day 64 paris - vancouver

23 july 2009


catherine came at 745a to check out apartment and return damage deposit and then we were off to gare du nord by cab to take the RER to CDG terminal 2. checked-in with no prob and same with security. went to my last swarovski store in europe (paris duty-free) but still could not find earrings :(. boarded the plane after having to wait on the bus and then exit only thru the front which was annoying. on the plane realized that "taking care of ben and hannah tonight" potentially means staying up til 430a paris time. watched "the international" (sucked) and "watchmen" also sucked.


in montreal, we actually had to deplane and pick up our baggage and go through customs which was stressful , but we made it with ample time. we, however, had to wait for others to go through, and in paris and montreal there were people with checked baggage that didn't make it, so we had to wait for their baggage to be removed. customs wise, we were probably slated to be checked, but i figure we weren't worth the time and hassle considering the line-ups. we also watched, " i love you man" again which is still hilarious, and "adventureland" which was mediocre.


arriving in vancouver, we had to figure out which baggage carousel to goto and then we were picked up by kate, dave, ben and hannah!

day 63 paris

22 july 2009

early rise today to maximize our last day in paris and europe (for this trip at least). went to la grande epicerie (kind of like urban fare) and got dragee almonds, chocolate and other gift items for various folks. took the metro to near the louvre, and walked down rue de rivoli in hunt of angelina's. found a cool kids paris book that we got for ben and hannah and then at angelina's, had hot chocolate, white hot choc and pain aux raisins... oh my gosh. all so good!


bought more choc goodies for gifts and for us and then walked to galeries lafayette to exchange tie (got hugo boss tie, AND andree made 20e or so!) and then got rip curl shorts in prep for hawaii! dropped stuff off at andree's and then strolled to rue de petite carreaux for lunch, and to get cheese and wine to take to canada (i chose the gewertzmaminer). napped for a looooooong time and felt the groggiest i have ever once we woke up at like 5:15p. andree wanted to take me to jardin de luxembourg and on the way stopped at monoprix to get OJ and win and pate (for canada). the jardin looked soooo different compared to january, and i could still remember the walking route and photo spot from this past winter. we hung out at the fountain and i watched the little toy boats that kids play with. they aren't controlled... the wind just takes them whereever, and when i enquired as to whether the family was afraid if it would come back, he replied "it's a very optimistic sport..." (brilliant)


then we walked to st.germain de pres to meet zoya and ryan at "lipp" at 151 where i was basically kicked out for being underdressed. also apparently one of the restaurants that poets/ authors/ philosophers like victor hugo used to frequent. andree and i went just next door and had our last meal of moules a la creme and escargots.


after a fun hang out with zoya and ryan, andree and i went to the eiffel tower (this time also to top level) to hang out at one of our romantic spots (2nd level, bench between north and east towers) where we had tea and a brownie this time (not coffee and cheescake like in jan). we also saw a marriage proposal which was cute. got home and packed to ensure 23kg checked baggage compliance, and then was in bed for 2am.

day 62 lauterbrunnen - paris

21 july 2009


slept in again (ahhhh... holidays with andree :)) and when we checked out, we received 2 bars of swiss chocolate as a goodbye from the hostel! made our way to airtime to say our goodbyes and to grab coffees to go and caught a train to interlaken to hang out for the day.

walked from ost to the field across from the metropol hotel where ew watched paragliders land with the jungfrau framed backdrop

i had a hankering for asian food and there were a tonne of koreans in the region so we ate some korean, and then found a coop and got more movenpick ice cream. walking around interlaken, we found mozart balls and hiking maps that i wanted to get framed, but they themselves cost 35CHF! in the end, we managed to use up virtually all our CHF with coop and migros shopping. the train to bern was stupid hot and people were annoying. final train ride, andree had an earphone in and loudly asked me to "cream her face" which could be taken the wrong way. we played both cribbage and chess and i won. today was trifecta including rock, paper, scissors earlier in the AM. andree also found a german newspaper, found a comic strip and laughed even though she had no idea what was going on. staff in the food car thought andree was a famous celebrity (tina fey?) and when we got back to paris, we did some mass packing, cleaning and interneting.

