everyone and chatted with Eliane. I have had such a good time here, leaving will be hard.

Now and Then

Day 169
After a nice breakfast with Eliane I commuted into Paris once again. I decided to start with the Pompidou Center and the Museum of Modern Art. I thought that the building was really pretty ugly and the touts outside trying to sell stuff were really annoying. I´m also not a huge moder n art person. I had heard really good things about this museum though and felt that it was time that I checked it out.

The museum was anything but disappointing. There were detailed descriptions of each painting and movement. This really helped me to understand pieces that would have been really baffling. Most I would have just written off as crap.

However, I don´t think any type of description could adequately explain to me why there was a room full of inflatable furniture. I might have some new decorating ideas though. A living room full of clear plastic air filled furniture might be in my future. Some of the sculptures were really nice. I especially liked a life sized red rhino. The thing was huge! There was another sculpture of a man and a woman hugging, the woman was also kissing another man who was standing behind. I guess it was a threes a crowd metaphor. For unknown reasons a wicker airplane had hundreds of pairs of scissors protruding out from it. From the roof deck I got a really good view of the Eiffel Tower and Mont Martre.

Upstairs 0there were several rooms with works by Henri Matisse. He´s been a new favorite of mine since I visited his house in Nice. There were also some nice Piccassos and Dalis to examine.

When I had finished pondering art I walked to St. Sulpice. I think this was in t he Da Vinci Code, but I didn´t recognize anything. I then headed down the street to the Chapel of Notre Dame de la Medaille to check out some mummies. There was a huge number of people here and I thought that there might be a service starting. Turns out there was and I didn´t get to see the dead nuns for long. I then stumbled upon the church I had been looking for yesterday in a totaly different area of the city than my guidebook had said it was in. It was closed though, so no more mummies for me today.

After a bit more of a walk I came to the Rodin Museum. This was phenomenal. There were several statues of couples that seemed to be breaking out of the rock they were carved in while embarrassing moments. It was just amazing. For some reason there were also a Van Gogh and a Monet. I don´t know why. The statues were just so amazing, I counted myself very lucky that photography was allowed. Rodin's carvings were so expressive, they seemed almost lifelike to me.

Once I was finished here I headed to the Gare de l`Est via the metro. I got a bit confused though and ended up switching lines quite a few times before finally getting there. That evening I tried to do a bit of blogging, but mostly I just chatted with Eliane. Before sleeping I watched a bit of The Holiday. Eliane had lent me her portable dvd player and she had loads of movies to choose from . I might never leave!

Long Walk Paris Style

Day 168
Today was Tuesday and the day that museums are closed here. Eliane made me a real American breakfast of pancakes and we chatted some more before I headed it. I really didn´t know I had that many things to say. I hope that I wasn´t too boring!



When I got to Paris I headed straight into Notre Dame. The plan had been to go inside and find Quasimodo (I had missed him last time) but the line reached Rome and I declined. Instead I went searching for a nearby church. I never did find the church, but I did find the crepe place that I had eaten at with my Uncle Steven on one of my first days in Paris on St. Louie. I decided to go here again, it was as good as I remembered it.

After lunch I kept looking for the church but instead found a store that sold American food. I bought a root beer and a pack of nerds. The root beer wasn´t too expensive, but my excitment about the nerds made me not realize that they cost almost $3 until I had started to eat them. They are only $0.75 in the States! Forget eating nerds, I am a nerd.

I then happened to find the Musee Carnavalet, this was on my list, just not expected at this monument. It was however open and free (two of my favorite words) so I decided to check it out. The museum has random objects from Paris in chronological order. It seemed to me that the collection was made up of nice pieces that didn´t quite fit into any other museum. Some of the gargoyle's posed for me and I found several of the paintings to be rather good. Many of the rooms were right out of long forgotten palaces. There were also several models of what the Bastille (really big prison) had looked like. The Carnavalet Museum was quite large, but as much as I wanted to be there, I don´t think I was really in a museum mood. I went through it all quite fast and didn´t even bother with most of the section on the revolution.

Strangely, after I left the museum I found a Kiels. I had thought this was a New York only institution and was pretty surprised.

I then headed to the 12th arrondissement for a little walking tour. My uncle had lived here for20several years and had sent me an email with places to check out. I started by walking along the viaduct of the arts. This is an elevated pathway. I wish that it had been a slightly shadier pathway. It was really cool though to be walking among the rooftops of Paris.

