Holidays next week!

Hello there!

So, what's new?

Will try to keep it short and sweet!

Snow day was fantastic. There was so much snow, very exciting. It was only the second time I've tried snowboarding (the last time being one day at Baw Baw 3 or 4 years ago so i think i can still call myself a begginer) but I had a lesson in the morning and spent the afternoon with Alice (who was skiing for the first time) and another beginner skier. We were a very funny bunch I think. I was pretty happy though, my "time spent on bum" to "time spent standing" ratio was pretty good :) . Am looking forward to going again after christmas holidays!

Last weekend was also the "Fete des Lumieres" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%AAte_des_lumi%C3%A8res. It started out as a religious tradition, lighting candles on the window sill on the 8th of december to thank Mary for stopping the plague from reaching Lyon. It's turned into quite a tourist attraction! So I spent Sunday evening strolling around the town. It was quite impressive. There are some really spectacular light shows but it gets very crowded.

Decided to run away this weekend for a bit of R & R. I went to visit some family friends from dad's work, Maryline et Michel. They live about an hour north of Lyon in the french countryside. It was so lovely to get away for a bit not to mention all the cosy comforts - sitting beside the fireplace, a nice warm bath, a massive double bed with a nice warm doona and of course Maryline's delicious cooking! Lots of cheese and plenty of local products. She even made me a "raclette"! We also were babysitting the little 2 year old neighbour for the weekend. She was very sweet, especially when we were putting up the christmas decorations!

Just got back. Have a busy week ahead. Waterpolo match against Grenoble on Tuesday, JA thing on Wednesday, a few classes, plenty of study and then off to Paris on Friday night for Christmas holidays!!!

Have been a bit lazy photo wise, might get another album up this week.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Miss you lots

Alex xoxo

More about the design festival...

So, as I mentioned, the design festival at St Etienne was really interesting. Just wanted to share a few websites with you, incase you ever have time to surf the net...very green of me, I know. There was heaps to see, we just happened to start at the Eco Lab and spend LOTS of time there...anyways, here you go

• http://landshare.channel4.com/

• http://gizalift.com/

• http://worldwithoutoil.org/awards.aspx

• http://storyofstuff.com/

and you should also google/youtube 'The Meatrix' (with Moofius and Mr Hamderson hehehe)

Have fun!

Alex

P.S. Going to the snow tomorrow!!! Alpe d'Huez...gonna try snowboarding as I'm able to get lessons with the INSA sports department :) weather forecast? -15 0C and snow!!!

What time is it???

CHRISTMAS TIME!!! Get excited! My room is looking so cozy and warm. Will actually be spending Christmas with Geraldine, Tonton Claude et Mamie in London! Am also looking forward to a New Years visit in Paris from Jase and Sian!!! (That's a pretty awsome Christmas gift if you ask me!)Didn't end up snowing but it has rained a lot (got caught in a heavy fall last night on my way home from church, not cool) and it's been absolutely freezing. Was funny when I checked the weather forecast for today...10 degrees..."How warm!", I thought, "I might not even have to wear a beanie today!"

Advent wreath, Santa's hat, Magnus underwear (yes, magnus underwear) and random socks (can you spot Mathew's?)...

Tinsel and curtains (am very proud of my curtains!)

There's a little spinning christmas tree with candles on the shelf...

OK. Quick summary of another wonderful weekend. Had Friday afternoon off so went to a silk market in Lyon with Alice. So much silk and scarves and beautiful things we can't afford to purchase! Saturday, I had a study date. A couple of frenchies in my class have befriended me and are helping me out with the studies (the help is much needed!). So it wasn't so much a date as just studying all day with Victor and having quenelles for lunch (my request). The work is so hard, we worked so much but I felt like we got through hardly anything! Cooked some wicked pasta carbonara when I got home and then had hot chocolate with Anton and Alice (more like melted chocolate and milk...delicious!). Sunday, Alice and I went to St Etienne to the biennale design festival. It was great, so many things to see. My favourite was in the eco city lab exhibition. It's called an aquapony...basically it uses fish poo as feritliser to grow a vegie patch. There was also the Urban Loo and the Eco Toilet, some really great ideas. http://biennalesaint-etienne.citedudesign.com/fr/#/programme We also found a Christmas market, too much fun!