day 61 lauterbrunnen

20 july 2009


started off the day quite late and we headed to airtime for a coffee and to have a game of regular sized chess (which i won). after some recommendations from olivia, we were on our way! as we were walking towards trummelbachfalle, we passed by a swiss sausage vendor so we had that for lunch. so good! we also passed a couple of guys who had just base jumped, so our eyes were constantly looking up towards the mountains/cliffs to see if anyone was jumping. however, that was stopped short by the barrage of flies... we crossed a river at some point too and decided to refresh our feet in the uber cold glacial water. the trummelbachfalle is pretty darn cool. 10 waterfalls nestled within a mountain with very little protection between viewer and certain catastrophe. it was here that i got frustrated with my camera in low lighting and subsequently figured out how to change the ISO! after the falls, we stopped nearby for ice cream and discovered swiss made movenpick! hiked to cable car station and caught a "free" ride upto murren where we dined on a patio with amazing views of the adjacent peaks. there was a wasp or something pissing us off, and it got angry and bit/stung andree. we found another coop grocery store (yay!) and then another big chess board with the best view ever of the eiger (where andree beat me again... at "duplo" chess)


for dinner we had swiss cheese fondue with spice, chives, onions, fennel seeds and garlic additions, followed by swiss chocolate and passion fruit/mango movenpick ice cream. i explained to andree the rationale behind her duplo chess wins, with the peripheral vision theory that we tested.

day 60 lauterbrunnen

19 july 2009


so much today! so tired! so sore!

today was to be a day of hiking, and it certainly was. we started out by visiting wanda and getting a coffee and then were off! first to wengen (passing by the appel house that wanda and andree are obsessed about), and we made it up in 40 minutes despite the stated 1:20h. in switzerland, they don't state distances, they do times. good for beginner hikers i guess. wengen is nice! there was a festival going on with live music, we chugged 1L of OJ and got lunch supplies (with btl of rose from lauterbrunnen). we also saw a big outdoor chess board so planned to come back at somepoint to play.

then wengen to kleine scheidegg, and we wanted to go via mannlichen but the signs confused us and we ended up going thru allmend, wengernalp and then to end location in 1:45h (stated 2:45h). we decided to push on through so took the very steep route just off the pool/reservoir looking thing to eigergletscher where just before we ate on a perfect little rock bench with the beautiful alps surrounding us. at this point, we were in shorts and decided to change into pants (editor 2010 - it was starting to get cold as we were quite high up altitude wise). along the way on an earlier part of the route, we also chanced upon a cacphony (well, nice actually) of bells that were around cows! very docile creatures and they crap everywhere. the grass on mountains nearby also looked perfect, soft and very rollable except for high likelihood of hitting a patty of cow poo. at the beginning of the hike, we also took pics of various peaks, and as the hiking progressed, it was very cool to see them get closer and bigger and more beautiful


once we hit eigergletscher, we decided it was clear enough (or would be) to go to jungfraujoch (the top of europe, UNESCO world heritage site). on the train ride up, there were 2 short stops at viewpoints but andree and i decided to sleep instead. at the top, i started to heavily feel the affects of high altitude (3454m) and was light-headed couldn't think entirely straight, and had shortness of breath. hence i blame that for my unintentional shop-lift of my final postcard to emily! whoops...


being that high (and despite having paid 100CHF each for return ticket to eigergletscher), they still charge crazy amounts for food and drink, and our cashier was a mean-ish lady. BUT... the views are wicked! my gosh. so pretty and peaceful (although some tourists have no common sense/etiquette at all). we first went to the ice palace (which was kinda cool, but more a series of tunnels then a palace), then the plateau viewing point which was mindblowing with views of various peaks from the other side (we crossed thru the mountain range on the train ride up), and the glacier. then we went to the sphinx tower thing, another 100m up and andree made good friends with a few birds that ate out of her hand!