After the path I came to a bridge. Loads of people were hanging out underneath it, some had brought their dogs. One family brought their rabbit. I´m not kidding. I then found a rather large fountain with lions spitting water out of their mouths. I tried to get a picture of me in front of it and grabbed the first person walking by to help. He spoke some English and asked if I wanted the fountain in the background, I said yes. The first picture was of me and a car, for the second one he zoomed in to get a better look at my cleavage. How would he think that I wouldn´t notice that? When I got my camera back he told me that he didn´t want to be forward but that I was very cute and he would like to have dinner with me. He was wearing socks and sandels (a total deal breaker) so I had to decline. Plus, I had dinner plans already. I gave up on a good picture and continued on my way.

I then tried to find a monastery that Lafayette had been buried in. I was very much unsuccessful. Well, my feet hurt and I didn´t feel like walking around any longer. I had lied before though, my dinner plans were not confirmed so I set off to Gare de Lyon to find an internet cafe to see if I did in fact have plans. After more walking I found that I did. I called Eliane to tell her that I would not make it to dinner and headed off to my next stop.

Back in Siracusa I had met a really nice Parisian named Dorthee. We had kept in touch over the past few months and she was kind enough to invite me over to dinner. I couldn´t find her street on the map, but luckily each metro stop has very detailed maps and her tiny street showed up there.

Dorthee had made us a really fabulous soup and we had a great time catching up while her cat played with the cork from the wine bottle. At the end of the evening Dorthee walked me to the metro stop and pointed out the sparkling Eiffel Tower, it really was beautiful.

I was a bit worried that I would miss the last train but actually ended up on one an hour before that. I was tired when I got back, but it had been a very good day.

Paris from the top and bottom

Day 167
The plan was to wake up early and spend the day checking off sites from my list. I was up a bit early though and talking to Eliane was more interesting than taking an early train. I didn´t get into Paris until about noon.

My first stop was the Andre Citroen Park. As this is my second time really seeing Paris (I did it 6 years ago), I had seen the city from the Eiffel Tower and from the Arc de Triomphe, now it was time to see it from a balloon! Luckily there is a company that does ten minute hot air balloon rides. After waiting for some school group to go up, they all screamed as the balloon tipped on its accent, it was finally my turn.

I shouldn´t have made fun of the kids though, the balloon did tip quite a bit as we went up. I held on to the railing tightly but I didn´t scream. The view really isn´t as good as the other two I´ve had in Paris. I could only see part of the Eiffel Tower and non of the Arc de Triomph e. Still, I was in a hot air balloon and it was freaking cool! I had thought that everyone would move around to get a panoramic view, but they didn´t. In fact when I tried to move around I was given rather dirty looks. I asked a woman standing next to me to take my picture. The whole time she had my camera in her hands I was afraid that she would drop it, she was really off balance. She also seemed to have no concept that I wanted to be in the picture and not my feet, or just the top of my head, or the guy behind me. Instead I made a video myself of the experience, you can check it out on You Tube.

Once I was back down on the ground I decided to get a better view of the Eiffel Tower and walked about 20 minutes to get there. On the way I gave the guys selling cheap replicas my best don´t even bother look. It seemed to work. I must be improving. When I got to the base I took a couple of pictures. I didn´t go up though, the line reached all the way to Berlin and I didn´t want to wait in it.

My stomach was growling at this point and I stopped for a sandwich and a break. My feet were happy about this.

After lunch I stumbled on a monument that is a replica of the flame from the Statue of Liberty. This is very close to 0where Princess Diana was in a car accident and people seem to think that the monument is for her. There were flowers and letters scattered around it.

It took me a bit of searching to find my next stop, the sign wasn´t in English and I=2 0don´t speak French. Eventually I just went to what I thought might be the right place and it turned out to be it. I was visiting the Paris Sewer Museum. Why a sewer you might ask , well its different and unlike anything I have seen before.

The tour brings you through different tunnels with various gross smell levels. There are several displays on the machines used to clean out the sewers. Pretty gross. In several places the floor had a metal grate, I passed by these quickly, I didn´t want the grates to give in and me to plummet into I don´t want to know.