Alright, getting late. Must be off

Bonne nuit

Alex xoxo

Just so you know...

Just so you know...first sign of snowflakes today!!! Very excited, it's supposed to snow a bit most of the week :) Also, Australia won rugby!

Love from Alex xoxo

Hello!

Hi all!

Not much news. Saw the new Bond film on the weekend, very cool. Last night we celebrated "le Beaujolais nouveau" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaujolais_nouveau . There were fireworks but it sounded a lot more exciting than it actually was. It starts at midnight so we had a lovely walk home along the river to get back to INSA residence.

I met my coach for Jeunes Ambassadeurs last week. His name is Franck and he works in real estate as managing direct of a company, Diagonale http://www.diagonale.fr/. Really nice guy and very enthusiastic about the program. We're going to the Lyon flea market on Sunday before having lunch with his kids. I'm going on a 'cultural tour' of Lyon on Saturday and might head to the pub for some more culture and the all important "France VS Australia" rugby match (and no, I have never watched even 5 min of a game of rugby in my life, just getting into the spirit of things!). There's also a photo competition going on for JA <> is the theme, and over the year I have the opportunity to prepare a project, introducing my hometown to the "lyonnais" culture. I have a few ideas...

Hmmm...not much else to tell I think, am very tired from the long walk home at 2am last night and waterpolo this arvo. Going to bed.

Bonne nuit

Alex xoxo

Lara et Eva come to Lyon!

Just spent a wonderful few days with Lara and Eva. Will write a quick summary.

Thursday:- Eva and Lara arrived at Lyon in the evening (by car). Went out for dinner pretty much straight away with some friends. We went to a "bouchon" (very Lyonnais). Plenty of tasty food with some house wine (it's the 'Bordeaux' way). Ended the evening with a drink at K-Fet, the on-campus student bar.

Friday:- I had school so Lara and Eva spent the morning visiting Vieux Lyon and other parts. We met up at 'Le Parc de La Tete d'Or' for a picnic lunch. The sun was shining and I finally got to see all the animals in the zoology parc!!! Tigers, giraffes, elephants, monkeys!!! I think they spent the afternoon shopping (Lara and Eva, not the animals). Had a fun night out in town! We went up to Fourviere, which is very beautiful by night. The view is quite spectacular. We then had dinner at a 'Savoyard' restaurant near 'Place de Bellecour' called La Grange. It was absolutely delicious. Eva and I shared a fondue. I don't think I've ever eaten that much cheese. Finally ended up in a 'boat' club...as in, a night club decorated as a ship. Lots of dancing, the french have strange taste in music...like, my dad would have a ball..a bit of YMCA, some Grease, Ra-ra-rasputin and finally (quite appropriately) in the NAVY!!!

Saturday:- The three musketeers (Lara, Alex et Eva) drove to le Chateau de Vaugirard, where Lara's aunt and uncle own a farm...and live in a castle!!! Arrived just in time for lunch (roast chicken and quenelle!) and then went walking around the farm and visited the castle.

Sunday:- Went to Monbrison for a quick visit. It's a small town near the castle. We couldn't walk around the farm much because it was a hunting day. More food...Marie-Caroline made us a very 'Lyonnais' meal. Tripe!!! hmmm well I tried it, but I think once is enough! For those who don't know, I ate cow intestines and stomach...Took the train home, arrived back at INSA just a couple of hours ago. Lara and Eva are staying with her family until Tuesday before heading back to Bordeaux.

Ciao, 'til next time

Alex xoxo

Quick post

Hello,

Just quickly, have been sick this week but am on the mend with plenty of rest. I was ordered by Alice not to go to waterpolo today (I really was going to go).

Lara and Eva just couldn't get enough of me last week so they're coming today!!! Staying here until Saturday and then we head up together to the castle I keep hearing about (where La's family lives!).

Anything else?

Classes have been good. Getting a bit frustrated because there are plenty of lectures and not many TD (tutes). It's very theoretical.

Oh yeah, I got into a program, Jeunes Ambassadeurs (http://www.jeunes-ambassadeurs.com/) which I applied for a few weeks ago. Very exciting, basically a lot of networking and visiting/getting to know the Rhone-Alpes region. There are plenty of events and visits organised throughout the year. Next week I get paired up with a mentor, someone from industry, and my first industry visit is at the end of the month to SANOFI PASTEUR (http://en.sanofi-aventis.com/), a very big vaccine making company. Yay!

