Monday, April 30, 2001
Sunday, April 29, 2001
Friday, April 27, 2001
2001/04/27
First off, I`m using a stupid french keyboard, so it`s slow going, a bunch of letters
are in different spots...I`m reduced to hunting and pecking.
That old guy in our room last night, he`s 74 years old, and been hostelling for 14
years. His uncle farmed around Moose Jaw. What a small world. Humphreys was the
nane.
Woke up at 5:30 to catch a 7:35 train to Rennes. We are in first class, very nice.
Arrived in Rennes about 9:45. Tried to rent a car, but none available, because we
found out it`s an extra long weekend in France. So, we decide to take a bus to Mont
St. Michel. is Free bus, our EuroRail pass covers it. We`ll figure out what to do
when we get back. We don`t even have a room for tonight, we`re just winging it now,
and Ryan hates it.
It`s sunny and warm this morning, at least.
Grabbed a ham sandwich and drink for 25 francs (about $5.00 CDN), very cheap!
Made it Mont St. Michel. There was a strike, so there`s no charge to get in. Regular
group price would have been 160 francs (about 35CDN) or 200 francs (about 40CDN)
for an individual. Lucky us. It`s been a cheap day for us.
Mont St. Michel is very impressive. Originally built around 1016 or so, then parts
just kept being added on. Very gothic looking, completely different than Versailles.
Neil got accosted by a bunch of Spaniards. Two oof their names were Salo and Kelly.
Started raining and got quite cool later in the afternoon. Had to wait for ann hour
and a half for the return bus. We also had to travel with all our backpacks today,
we had no place to store them.
Got back to Rennes and decided to spend the night iin the hostel there and catch
a train to Caen in the morning. Also got a car rented in Caen, so we can drive to
some WWII beaches.
The hostel is 74 francs (about $22CDN). We paid 120 francs in Paris.
Both Neil and I agree, Ryan needs to calm down a little, he`s completely stressed
about everything!!!
OK, enough with this weird keyboard, check back soon.
are in different spots...I`m reduced to hunting and pecking.
That old guy in our room last night, he`s 74 years old, and been hostelling for 14
years. His uncle farmed around Moose Jaw. What a small world. Humphreys was the
nane.
Woke up at 5:30 to catch a 7:35 train to Rennes. We are in first class, very nice.
Arrived in Rennes about 9:45. Tried to rent a car, but none available, because we
found out it`s an extra long weekend in France. So, we decide to take a bus to Mont
St. Michel. is Free bus, our EuroRail pass covers it. We`ll figure out what to do
when we get back. We don`t even have a room for tonight, we`re just winging it now,
and Ryan hates it.
It`s sunny and warm this morning, at least.
Grabbed a ham sandwich and drink for 25 francs (about $5.00 CDN), very cheap!
Made it Mont St. Michel. There was a strike, so there`s no charge to get in. Regular
group price would have been 160 francs (about 35CDN) or 200 francs (about 40CDN)
for an individual. Lucky us. It`s been a cheap day for us.
Mont St. Michel is very impressive. Originally built around 1016 or so, then parts
just kept being added on. Very gothic looking, completely different than Versailles.
Neil got accosted by a bunch of Spaniards. Two oof their names were Salo and Kelly.
Started raining and got quite cool later in the afternoon. Had to wait for ann hour
and a half for the return bus. We also had to travel with all our backpacks today,
we had no place to store them.
Got back to Rennes and decided to spend the night iin the hostel there and catch
a train to Caen in the morning. Also got a car rented in Caen, so we can drive to
some WWII beaches.
The hostel is 74 francs (about $22CDN). We paid 120 francs in Paris.
Both Neil and I agree, Ryan needs to calm down a little, he`s completely stressed
about everything!!!
OK, enough with this weird keyboard, check back soon.
Wednesday, April 25, 2001
2001/04/25
Woke up at 8:00 AM. A lot quieter this morning that yesterday morning. Ate breakfast and caught the subway to the Louvre. Massive place, some of the old 17th and 18th century paintings are incredible, especially the large format ones (the ones that take up a whole wall!) Saw the Mona Lisa.
Unfortunately, there is absolutely no English at the Louvre, so we couldn'd read anything about any of the art.