Until the middle ages drinking water was taken right out of the Seine. The larger the population grew though, the grosser this became. In 1370 the first sewers were constructed, well, it was really more like a drainage system without filtration. Over the next few hundred years different systems were tired. In 1850 the current sewer and water supply system was designed. The Paris sewer had 2,100 km of tunnels.

At the end of the museum I practically took a bath in the sink. I had been very careful not to touch anything, but still wanted to be sure. Overall, it was really sorta interesting.

When I came up the stairs the sunlight made me blink. I took a bit of a walk to the Arc de Triomphe. I didn´t go up this one either, I´d done it before and really just wanted the picture. Along the way I walked along the Champes - Elysees.

I still had time to make it too one more place. Had I realized how far away it was I might have given in and taken the metro, but I walked anyway. I was attempting to visit the Museum of Counterfeit Goods. Unfortunately even though I was there when it said it would be open the door was shut and no one answered when I rang the bell. I guess it was a counterfeit museum.

There wasn´t any time at this point to see anything else so I simply got on the metro and then on a train back home. After an accidental nap and dinner I chatted happily away with Eliane before bed.

Cats and Dogs

Day 166
It was raining when I got up. Yuck. Eliane and I spent a lot of time chatting over breakfast and it was quite late when I got going. I didn’t want to wander around in the rain so I headed straight to the Cluny Museum.

The Cluny holds an assortment of medieval artifacts. It began with some Islamic inspired art. I had no idea that the Moorish influence had traveled so far north. One room glowed with stained glass windows. The sculptures in the next room had belonged in Notre Dame at some point. Most of the rooms seemed to contain sculptures in various levels of wear and tear.

One room had a tapestry that told a story. I decided to make up my own to see how close I could get. Once upon a time there was a princess, she had lots of pets. She liked her unicorn best and often pet him. This made her monkey very jealous. To gain attention the monkey climbed on the princess. She punished him by putting a chain around his neck. In the end all was forgiven and they all had a big party under a tent. The set was actually about the five senses. I think mine was better.

Upstairs there was a collection of everyday things including bits of shoes and bowls. I liked the paintings the best. I have finally gotten to a point where I can appreciate religious art out of a church. This was a pretty fabulous museum, it also helped that I was given the under 25 price without even asking!

When I had finished with the museum I grabbed some lunch and worked on my journal. It was still raining and I decided to spend the rest of the day doing that, just catching up. After lunch I had a cup of tea to help me write.

I had hoped that the rain would stop and that I would be able to wander a bit, but this never happened. In the end I just headed back. Dinner was once again wonderful and the chatting even better. Eliane is a whole lot of fun to talk to. I also spent some time with blog before calling it a night.

Permanent Parisians

Day 165
After chatting with Eliane over breakfast I headed into the city. Commuting to Paris for a week was going to be fun.

My first stop was the Catacombs. Some time ago there was a big problem with overcrowding in cemeteries. They smelled and the bones were protruding from the earth. To clean up the city the bones were moved to the catacombs. They were arranged by the cemetery they had come from. Instead of just stacking them up people thought it would be more fun to arrange them artistically.

After waiting in line for about an hour I started down the 100 or so steps. I then followed several winding hallways. I hadn’t even gotten to the bones and it was already creepy. In fact, it seemed like forever before I even got to the really creepy part. Pictures were allowed, but only without flash. It seemed like I was the only one who had listened to this though.

Nestled among the bones were some famous people. I didn’t recognize any of them though. As much as I enjoy creepy things after about 20 minutes of bone lined hallways I was about done. I was almost happy to climb the 83 steps at the end. Up top there was a pile of skulls and bones, these were the ones that people had tried to steal that day. I don’t know how they ever caught anyone though, no one was there as I exited.

After getting lost and then giving up for a bit and just grabbing lunch I headed to the Pantheon. This is basically where some famous French guys were buried. There is also some nice artwork here. I paid my respects to Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and the Curries. It was odd, there were several crypts just sitting there empty. I don’t know if there was ever anyone there or if they were waiting for people to die.

Upstairs was a huge pendulum. Right next to it was a small cat statue. This had been a clue in the first season of the Amazing Race. This was really why I came!

When I exited the Pantheon I could see the Eiffel Tower. I had forgotten that this was here too.