Two very exciting things happened on Tuesday...incase you haven't heard. Obama is US President but, more imporantly, 'Viewed' won the Melbourne Cup! Alex's blog: with the latest global news updates!

Miss you all

xoxo

October Holidays!

Hello again! Well, have only just started studying and already I had a week of holidays for All Saints. So, I'll start from the beginning...

Left Lyon Friday afternoon to head for Bordeaux to visit my best buddy Lara. Decided to take a TGV which may not be the most effective form of transport to that side of the country. It took 6 hours, passing through Montpelier and Toulouse. For those who don't know their French geography (I didn't) this is not the most direct route to get to Bordeaux! Anyway...Lara was waiting for me at the station and we headed straight to her grandpa's place. She's driving, by the way, and very well indeed (was quite impressed becauseI know I would never drive in France, I can barely cross the road without almost getting run over!) His house is massive, a few stories high, plenty of empty rooms and VERY french! Didn't get much sleep that night as we had sooooo much to catch up on, you can imagine!

The weather over the weekend was stunning! We went to La Rochelle, a two hour drive on the seaside, with Lara's friends, Eva (from Austria) and Rocio (from Spain). Strolled around, had a crepe and what not before heading back to Bordeaux. Rocio taught me how to roll my R's, the real spanish way with the tongue!!! Very happy because it's incredibly difficult but I think it was a loooooooooooooong drive home for Lara and Eva...rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrr rrrrr rrrr Got an extra hour of sleep with the end of daylight savings (Lara and I were very confused for a while but that might be another story).

Sunday was all about markets. They are a lot of fun and the food is so fresh and there is so much cheese...yum. Had lunch at the markets on the 'Quai de Bordeaux'. Choose from paela, couscous and everything else, never forgetting the bottle of wine! Spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Bordeaux, visiting a bit. It was such a gorgeous day and Bordeaux is very beautiful, quite different to Lyon. So lucky to be travelling around different parts of France!

Sunday night, we cooked. Lara invited her aunt and uncle over. Eva, Lara and I slaved away in the kitchen preparing a very 'french' meal from a very 'french' recipe book which, it turns out, was translated from english...hmmm?! Was lovely all the same, except for the onion soup...a bit of a blue string soup moment (for any Bridget Jones' fan)! Had Austrian apple strudel for dessert! Was also delish!

What else did we do in Bordeaux? Lara wasn't on holidays and I wasn't in a very 'cultured' mood so there were no museum visits but haircuts, shopping, studying, wine tasting and cheese eating....lots and lots of cheese (and wine). Left my lovely Lara just yesterday but will see each other next week when she passes through Lyon before we visit her family (just another weekend away!)!!!

From Bordeaux, took the train to Paris. Was snowing everywhere along the way!!! Had a few friends from Lyon who were also in Paris so I managed to catch up with Suresh. We visited Notre Dame de Paris, had lunch and...being a miserable, cold, grey, cloudy day decided to visit a cemetery. Don't worry, it's not so creepy. 'La cemtiere Pere Lachaise' has some of the most famous tomb stones like Jim Morrison, La Fontaine, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Chopin and many others. It's also absolutely massive! The others left Paris in the afternoon and I came home to the lovely, warm, cosy cooking of the one and only, Mamie. Here until Sunday before heading back to Lyon and getting into the studies again on Monday. Hoping to visit l'Orangerie this afternoon.

I'm beginning to notice some themes in my blog posts...lots about eating and little about studying!!!

Better be off

Love from Alex

Not much to say

Hello. All is well in Lyon, just wanted to share a few things...

• There's a 'green' movement happening in France which is quite impressive. Whole aisles in the massive supermarkets are dedicated to organic and fair trade products...that's great but try to recycle glass, paper or plastic! It's pracitcally impossible!

• I got told off at the cafeteria at breakfast for taking yoghurt and fruit. It turns out I have to choose between yoghurt, fruit or orange juice...help!

• To 'rock up' somewhere is apparently an australian saying (I got a quizzical look when I used it)
  

• Could somebody please send me a packet (or two) of timtams?