after, we had a gassed hike (10-15m, stop to rest...) to the hotel/restaurant that was a good 40 min away along the snow. i went to order a coke and some soup and the following conversation ensued:
"hi, can i order some stuff?"
"are you staying here?"
"no, i just wanted some food"
"the last train back down leaves in 15 minutes"
"oh... good to know. thanks...(to andree) babe, we gotta go!"
"you won't make it back in time... we'll give you a ride"
... first ever snowmobile ride! and in the beautiful alps!
we made it in time (luckily)... at eigergletscher, we decided to not hike the eiger trail, and hiked back down to kleine schneidegg and then as last train had already left, back down to wengen where we met wanda. along the way, we peed in the alps (had to... sorry), saw lots of slugs and i proved that sheep respond to "baa", not "beh" (editor 2010 - andree and other quebec peeps are convinced that sheep say, "beh" instead). a sheep came right upto me and almost kissed me! we also found a wally look alike.


back in wengen, we had our game of oversized chess and i got schooled. caught the train back down to lauterbrunnen (for free!) and had dinner with wanda. then i came back to hostel to res, shower and update journal and andree had one last drink with wanda before she leaves for her trip!

day 59 paris - lauterbrunnen

18 july 2009


super early morning to catch 6:54am train to lauterbrunnen so we left andree's apartment around 6:20am, saying goodbye to my last travel bud, nusbaum. the night before, i believe we all "cheers"ed to a whole host of events for back in toronto now that i think about it.


journey was relatively uneventful. arriving in lauterbrunnen (being able to show andree the blue glow to the river... which was at a much higher level this time), it was raining :(

we couldn't check in until 3pm so we grabbed some lunch and bought some hazelnut swiss milk chocolate (0.60CHF!). the hostel is nice and very clean and our room has amazing views of the mountains to the north. we settled in and then napped for 2 hours, and then got in contact with andree's friend wanda who lives in wengen and works at airtime coffee shop in lauterbrunnen (small world!)


she took us for coffee and recommended some hikes, then we went for dinner and drinks, meeting claudio and some really drunk new zealand dude who was really hammered.

day 58 bayeux - paris

17 july 2009


went to get breakfast and got nusbaum one of the custardish pain au raisin which he liked!

the main street in bayeux also seemed to be getting ready for a street market which was cool. we made our way to the musee memorial de la bataille de normandie which was actually awesome! learned so much more about d-day and subsequent events. nazi marshall rommel, who was in charge of the "atlantik wall" consisting of gun batteries and beach fortifications etc. was killed on my birthday (today!) 65 years ago... crazy. they also had a quick blurb on general von choltitz, who by the description must be the "saviour or paris" i read about in january. hitler apparently ordered him to destroy the city when they were about to pull out but he refused to, hence all the surviving history in the city. also learned that from june 14 to august 25 1944, bayeux was the capital of france!


also learned that general (didn't last long) charles de gaulle was villified by then vichy french government, but was basically the driving leader of the french resistance... oh, and he is a tall dude. got a picture with a jeep (GP willy) that was apparently designed in 4-5 days!


also, to correct my knowledge, the "mulberry harbour" was the name given to the design of the artifical harbours, and they existed at omaha (briefly due to storm) and arromanches.

i also gained a much greater appreciation for other people involved i.e. medical staff, war correspondants, grave registration units and the engineers.


when we left, it was quite windy and i came close to getting hit by a falling piece of pottery that got knocked off a balcony by a shutter... that would have sucked.


nusbaum (back in paris at galerie lafayette) took our quick advice re: jacket... "get it"). for my bday, andree got me a skydiving trip in hawaii, a hugo boss shirt and 2 armani ties! she also got rose champagne and sweet pastries. went to dinner in the latin quarter, drank more.


he also yelled out really loud, "just one glass!" when he tried to get me to booze more :)


other:
- no ticket needed for bayeux-paris trip!

day 57 paris - bayeux

16 july 2009

caught a morning train to bayeux in the normandy region and easily found our way to our hotel, walking through a very nice area of the town. the timing was awesome and after getting some quick lunch, was met by the "nomandy d-day sightseeing" van.


first went to pointe du hoc where 225 rangers ha to climb cliff faces to take out the gun battery that could have hindered the allied invasion on 6 june 1944. most of the gun cassements were moved inland, and at the pointe, telephone poles were installed as guns, much to the chagrin of the rangers (editor 2010 - from aerial views, the telephone poles would have looked like guns). at the site, there were pockmarks of bomb craters everywhere which was crazy. i got upset with some french tourist who posed in front of one of the gun cassements as if she were holding a machine gun. i thought that was in pretty poor taste... this is a historic site where people died and this lady is laughing and pretending to load a gun. idiot.