I then walked back to the train station and waited in a very long line to book a ticket for my next night train. Eventually I ended up back in Lagny. After more good food Eliane and I chatted before heading off to bed.

3rd Times a Charm

Day 164
After about ten hours on the train I finally disembarked at Paris Nord. This was my third time in Paris on this trip but the first time I would see anything more than train stations. After walking to Gare du l’est I hopped on another train. This time for not quite 30 minutes. After that I made a quick phone call and just a few minutes later my ride arrived.

My Uncle Steven lived in Paris for about 12 years. During that time he met his wife Myna. They live in Florida now. Myrna’s sister, Eliane lives with her husband Rene and daughters Deborah and Johanna is a small town just outside of Paris called Lagny Thorigny. They were very nicely letting me stay with them for the next week. August certainly has been a nice month for this.

I had met everyone 6 years ago when I stayed with Uncle Steven for a week here. I was shocked at how tall Johanna and Deborah had gotten, they were both taller than me! The last time I had seen them they were 10 and 7 years old.

After a fabulous lunch and a few hours spent chatting with Eliane I headed into Paris to check out the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore. I was desperate for new books. After picking out a few things I headed right back to Lagny. I lucked out and got there just in time for dinner. After a lot more chatting I headed up to sleep feeling very much at home.

The Good Life

Day 123

Once I got my act together I headed out to get a bus to Chambord. Chambord is another fabulous palace that was built mostly by Francis I in 1519. It was meant to be a hunting lodge. There are 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms. This place is massive. Not only is the building massive, but the park that surronds it is the same size as inner Paris.

King Francis I began construction in 1519, but it was not finished until about 200 years later when Louis XIV (the sun king) took over the project. This place is just immense and breath taking. I wanted to know everything about it and treated myself to an audio guide.

After entering the keep the first thing I saw was a magnificent double helix staircase. This was odd as most fancy staircases were built on the outside to show them off. It is also thought that Leonardo di Vinci might have designed it.

Even though this place was seriously massive you had to be really special to the king to be invited to say here. The rest of the people traveling with him got stuck sleeping outside or with locals.

I did get a bit confused while walking around here. Most of the rooms have been meticulously restored, just not all to the same period. Several different people lived here and the rooms were a real mix of styles. I’ve tried to arrange this chronologically.

After King Francis death in 1547 the building was a construction site. Still, he managed to leave a permanent mark on the building by engraving his symbol, the salamander, every where. The palace didn’t even have much furniture. Apparently it was too expensive to keep every single one of the kings residences fully furnished. The king traveled constantly to be seen by his subjects and might only visit some of his homes once or twice. Furniture would either be brought in or made on the spot for only the duration of the visit.

By 1634 when Gaston ‘d Orleans, King Louis XIII brother, was given the castle it was in a state of severe disrepair. He decided to continue construction and refurbished the existing building in the same manner that it had begun in. This gave it a look of continuity that many palaces lack.

The work was still not quite done when he died in 1600. At this point Louis XIV had ascended the throne and took interest in the structure. He only stayed at Chambord 9 times during his reign, but saw to it that the building was finished. It is easy to see where his building took place because his emblem, the sun, decorates the walls.

Chambords next occupant was Stanislaus Leszcyski, the exiled king of Poland from 1725 – 1733. I don’t think that he had a lasting affect on the palace because he wasn’t much mentioned, just really a few paintings. In 1748 the Marquess of Saxony moved in for two years. He updated the building a bit and even built a theater. He apparently threw the wildest parties in France.

In 1792, at the beginning of the revolution, most of the furnishings that had been left by everyone over the centuries was cleared out. The building was in decay. This was furthered when Napoleon used Chambord as barracks. In 1815 it was put up for sale and in 1921 given by public conscription to the Duke of Bordeaux, the man who would have been King Henri V, but never was. The French government bought the palace from his heirs in 1930.

During WWII there was great fear that Paris would be bombed. In order to protect the priceless artwork palaces in the more rural areas were used to store the pieces. Chambord acted as a sorting center for pieces from the Louvre and the Cluney Museum.

Today Chambord is mostly restored and is fabulous. Its massive size made it feel like it wasn’t over run with tourists. I was so excited to be here that I almost wanted to dance in the ballroom, I just didn’t want them to throw me out for being a crazy person.

Once I had finished I had some time to wander the grounds. I made sure to take a picture from every angle. There were also some stunt horses hanging out and I spent some time admiring them.