• Had an amazing brunch in Vieux Lyon the other day. It was absolutely delicious. Also, crepes with chestnut cream are now my favourite!

• Canadians really are the kindest, nicest, most polite people in the world!

• Frenchies are crazy at mathematics...it's another level!
  

• Holidays next week, going to see Lara in Bordeaux and then heading for Paris again
  

Bonne nuit xoxo

...

Hello again! Has been a family filled couple of weeks. After having dad at Lyon, Barbara and Mathew came to visit for a few days. Spent plenty of time together discovering Vieux Lyon and convinced me to try out the velo-v system. It's very good. Basically, there are stations every few hundred metres around Lyon where you can borrow a bike, ride to your destination and drop off at the next station. It works because you don't need to wear helmets here when riding (don't really know if that's a good thing!) but there aren't always bike paths around and the frenchies drive on the wrong side of the road (in fact they do everything on the wrong side, even laps in the pool!). Good fun all the same, I hope i'll use it more throughout the year...a little demonstration of my professional cycling:



1) relaxed riding




2) fast riding




3) Sunday riding





So, we then went back to Paris together. A bit of a family reunion for Mamie's 80th. Had a lovely lunch on Saturday to celebrate, visiting Versaille at night. Saturday night in Paris was 'La Nuit Blanche' where heaps of sight seeing places are open all night, lit up and all beautiful...pretty much the opposite of Earth Hour :-P . Came back to INSA with Anne, she stayed just 2 nights before meeting up with Barbara, Mathew, Roma and Bjorn in Rome. Took the velo-v again to Parc de la Tete d'Or, where I went running last week. Apparently I totally missed the fact that there's a free zoo in the centre off the park with lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes. I blame it on the fact that I don't wear glasses when I run...

This weekend, went to see the 'our bodies' exhibtion with Alice, Suresh and Tomas (2 australians, a candian and a swede walk into a museum...) Don't know if you've heard about it but it's an anatomy exhibition, going through all the systems of the body. Quite interesting. Came home and cooked quenelle with tomato sauce (quite proud as it tasted very good, if I may say so myself).

Otherwise, all is well. Joined the volleyball club. Just turned on the heating this week, leaves are beginning to fall off the trees. Looking forward to the ski season! Hope you're all well, miss you. Love from Alex

Love from Alex

Arrival at Lyon

Hello! Sorry for the not-so-regular blogging, it's been a busy few weeks so I'll get straight into it.

After Lara's departure to see her family in Bordeaux and the Pyrenees (I was quite sad to see her go but had lots of comfort food between my aunt and Mamie!), I relaxed in Paris, enjoying Mamie's wonderful cooking and fitting in a bit of sightseeing on the side (I am very sorry for all the food talk...).

In particular, I went to 'les Invalides' which has museums about French military history. It was originally built in 1670 as a hospice for soldiers returning from war. There is even a church in there, where the Pope celebrated a mass on his recent tour to France, and where you can find Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb beneath the massive dome.

Now, after all this holidaying around, I have finally arrived at INSA de Lyon to start studying (the actual purpose of this whole trip!). Lyon is about 600km south of Paris, in the Rhone-Alpes region. It only takes two hours to get here with the very fast train (TGV, do the calcs, it's really fast)!!! INSA is an engineering school north-east of central Lyon, about a 15 minute tram/metro trip from the centre.

I think I must be wearing a radar or something because within the first 10 minutes of my arrival at INSA I came across a fellow Australian gal, Alice from Sydney. Could not have been any luckier. She introduced me to her friends she met over French Summer School (swedes, irish, germans, norwegians...it was a while before I met anybody who is actually french at INSA) and helped me find my feet with all the admin things (she also took me running around the 'Parc de Tete d'Or' a very beautiful park but I didn't really get a chance to notice as I was too busy having a cardiac arrest, trying to keep up...it's been a while since I've been jogging!). I settled into my room, meeting my new room mate from mexico, Fanny. Then came organising my timetable and choosing the subjects I am to study. I am part of the GEN department (energy and environment). It has just been one massive, complicated problem that I am close to sorting out. I will mention nothing more on the topic!

My first weekend I caught up with a guy, Mihai, I met in Taize. He's from Romania and is also studying in Lyon on exchange. He's been here for a month already so he took me on a bit of a walking tour through 'Vieux Lyon' and up the the hill 'Fourviere'.