tour guide also told us a quote from a veteran who returned to the site, his first since 1944. when asked why he wanted to return, his response was, "i wanted to see what it looked like standing up, instead of on my belly" (or something like that... heavy).


then we went to one of 4 sites along omaha beach where it was possible to access the inland (due to predominant cliff terrain). we went to "D-1 exit" (aka dog green). germans knew these areas would be used if invasion did occur, so you can see machine gun stations facing into these access points, and big gun cassements pointing towards the beach areas. this was also the site where artifical "mulberry harbour" was constructed (from pre-fabricated pieces done in england). this harbour was destroyed in a storm though, a few weeks after d-day. there is also a preserved gun cassement and the gun, atop which is now a national guard monument with quotes from world leaders at the time.

FDR's is awesome, "we too born to freedom and believing in freedom are willing to fight to maintain freedom. we and all others who believe as deeply as we do would rather die on our feet then live on our knees."


the beach on this stretch is now a buzz with families and sunbathers. which is good, but just a little odd considering the blood that was shed there over 65 years ago.


next was the american cemetary with an amazing visitor centre which tells the story of plans uoto d-day, but also strategies (inflatable tank decoys!) and innovations used to coordinate and execute this huge attack. i noticed in the cemetary that people were standing and walking over what i would consider the graves. again, a little upsetting. on the van-ride at somepoint we were also told about dieppe where 6000 troops took the harbour to learn what would be necessary for a greater attack. 4000 people dide, but valuable info was gained that prob led to success of d-day. 4000 out of 6000 were canadian.


last stop was a gun battery at longues sur mer, where very well preserved guns and cassements are.. these guns are huge.


other:
- i hear from hartell-sims... twins born july 15!
- messages were sent from allies to the french resistance thru bbc transmissions!
- water levels at omaha are deceptive so while some troops jumped in and could walk at knee/waist height, others jumped in thinking the level was the same but drowned due to depth and gear
- bayeux was the first town liberated in france following d-day invasion
- "cassements" should be "casements"
- grandfather of guide's friend lived in bayeux during occupation and he was forced to help build the casements... they did it slowly though and also may have passed on design to french resistance.

day 56 paris

15 july 2009

poor andree had a bit of a hang over and had to goto work this morning. nusbaum, rob and i left around 11am and we (minus rob who went back to hostel) went to musee-d'orsay. our route there sucked... we got off metro at solferino and walked a big stupid loop to the museum. oh well. musee d'orsay was impressive... used to be a train station (evident from general look of the glass roof/ceiling and massive clock), housing cezanne, manet, van gogh and monets (to name a select few). there were not as many rodin's there as i thought there would be, although i did finally learn what "chat noir" is... old popular theatre back in the day that told plays with shadow theatre.


nusbaum and i split after museum and i went to galeries lafayette and a store called citadium with lots of skate stuff.

i then started walking to palais royale (louvre) but then caught the metro at palais royale to pick andree up from work at 53 rue de boetie. chilled at her place, and then when nusbaum came back, we went to rue de petite carreaux for dinner, meeting up with kelsey.


called it a relatively early night, and packed small (yay!) bag for bayeux overnight trip.


other:
- stopped at fromagerie and had that little puck of soft, creamy goat cheese we had in january

day 55 marseille - paris

14 july 2009


very early train departure this morning where andree attempted to upgrade to 1st class, but the cost was rather high... so euro-rail is looking better and better as an economical tool! i met up with her in the dining car for coffee and then we played a game of chess (that i won!)