I didn’t want to get myself lost though and decided after some time to just sit at the bus stop and update my journal. There was a woman there with her 40 year old or so son. Her son clearly had some sort of mental deficiency. He waved to the bike riders as they passed and kissed my hand. I kept having to stop him from touching my hair. His mom would move him away and then apologize to me. I didn’t mind though. I tried to tell him my name and asked for his. Keep in mind that he didn’t quite understand that I don’t speak French.

Me: My name is Kathryn (while pointing to myself)

Him: mumbling

Me: My name is Kathryn (while pointing to myself)

Him: My name is Kathryn

Me: (I smiled) No, I’m Kathryn

Him: No, I’m Kathryn

He spent some time mimicking me and seemed to really enjoy it. This really helped to pass the time waiting for the bus. Soon it had arrived and it was time for the next palace.

Cheverney is another of the Loire palaces. It belongs to the Hurault family and has since the 13^th century. Well, the land anyway. The palace was built in 1630. It’s not a fraction of the size of Chambord, but still worth a look. It was lived in up until the mid 1980’s. There wasn’t an audio guide this time, but a rather detailed pamphlet.

Most of the rooms had been decorated in the 1800’s in a 17^th century style. In one of the upstairs rooms there had a whole array of toys, including a wooden horse from Napoleon III’s time. The current marquise’s boring looking wedding dress was on display. Some of the tapestries were the best preserved ones I have seen yet. There was also a document signed by George Washington in which the family is mentioned. The library was the best. I would have loved to run my fingers over the old books. I don’ t think they would have been in English though.

This was a much smaller palace and I had to be back early for the bus back to Blois, it was the last one of the day.

While I was waiting a bridal party came out of the church. The women were all wearing really crazy hats.

Back in Blois I made a quick stop at the only internet café in town to figure out how to get to my next hostel. I spent some time blogging on the uber slow, but free computers there before calling it a night.

Old Orleans

Day 122
I had gone to sleep so early that I didn't need my alarm to wake me up. After a short walk to the train station I was headed to Orleans. Only they pronounce it like Orle-on and I was confused.

Orleans is a cute place. There seems to be hundreds of these in France. Cute towns that is, I think there is only one Orleans. It's claim to fame is that Joan of Arc came through here.

However, before I found Joan I found the Cathedral of St. Croix. It was lovely. After a brief exploration I found the tourist office and finally had a map. There wasn't much to do so I headed straight to the only other place in town, the Joan of Arc House.

On April 29, 1429 Joan of Arc brought her army to Orleans to help expel the English. The museum, was completely in French and I was rather confused. The only part in English was commentary to go with a model. The battle of Orleans was an attempt to drive the English out of the town. It had gone on all day and the troops were about to give up. Seventeen year old Joan (who had even been injured earlier in the day) rallied her troops and with them pressed on for one more attack. This time they won and the English were driven out.

When I had finished with the museum I headed to an internet cafe only to learn that I was having more credit card trouble trouble. It's just so irritating to have to deal with this while I am traveling. By the time I had waited on hold and had everything sorted out the rest of my day was shot. There wasn't anything left in Orleans and no time to take a train elsewhere. Instead I picked up some food from Carefour and simply headed back to Blois. It was another incredibly early night for me with no new friends to entertain me.

This Is France

Day 121
My alarm went off impossibly early, I guess I should have put down the book earlier. On the bus to the train station I met a Czech girl who was even more confused than I was. I helped her buy her ticket at the train station.

I slept for the entire train ride and only barley woke up for my stop in Paris. I was exhausted and really disoriented. I had to take the metro to another station. I couldn’t find the stop I needed on the map and went to a very convenient information booth. I must have really looked out of it because the guy described to me several times what I needed to do. When I thought I had it I got in line for a ticket. The guy there told me that the station was actually just across the river and about a ten minute walk away. He gave me directions.

I was still quite a bit in a daze and couldn’t figure out why Brendan Frazier was in another Mummy and why did Paris smell like urine? I think that I might never find the answers to these questions.

I did manage to find the Austerlitz station without getting lost. Now if only I could find a bagel!

Once in Blois (pronounced like blue-ah) a very nice bus driver helped me to find my hostel. I was shocked to find that not only did I have my own room and bathroom, but this was the least amount of money I have paid for a hostel to date. What a good day.