I spent the rest of the weekend with some family friends I'd never met before (or once, when I was very young). Henri is an archtitect who did some study with my dad (back in the day). It was lovely to spend time with the family after arriving to a new place and having such a hectic time in organising the year ahead. Henri knows Lyon like the back of his hand, a very good tour guide! Also, being an architect, he quickly re-arranged my room 'to create more space' and helped decorate with a trip to IKEA (with dad) and all, it's much warmer now (I don't mean that literally, they still haven't turned the heating on, my room is freezing!)

On Sunday we visited a very interesting place called 'the abode of Chaos'. Basically, it's an artist who began an on-line business selling artwork (not his own). He has now made art out of his own home and office (he has at least 200 people working for him). It's very dark, chaotic, political. What makes it so famous (or infamous) is the area it is located, Mont D'Or, because as you can imagine the neighbours are not so happy to have such 'chaos' surrounding them. It was really fantastic and interesting to see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abode_of_Chaos

So, after the weekend came school!!! It's actually been pretty relaxed as it's just the first week. I'm doing 7 subjects, plus I joined the waterpolo team (completely driven into it by Alice, it's actually really fun but SOOOOOOOOOO tiring, not to mention...the french get credit for sport!?!) and a language. Had a couple of classes this week and have found it challenging to say the least!!! Their style of teaching is completely different (they still use chalk and blackboards) and the content is crazy (they could be speaking in English and I think I would still be lost) but I'm sure things can only get easier and better...right?!?!

Dad came down on Friday night so we've spent most of the weekend catching up with him, Henri and the family. Last night we ate at 'Brasserie Georges', yet another gastronomical experience (very much appreciated, uni cafeterias can ! Today we will catch up with some other friends from dad's work. Barb and Mat arrive in Paris today, Anne will be there next week. I'll be heading up next weekend so we will all be together to celebrate Mamie's 80th birthday - quick aside, managed to get a 1st class train ticket up to Paris because for some reason it was cheaper than 2nd class!!! Quite excited!

Must head off, dad is waiting downstairs!

Will write again soon, let me know what you're all up to!

Love from alex xoxo

The end of the road...

Well...we are now back in Paris after a wonderful last (warm) week in Greece. The monasteries in Meteora were great fun. We visited all of them (there are 6 up in the rocks) by foot over a whole day. Lots of hard work and bush bashing as 'marked trails' on maps in Greece are pretty much non-extistent. Lara's good sense of direction (don't laugh, she was born upside down, hence in the northern hemisphere she's actually really useful!) and bush walking knowledge helped get us back to the hotel! Otherwise we learnt there's really not much else to do in Kalambaka other than eat good meat and baclavas (yes, our culinary experience continues!). We were eager to leave the beautiful Meteora for the ancient city of Athens, catching a 6.30 am train, that in true greek style didn't actually leave until about 7.30am and would continuously stop at random places...not stations!?!? Finally we arrived at our 12 euro (that's 2 times an ice-cream super cone!) a night hostel, not quite knowing what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised with a clean, useable kitchen and friendly hosts! We visited all the anceint sites...the original Olympic stadium, the Acropolis, Roman Agora, Ancient Agora and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. We also managed to fit in the Archeological Museum, hilarious parliament changing of the guards (they have ridiculous pompoms on the end of their shoes and have weird dances/marches!), Moonlight cinema at the foot of the Acropolis (Mamma Mia in Greece, Alex LOVED it, Lara was not so charmed), traditional Greek dancing and the planetarium!!! Overall a pretty charged couple of days but as you can see we didn't slack off over our vacation! With a smooth flight into Paris, we were met by Alex's uncle and came back to her grandma's. We visited Paris yesterday, going up the Arc de Triomphe and eating out with Basile, a friend of the Westcott's. Now Lara is off to Bordeaux to catch up with family and commence her studies!!! I'll upload photos soon, if you have a chance to check them out, we did take about 600 though so there might be a fair bit of sorting to do!

Weather in France is dismal!