Went the the catacombs, but it was closed for renovations. Apparently, the catacombs is this massive "catacomb" made out of human skulls and skeletons. It was first created in the 1800's, if I remember, then the government shut it down in 1830 or something, because they thought something like that was not very "proper" for a civilizes society.
Found a photo place downtown that would put Neil's digital pictures on a CD for him. I have lots of room left, so I don't need that service (yet anyway!) So, perhaps we can send a few pics in the near future! Neil has to pick up his CD-ROM tonight after 10:00 PM.
Ate supper at McDonalds.
Got back to the hostel and got a room for tomorrow night. The previous two nights, we got a room with 4 beds, for the four of us. Tonight, we are in an 8 bedder, two of the other guys in the room are from the US, one from Missouri (an old guy, at least 50 years old...his grandfather and uncle farmed near Moose Jaw, if you can believe it!), the other guy was a younger guy from California.
After booking our room, we decided we had to head back downtown, to a EuroRail place and make reservations to get out of Paris. We catch a train to Rennes tomorrow morning at 7:35, we'll have to be up early tomorrow morning!
There are a lot of beggars in Paris. Then there are a lot of "buskers", that play instruments or mime for money. On the subway today, there was some guy playing an accordian. After he was done playing, he went around collecting money.
Ok, traffic in Paris is HORRIBLE!! Traffic jams, everywhere! It's a nightmare, traffic doesn't flow well at all. Ryan can't beleive it, coming from a civil engineering background.
On the way to the train station, one of the subway systems was shutdown, presumably some accident of some sort. Anyway, it made the alternate subways crazy busy.
That's all for now, I think. Hopefully our next hostel will have internet access.
Unfortunately, there is absolutely no English at the Louvre, so we couldn'd read anything about any of the art.
Went the the catacombs, but it was closed for renovations. Apparently, the catacombs is this massive "catacomb" made out of human skulls and skeletons. It was first created in the 1800's, if I remember, then the government shut it down in 1830 or something, because they thought something like that was not very "proper" for a civilizes society.
Found a photo place downtown that would put Neil's digital pictures on a CD for him. I have lots of room left, so I don't need that service (yet anyway!) So, perhaps we can send a few pics in the near future! Neil has to pick up his CD-ROM tonight after 10:00 PM.
Ate supper at McDonalds.
Got back to the hostel and got a room for tomorrow night. The previous two nights, we got a room with 4 beds, for the four of us. Tonight, we are in an 8 bedder, two of the other guys in the room are from the US, one from Missouri (an old guy, at least 50 years old...his grandfather and uncle farmed near Moose Jaw, if you can believe it!), the other guy was a younger guy from California.
After booking our room, we decided we had to head back downtown, to a EuroRail place and make reservations to get out of Paris. We catch a train to Rennes tomorrow morning at 7:35, we'll have to be up early tomorrow morning!
There are a lot of beggars in Paris. Then there are a lot of "buskers", that play instruments or mime for money. On the subway today, there was some guy playing an accordian. After he was done playing, he went around collecting money.
Ok, traffic in Paris is HORRIBLE!! Traffic jams, everywhere! It's a nightmare, traffic doesn't flow well at all. Ryan can't beleive it, coming from a civil engineering background.
On the way to the train station, one of the subway systems was shutdown, presumably some accident of some sort. Anyway, it made the alternate subways crazy busy.
That's all for now, I think. Hopefully our next hostel will have internet access.
Tuesday, April 24, 2001
April 24, 2001, 10:48 update
Just a quick update. We had supper at restaurant in the hostel. I had a chicken and steak fajita (sp?), was it ever good, then a massive piece of apple pie. Mmmmm, it was excellent.
We hung out in the bar in the hostel afterwards. met a guy and girl from Ontario, Timmins, I think. She was wearing a "Canadian Girls Kick Ass" t-shirt, she bought just for the trip.
Anyway, over and out till next time.'
We hung out in the bar in the hostel afterwards. met a guy and girl from Ontario, Timmins, I think. She was wearing a "Canadian Girls Kick Ass" t-shirt, she bought just for the trip.
Anyway, over and out till next time.'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)