Blois is incredibly cute and I had a good time wandering around. There is also a massive chateau to check out. The Blois Palace was built between the 12^th and 17^th centuries. There are four distinct sections/sides and despite their architectural differences they work together quite well.

The first room that I found was the throne room. You could sit on the throne and I took the typical tourist shot. This was followed by several rooms of stonework that used to be located throughout the palace and was for some reason removed. A lot of these things were gargoyles or other bits that are usually quite far away. It was really interesting to see them up close.

Up the fabulous outdoor stairway were the Royal Apartments. These werer as sumptous as I could have dreamed. They had been restored meticoulsy. I think that this is what I have been looking for but didn't find at the Pope's Palace.

Most of BLois Chateau was built by King Francois I in the 16th century. It's easy to see his influence because he put his emblem, the salamander everywhere. The queens bed chamber is where the royal sex happened. Just in case you had been wondering about that. This is also where Catherine de Medici died in 1589. One of the small upstairs rooms had hidden cabinets. Poison may have been hidden in them at some point.

The top floor is dedicated to the assassination of the Duke of Guise. I'd never heard of him before, but it was apparently a big deal. During the 16th century France was going through a religious struggle. When the Catholic king died with no heir protestant Henri of Navarre was set to take the throne. The duke didn't like this and wanted to make a bit on his own. Henri had him killed for this.

After the royal apartments I checked out the attached fine arts museum. It was nice, but slightly anti clamatic after the royal apartments. Once this was finished it didn't take long to explore the rest of the caste grounds. I even got a really good view over the town.

I was excited to get to my next stop, the Museum of Magic. Essentially Robert Houdin, a watch maker turned magician, was born in Blois. Houdini later took his name for his stage name. This museum was dedicated to magicians. The first room was full of optical illusions. I had fun testing them all out, even though I had to fight through several school groups to do it. Upstairs there were several rooms dedicated to Houdin. This too was overrun and it was all in French. I didn't stick around long. On the top floor was a really interesting optical illusion. I had a visor with a mirror that reflected the ceiling strapped on my head and I needed to walk slowly forward while holding a hand rail. It looked like I was walking over the ocean floor. It was a bit disconcerting, but unlike a couple of the kids behind me I didn't feel the need to scream.

As much fun as the museum was, the magic show was better. There was no speaking so it was perfect for me. A man and a woman kept playing with different objects on the stage and where at first shocked when magic happened. Eventually they got over their shock and started trying to top one another. It was a lot of fun.

After the magic show I explored Blois for a bit longer. It wasn't late though when I walked back to the hostel. It's nice to have my own space, but it can be a bit lonely and after reading 'A Touch of Bother' for a bit I simply went to sleep.

Bes – What?

Day 120
After my really lazy day I was definitely up for some exploration. I got an early train and headed to Besancon, a cute medieval town whose name I can't even pretend to pronounce.

A citadel dominated the sky above the city and I headed straight up to it. The citadel was built in 1668 and was huge. There is a ton of stuff to do and I knew that I had my work cut out for me and a full day ahead. I treated myself to an audio guide and soon I was off. I started with the Comtois Museum. I wasn't quite clear on what it held, but it seemed to be regional stuff ranging from pots and pans to religious artifacts. There was even a reference to the Cult of the Shroud (from Turino). I particularly liked the toys and the section on puppets. Why there were puppets, who knows, but they were nice.

After the museum I was directed by the guide to head up to the battlements. They followed along the length of the citadel and most could be walked. From up here I could see the entire town and the valley. Two hills flanked the one the citadel was on. These had also been fortified, but the buildings have disappeared. Brick was used in constructing the walls. This was because brick better absorbs impact from cannon balls and creates less shrapnel. How did I ever live without knowing that?

When I came to the end of the battlements I found myself in the zoo. I loved the monkeys. One group, including several babies were working on their tans. Or watching a rock tv, couldn't really tell. Several others were having a fight while hanging from one arm off the top of their cage. I thought several times that someone would fall, but they seemed ok. Another one, a baby, was trying to escape. He can come with me. The petting area was wonderful. I have never seen such friendly bunnies. The goats seemed pretty cool too, but lost interest in me when they saw that I had no food for them. There were also some grazing llamas and lounging lyons, sorry, lions.