Love from Lara and Alex

Greek adventures

Rome was incredible, we visited the Vatican City as well as many museums, Borghese museum being Alex's favourite and Lara's the National museum of modern art. We were sad to leave it behind, as well as our new friend Lara Alex, who worked at the hostel we were staying at and Keith who worked at the ice-creamery and served us up the best gelati in a 6 euro super cone! We made our way to Corfu via Brindisi before catching the ferry (which alex loved) to the ionian island! There we were met by the very friendly Spyros who runs the family owned Sunrock cafe hostel. He even bought us our first authentic baclava, YUM! (Contrary to my mothers belief Alex and i are not yet the size of elephants, as we walk too much!) Sunrock was right on Pelekas beach, the view was stunning from the balcony were we were served delicious greek cuisine for breakfast and dinner; Moussaka, spit roasts, lamb roast and greek pancakes! We also met the very amiable Larry who was an old American hippy working there and greeted all new comers with "Welcome to paradise folks!". He took us on a lovely walk in the countryside into the less touristic village of Sinerades, where one of our fellow hikers got sick from eating too many of the delicious figs we picked along the way. Other than visiting the lovely Corfu town we spent our time at the lovely beaches, snorkelling and generally being beach bummers (not beached whales, we promise). We left with Larry's traditional farewell slogan; "real sorry to see you go folks, keep in touch now." Our intended journey to Paxi Island was cancelled at the last moment when we were informed that no boats were going to Paxi from Corfu. Impulsively we whipped open our lonely planet and randomly pointed to a region called Zagorohoria in a TINY village called monodendri which overlooks the Vikos Gorge, one of the largest in the world, 900m deep and is part of the Vikos-aoos National Park. On our arrival to our 40euro a night accommodation, we were quite surprised that our room was so decadently decked out, with an amazing view from our private balcony and a bathroom to die for (We won't mention the Corfu 'bathroom' experience!). Plenty of walks to keep us busy with our included buffet breakfast to keep us going, not to mention running away from Insane, man eating sheperd dogs. We'll elaborate; Alex was talking about how the LP guide mentioned that we may be lucky enough to come across semi nomadic vlach sheperds making their way with their goat and sheep to higher pastures (all very romantic). So with Lara's desperate desire to see a mountain goat, we got very excited when we heard 'goat bells' and we ran down to see them go by, this was a grat plan for about 10seconds, where we just got a glance of the first approaching goat, when one of the ferocious shepherd dogs spotted us and belted towards us with jaws opened, barking and slobbering like mad!!! We ran straight back up the road (we've never ran so fast in our lives) Alex trailing behind while Lara picked up many very large rocks to try and cover Alex's back in case the dog got into biting reach!! We thought we'd got to safe grounds until the man-eating dog and his other doggy friend (2!!not just one of them!!) Kept following us up the road! Eventually the flock went past and the dogs returned, we were safe but permanently scared shitless of goat bell sounds!!! So as we continued on our way home, just starting to see the funny sides of things (seeing we had all limbs still attached) it was a very unpleasant moment when we heard more bells!!!! Straight away we turned back the way we came, Alex worried we'd be caught in the middle of two shepherd flocks and their dogs! Finally, just as we decided to pick up some rocks and confront the danger a car came by which we practically jumped in front of, demanding them to take us to a safe place! Luckily they were a very friendly, english speaking Greek couple who had seen the flock before and understood our problem. We did run into the goat herd in front, luckily no dogs, although the male goats had very large horns and are apparently quite aggressive! All in all we got back safely, we decided we'd prefer to see tortoise (which we saw the day before), a much more peaceful experience!! Today we have arrived in Kalambaka, which is next to Meteora where monastries from the 11th century are perched ontop of very large boulders/pinnacles. Our legs hurt just from looking at what we will attempt to climb tomorrow. Now we are off to try our first real souvlaki, which are apparently on skewars not in wraps. We are here for three nights until we head to Athens, where our journey will sadly end. Love from Alex and Lara.

All roads lead to Rome...via Cinque Terre!!!!

Hello all!!! Been busy on the road so it's been a while, not to mention finding time on the internet. Where do we start? WELL...Marseille was good fun. We saw the Chateau d'if (being Count of Monte Cristo fans) but couldn't stop off due to rough weather but we managed to get to a neighbouring island, l'ile Frioul where there was an old fort area and crystal clear water. The sea was very salty and L was very happy because she 'never floated so well in her life!'. Lovely Anne laure lent us her appartment so we were able to cook some pretty delish meals with fresh salmon, merguez (spicy, yummy sausages) and plenty of nutella for breakfast!!! L also ate her first chocolate croissant for the trip!