(btw, marseille metro was not on time that made me a little antsy...) arriving back at andree's, she pretty much immediately cracked some beers open to get things going. hit up some lunch and grocery/wine shopping for later on, and then napped.


met with rob and kelsey at trocadero metro just outside palais de chaillot where there were tanks on display, and a tonne of police (for crowd control). it took us forever to make it to champ de mars because they were closing down bridges and roads for security and fireworks (public safety) reasons.


we eventually found a spot with a great view of the eiffel tower, and were joined by nusbaum's buddy dave, his gf tannis, andree's friend steve (three total!) and shane (sp?), a hawaiian traveller who was by herself. we drank a lot of wine, spilled a lot too, and had a nice picnic.

when we went to go find steve (andree's friend), it was close to fireworks time and she didn't want me to miss them. my response (editor 2010 - rich and nusbaum, you will want to throw up if you read this), "i wont miss the fireworks. they are right here..." (pointing to the two of us)... damn i am good :)


the fireworks show was amazing. they managed to make it look like the eiffel tower was twisting, turning and dancing! after, we walked to have a drink and ended up at this place where the servers didn't seem to get what we wanted. french steve had a blast watching the gong show.

andree had to work the next morning so we left with french steve (quebec actually) and took forever finding a metro/RER stop as pont de l'alma was closed. we eventually hit les invalides and trained back in a very full car with lots of drunk people. shortly after we returned home, rob and steve arrived.


rob was there due to potential curfew at hostel and dude that was smelling feet (yuk).

day 54 marseille

13 july 2009


original plan was to wake up at 9am so that andree could call tourist info office and get details on trips to cassis and "calanques" (cliff areas around marseilles)... we woke up at 11am. whoops.

managed still to book a 3hr boat ride where we brought 2 bottles of wine and picnic lunch. we got boozy, i fell asleep on the way back, and nusbaum wet his pants twice.

arriving back in marseille, we walked to vieux marseille (which wasn't too much actually) and then i had a "kir royal" (cassis juice w/champagne), and nusbaum showed us the 2 bottles on top of each other and bill removal trick... pretty cool


then andree and i went to dinner where i had boullibasse (awesome!) and then came back to hotel. pretty slow day :)

other:
- andree dances to disco tune preceeding messages over PA in metro

day 53 bordeaux - marseille

12 july 2009


spent a lot of time... wasting time in bordeaux. everything is pretty much closed on sundays, so we walked around thru jardin public (where andree seems to agree with nusbaum's fetus artwork thing, and also where we saw many canadian geese...) and then along the river for a tiny bit


we cut it close getting onto the train to goto marseille, and unfortunately andree was stopped by SNCF guy as she tried to join us in 1er classe. her car was cooking hot, so we moved a bit and promptly fell asleep after starting to listen to her ipod (with my earphones... her's sucked).


after arriving and departing toulouse she came up to 1st class where i got my ass kicked at crib and asshole. and then she schooled me at chess... boo. after finding our hotel (where we were given a 2 room suite with 3 beds!)


we ate at a fast food chinese-ish place and then walked along the vieux port, and upto the base of notre dame de garde (which is very well lit up at night).


talked asterix on the way back down (which nusbaum has never heard of!) and then back to hotel for some shut eye


other:
- helped a lady with a baby, a stroller, a hand carriage and a big bag off of the train.. how did she get in?!
- good deed for the year... check!
- andree has issues with steps in marseille
- hotel reception guy knows we are 3 people :(
- andree peels some skin off after sun burn from nice and like in austin powers says, "aw. thats a keeper..." :)

day 52 bordeaux

11 july 2009

started our wine tour at 9:30am at the tourist information office on cours de juillet and was first taken to the musee de vin et negoce, which was housed in the chartrons district which historically is the wine-commercial centre of bordeaux. the wine industry organized itself into wine estates, brokers, and wine merchants and eventually merchants began buying estates and building chateaux, just because they were that rich. sulphur was used to sterilize barrels such that theaging process could occur and by some weird law, wines from chateaux must be bottled there, and the label must have a picture of the chateau.

then onto the wine tasting, and andree also points out frontsac which is where her ancestors are from, within the bordeaux-ish area. her family's last name used to be gaussin before moving to canada (she is 19th generation). bordeaux also used to be simply an important por, trading in alot of different things, and it wasn't til later that wine was the specialty.

the buildings in bordeaux also used to be dirty as heck, but recently effort has gone in to clean... huge different. eglise st.louis (on rue notre dame!) has 2/3 cleaned, and 1/3 still dirty. then lunch time. wow. started with hot goat cheese dish, then confit de canard, followed by cheese buffet (150 types!) and tarte aux pommes and espresso... and wine...


then after we hopped on a full bus to go to some chateaux! andree and i were shushed by some aussie couple who was actually listening to catherine our tour guide. boooo....