After exploring some more of the fortifications I found the nocturnal house. This was pretty creepy and mostly had roaches and rats. I'd seen enough of those in NYC and didn't see a need to stay long. The reptile house was much better. The frogs and turtles were so cute! I could have done without the spiders and the ant installation along an entire wall.

My next stop was the Resistance and Deportation Museum. Form 1941 to 1944 the Nazi army had occupied the citadel. Approximately 100 members from the French resistance movement were killed here, including at 13 year old boy. The museum discussed how Nazism began and spread. It moved on to the war and the holocaust. There was a particularly interesting section on guerilla warfare. It was all pretty depressing and I guess I wasn't in the mood because I left the museum early to go and spend some more time with the monkeys.

Also in the citadel was a small aquarium and several rooms of stuffed animals. I had planned on seeing a few other things in Besancon, but the citadel really took all day. Most of the sites were closing down. Instead I wandered the old town and bought a new journal.

Once I was back in Dijon I headed to H&M. My jeans had finally died. I didn't want to only have 2 pairs of pants and I just love jeans so I knew the expense was worth it. I also bought myself a new book.

Back at the hostel I read my new book, Forget About It, all night long. Really, I finished the thing. It was about a girl in NYC and they mentioned streets and restaurants by name. It was sort of a nice way to remember my 'real' life. Plus, I had the room to myself and no one was there to complain.

Lazy Kathryn

Day 119
There are several reasons that I decided to do nothing today. I slept through my alarm, or maybe I didn't even set it. It was raining. I was a bit tired. And Jane Austin told me so.

I did manage to get up early enough for my free breakfast though, but I went right back to sleep after eating. Eventually I got hungry again and I headed down the street to Ikea. Yes, my hostel was so far out of town that it was next to the Ikea. For some reason Swedish meatballs seemed like a really good idea to me. And you know, they tasted pretty damn good.

After wandering around Ikea for a bit and decorating my fictional future apartment for a while I headed to the next door supermarket. This was by the one of the largest supermarkets I have ever seen in my entire life. It was just massive. It took me forever to explore all of the aisles. I've long thought that a grocery store was a tourist attraction. They have all these weird things that I have never seen before. There are boxes to pick up and wonder at, trying to figure out what they contain. And then there is always the scavenger hunt of finding what you actually want. The prize is when you get the right thing. This place had a huge fruit and dried fruit section. I went a bit crazy and even when buying it knew that I would mostly likely turn into a plum/strawberry mix from eating so many of them.

Back at the hostel I read and napped intermittently until it was late and time to go to bed. Oh yea, I managed to finish my book as well.

Lost in Lyon

Day 118
I was up before my alarm and the first person in line for a carb heavy free breakfast. In no time I was on a bus to the train station and waiting for my train to Lyon.

My guidebook had mentioned a huge mall and I exited the station in what I thought was the direction of that. I was wrong and it took me about 3 hours to find the old town. It wasn't a bad three hours though, the weather was nice and the town was really quite lovely. A good place for a wander, intended or not.

When I found the tourist office I was surprised to learn that it was Monday. I shouldn't have been shocked though, Monday does typically come after Sunday. They only museum open this day was the Fine Arts Museum. This is an excellent place to spend a few hours. They have diverse and well organized collection, just not a very large one. I had a good time checking out the Egyptian stuff first. Egypt is on the itinerary for this winter and I can't want to see these things in their natural habitat!

They had a rather large collection of both art and sculptures by Rodin, not really sure why, but wasn't about to complain. Monet has long been my favorite artist and I was thrilled to see about half a dozen of his works here. I also found a new favorite in Fleury Richard.

By the time I had finished exploring the museum it was long past lunch time. I meant to get a salad or something healthy like that, but ended up at Haagen Daas instead with a very large brownie sunday in front of me. Not really sure how this came about. I think I must have been on chocolate auto pilot.

I also decided that I would like to head back to Dijon at this point. While walking back to the train station I managed to find the mall. This was one scary place. I haven't been in a mall in ages and I don't think I've been to such a large one since I was in Dubai. This place was also beyond packed and I had to fight my way to even get to the Carefour (sorta like a super Walmart). After fighting the crowd and picking up dinner and fruit I stood around about 20 minutes in the very crowded train station waiting for my train. I found the crowd to be a bit unnerving and was pretty glad to get out of there.