From Marseille we jumped on a train to Genoa and eventually the coastal national park of Cinque Terre. The train ride took a whole day but the landscape was so amazing. We stopped in Nice and went through Monaco all along the coast seeing all the beautiful beaches and mountains. Cinque Terre is made up of 5 small villages. The houses are all tucked into cliffs and rocks surrounded by man made terraces of vineyards strecthing up the steep hills. We stayed in a hostel at Manarola. We walked to each of the villages on the first day, went up to the terraces the next day and hiked to Porto Venere, more to the south, coming back by ferry. We did SOOOO much walking and now our legs are in much pain! The walks themselves are not long but it can take up to 5 hours just to walk 10km because of the steep hills and terraces. It was also really hot, sweating non stop, but we were able to cool down in the sea on these things they call 'beaches'...more like rocks, concrete, black sand and cigarette butts. We mainly ate at the hostel, feeding on pizza, pasta and locally made pesto (veggie patches are quite an art up there)! The one night we did go out we quickly learnt the italian way where they charge for bread and water!!! But the fish (freshly caught) and desert were lovely. We also began our quest to find the best gelati, finding a little store where you could get 4 scoops for 2.50 euro!!! BARGAIN! Unfotunately we didn't get to go snorkelling (it's apparently really beautiful underwater) because of rough seas (again), we don't seem to have much luck with stormy weather!

Now we are in Rome, still walking lots and enjoying the warm weather. We started with the Colloseum, Palatine ane Roman Forums. Moved on to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Spanish Stairs. But we still have plenty of museums to visit and gelati to eat. Last night we went to a piano concert in the open air (next to the ruined theatre). Afterwatrds we continued on our quest for gelati. We found a great shop where they have plenty of different flavours (fig/almonds/ricotta, dark choc and orange, vanilla and pine nuts just to name a few). It was twice the price compared to our little lady in 5 terre but (it's a big call) we may have found the best gelati ever!!!!!!!!!

We are here until Thursday before we make our way down to Greece, starting with Corfu island.

Hope you are all well and not too cold!

Love from L & A

Marseille

Hi all! Just a quick word because net time is limited. Lara arrived in Paris just this morning after a long journey {was very happy to see her!!}. She missed a plane due to fog and ended up staying a night in Moscow, was a bit of a worry as we had already booked our tix to head to Marseille where her cousin Anne Laure was waiting for us. But all is well and we are now in her cousins apartment, in the heat of Marseille about to have dinner! Didn,t realise the city was built on hills or that it would be so hot {the combination of which is not so comfortable when you have just come from rain in cooler Paris}. Looking forward to discovering the place with L. Will be here until Monday before making our way to Italy.

Love from A

Taizé

Hello! I''m feeling very tired tonight. Today I returned to Paris after the most amazing week in a christian retreat. It's called Taizé and it's hidden in the countryside in the south of France. The landscape is so beautiful, with farms, wineries, small villages, castles!!! Completely different to the busy life in Paris.

The Taizé Community was started by Brother Roger in the 1940s. It started as a place of safety for refugees fleeing the Second World War. Now, it is a place where thousands of people (mainly youth) from ALL over the world and from many different denominations congregate, with the guidance of the many Brothers who have given their lives to this community.

There was basically a lot of praying, discussing and reflecting in groups and individually. Three times a day there was 'Common Prayer' where the 5000 people staying at the community would head to the MASSIVE church to pray together. It was completely overwhelming seeing so many people and hearing us all sing together.

The accomodation and food was very simple but very well organised (catering for the masses!). Everybody takes part in cleaning bathrooms, preparing dinner, distributing food, washing up and everything else you can think of. I met some really wonderful people. In the photo are just some of the friends I made during the week (from Spain, Canada, England, America, Romania).

The girls in my dorm room were great fun. It was really nice to meet people from the other side of the world who had similar ideas and opinions and most importantly...didn't snore! From Germany to Senegal, New Zealand to Thailand, there was much diversity in the countries and cultures represented!!! It was an absolutely beautiful and relaxing experience, I'm so happy I decided to go!