hit up two chateaux (lanessan and giscours) the last one being "grand cru" class... in 1755 or something like that, 60 out of 8,000 or so estates were deemed of highest quality.


nusbaum licked mould for 20e from andree andi got a good pic smacking andree's bum with a cricket bat (KCC placard was there!)


as an example, chateau giscours had about 12.5M e in wine in their cellar that we were in... wow. on the tour we met cindy, rob and kelsey. after tour, we bought andree a rash guard for surfing and tried (but failed) to get the roxy sundress i foud yesterday (i should've just got it)


we met up with the tour friends and had dinner and drinks.


other:
- i think cindy is in the porn industry
- rob did a penguin impression to take kelsey and andree's mind off having to go to the washroom
- i gave nusbaum 5e to have another drink
- "terroir" the natural environment that dictates grape and wine quality

day 51 biarritz - bordeaux

10 july 2009


with earplugs last night, i actually slept really well despite still being able to hear drunk people last night.


we were a bit too early to the grocery store so we wandered into the nearby local market which was very clean and cool. however, all i noticed were the little jars of "puree de piment d'espelette"... i have been brainwashed...


after brekky (and waaaaay too much OJ) we took off for gare biarritz to catch our train, where i fell asleep very fast. directions with tram to citea bordeaux were very easy, and we only stood outside a retirement home for a few minutes before realising it was not our hotel.

the room (with 2 beds!) was not ready yet, so nusbaum and i went looking for a park to eat lunch at. we ended up at some plaza and then checked-in. went exploring through the shopping district (rue saint catherine) and ended up at "monument aux girondins" with the esplanade in front. then towards jardin public where nusbaum thinks there was a depiction of a fetus in one of the ponds, and then towards the river front to walk back. we stopped at the charles dickens pub for a beer and to catch end of 7th tour de france stage.

back to rue saint catherine, and then i checked out st.andre cathedrale.


met back up with nusbaum to grocery shop and then made dinner (with leftovers for andree). i picked her up at gare st.jean and then thanked the make a wish foundation. on the way back from the station, i explained the stewie resemblance of some older renault twingoes (editor 2010 - the front of the car reminded me of stewie from family guy), and she understood! when nusbaum rejoined us, we drank beer and talked science hierarchy.

other:
- the game is "pelote"! basque is the region that biarritz is in!

day 50 biarritz

9 july 2009


ouch. my body hurt today when i woke up. yesterdays surfing plus my slowly aging body ganged up on me.


after a quick brekky form the nearby supermarket, i took off to check out the beach and surf conditions. it looked awesome. and the sun started to come out as well. i had made up my mind. despite being in pain, i was going to go surf again. as a result, i also decided to get a rash guard with wetsuit front/chest and back for later trip to hawaii but also for skimboarding in vancouver. after a heart attack lunch of bread, camembert and pate, i went for a short walk to digest, and also picked up a bottle of, "puree de piment d'espelette" that andree had kept talking about. i also went to le plage de la cote des basques to check out the prep for the women's longboard world championships starting tomorrow (roxy jam).


powerful waves yet again and i got my ass handed to me (again) but still had a load of fun.


went back to hotel to shower and then to tourist office to enquire about tonight's game. lady told us to be there for 8pm (game starts at 9pm)


i went to use up internet time and was able to call andree while she was in paris metro (they get service everywhere!)


met steve and had dinner where i got rocked by a stupid sandwich... so much. plate of fries in the sandwich.

arrived at game around 8p which was waaaaay to early, but watched a kids game and picked up the rules. when the guys played... wow. fast and technical. awesome/dangerous to watch. still have absolutely no idea what the game is called. walking back to town centre, i went to check out the live stage outside casino at grand plage where i heard a band playing opening to a yeah yeah yeah's song. i got bored so left, and on TV at hotel there was some weird michael jackson movie on.


other:
- in my head last night, i could not get the following two things out of my head... 1. surfing, 2. the words, "puree de piment d'espelette"... wtf.
- (editor 2010 - the last picture is the largest vending machine that steve and i have ever seen. there is literally a small shop of shelves and a robot arm goes to get whatever it is you want that you order from the ATM looking machine)