Back in Dijon I spent some time chatting with my Aussie roommate before watching moving on my ipod and falling asleep.

Not the Mustard

Day 117
My alarm went off early, I had to switch trains pretty early in the morning. After reading for a few hours the next train finally came and I was able to sleep some more.

After dropping my things off at the super modern and clean hostel I headed back into town to check out Dijon. Unfortunately it was pouring cats and dogs and I wasn't able to wander as I would have liked. Still, I was able to tell that Dijon was a really cute little town. And to tell you the truth, after the severe heat of the last few days I was ready for a cooler day and the rain didn't bug me too much.

Eventually the medieval streets lead me to Notre Dame. This was a nice Gothic church with a Black Virgin Mary statue that they claim saved the city from ruin twice. Once from the Swiss, and the second time from the Nazis. I needed a picture of this miraculous statue.

Nearby was the fine arts museum. It was small but quite good. There was some sort of odd modern art instillation everywhere. There were all sorts of plastic animals, on the stairs, with flowers on their butts, red balls on their eyes and surrounding the art. Some were camping out in Ikea tents and other on beds. I really didn't get it.

The rain hadn't let up yet by time I left the museum and headed to the Archaeological Museum. It wasn't very interesting and I was really just there to kill time before the next thing I wanted to see opened. The St. Benigne Cathedral, according to my guidebook had a really creepy crypt. I spent some time checking it out and taking pictures. The Rotunda's foundation dated back to the Romans is it is surprising that the building not only survived the church above collapsing in 1280, but also Napoleon's attempted destruction of the building. It was nice, but not creepy.

When I got back to the hostel I was able to move into my room. I was happy to see that I would have it to myself for the evening. What I wasn't happy about was that because it was Sunday there wasn't anything open. I didn't want to believe the receptionist so I spent a few hours wandering the neighborhood. There wasn't anything open. In the end I had some tuna that I had been carrying around for emergencies and spent the evening reading Sense and Sensibility.

Cannes You See the Stars?

Day 116
My alarm went off early and I packed up as quickly and quietly as I could. When I brought my bags downstairs to leave with the Pink Lady for some time she asked me if I was comfortable. I replied yes. The hostel was a dump, but I couldn't tell her that to her face.

A few minutes later I met Laura and we headed off to Cannes. While we looked for the tourist office we wandered by the beach. I guess that I am a bit of a prude because I really feel that bikini tops belong on the body and not on the sand. Also, if you cannot see your feet when you look down a speedo is simply not appropriate beachwear. This goes treble for anyone over 60. Laura seemed more appalled by the silicone body parts than the missing tops.

Near the tourist office was the red carpet. Along with the other tourists we took turns posing. There were also some cutouts that we took corny pictures with.

After admiring the huge boats (one even had a helicopter) we walked down the main shopping drag. We stopped to take pictures by one of the fancy hotels and a paparazzi guy took the picture for us.

There are two islands near Cannes, one has a monastery and the other a prison. Not just any prison though, St. Marguerite is where the man in the mask, and Leonardo DiCaprio was imprisoned. After a boat ride, which I managed to not puke on, we got to the island. We wanted to head straight for the prison but go really lost along the way. We ended up exploring almost every side of the island before we got to the place that we really wanted to be.

The fort itself was kinda boring. The museum was pretty good though. Basically the king could imprison people without a trial for any reason. Those were the types of people imprisoned here. The man in the iron mask was here for quite a while. It is a mystery as to who he really was. About sixty people have been suggested, but the truth is lost to history. Also imprisoned here were a lot of protestant ministers. They were here to be reprogrammed.

Prior to being a fort the Romans had some stuff up here and we were able to visit the cistern. It was pretty cool to see how these had been changed into a prison.

At this point we had seen the island and I had a really nasty sunburn. It was time to go back to Cannes. Due to the timing of the boat I didn't have any time left and had to go straight to the train station while Laura planned to stay and check out the old town. We said a quick goodbye and made plans to see each other in Germany before I ran for a train.

Back in Nice I had just enough time to grab my bags from the Pink Lady and head off to the train station. I had a very early night train to Dijon. When I boarded the train I was disappointed to find that there wasn't really enough light to even read by so I simply let the rocking of the train lull me to sleep.