I'll stay with Mamie for just a couple of days now before Lara arrives. Am very much looking forward to seeing her! We're leaving on Thursday for our journey. We will start in Marseille and then head to Italy, eventually making our way to Greece to catch a plane back to Paris!!! Don't know how much internet time I will have but I will try to keep you updated on where we're at.

Missing you all, please let me know what you're up to!

Love from Alex

2 weeks later...

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks since I last updated! I've been visiting all the sites of Paris, I think I have seen more of the city than any Parisian! I'm getting quite use to the metro system (it's expensive but it makes it SO easy to get around). Some favourite sites: Sainte-Chappelle (with the most amazing stain glass windows), Chateau de Versailles and Chartres (a small historic town about an hour south-west of Paris). I've put up some more photos on G-mail of everything I've been up to. (To explain this photo, I've been drinking lots of ORANGINA since I've arrived in France. I have to make the most of it, it's one of the many goodies that just doesn't exist back home! It's basically fizzy orange juice, pulp and all...I recommend it to anyone who comes over!!!)

On Monday we celebrated my birthday...again! Thank you to everybody's warm birthday e-mails! It's always lovely to hear from you. I was very spoilt - going out for lunch with Mamie, then opening a bottle of champagne with family and friends, some delicious strawberry cake and finally an evening river cruise along the Seine...Paris by night!!! It was quite exceptional and a lovely way to celebrate my 21st!!!

Next week I'm going to Taize, in the south of France for some spiritual awakening! It's a camp where thousands of youngens gather to talk about life, religion and who knows what else. I'm looking forward to the experience, my only disappointment is that I won't be able to see Cadel Evans in the final stretch of the Tour de France (not that I'm an avid cycling fan but it IS the Tour de France, after all!) !!

Anyway, it's all gone rather quickly. It won't be long before Lara is here and we start our backpacking adventure! I hope you are all well. Keep writing e-mails to let me know what you're up to!

Love from Alex

From Poland to Paris

Arrived in Paris on Friday after a lovely week in Poland with my family. They live in a town Mikolow, close to Katowice. It was good to catch up with everybody, I even got to see mum for a couple of days before she went back home. My aunt and cousin from Norway came over too so there was plenty to do and talk about!

The first weekend in Paris was very busy! My cousin, Marlene, has a lot of energy (a real Parisian girl!). It was a long weekend (for the 14th July, Bastille Day) and so she took me to visit the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris and la Basilique du Sacre Coeur, in between introducing me to all her friends, going out for dinner, going to parties and all the rest!

On Monday we went to see the National Parade. We saw massive army tanks drive past, air shows and plenty of festivities. Many of the metro stations were closed so we did a lot of walking around Paris! It was a beautiful day but my feet were very saw when we got home. That night there were fireworks and a concert in the town square of Clamart, where my family lives. It all went well into the night and I'm glad I didn't have to work the next morning like everybody else!

The days are very long here, the sun rises at 4am and sets at 10pm. The weather is quite frustrating, one moment the sun is shining and the next it starts pooring down with rain. It reminds me of Melbourne really!
Will spend the next few weeks here with Mamie. I'll have plenty of time to relax and visit all there is to see in Paris. I've uploaded plenty of photos if you're intereseted( http://picasaweb.google.com/alrodriguez87 ). Am always happy to hear from you all so please write e-mails! Hope you are all well xoxo

21st Party!

Thank you all for coming to my early birthday/going away. I really hope you all enjoyed it. I had such a great night, the band sounded fantastic and the cake was gooooood!!!

In other news, I arrived safely in Paris on Thursday. Had a chocolate croissant in the morning and had Mamie cooking all my favourites for lunch and dinner! (I think I can be sure to have a horizontal growth spurt in the coming weeks!) On Friday I flew to see my family in Poland. They live in a town called Mikolow, close to Katowice. The plane had engine problems and ended up being 10 hours late!!! That's right...I spent 10 hours in the Beauvais-Paris airport (which is really small as it's only for the cheap airlines). The airline was however very generous and offered me a 4 euro food voucher (enough for a cup of tea...and that's it really). Mum and Roma were there to greet me at the other end though so it all went well. The weather is warm and it's really nice to spend time with my family. I really like being on holidays!

I'm here until Friday and then I head back to Paris. I'll post more photos then on my g-mail so you can check them out at http://picasaweb.google.com/alrodriguez87.