Western Europe: France

Howdy boys and girls!

Just finished my tour in France and said my tearful goodbyes to my fellow tour members. After spending 21 days with complete stangers, you tend to bond and form a family-like group. Thankfully, we all have each other's email addresses, and I think I've scored some free "couch time" around the States. Hopefully, these people know what they're getting into by letting an unemployed person like myself crash their homes. :)

The first night in France was spent in French Burgundy in a small town called Beaune. There I spent most of my time sampling wines and eating fine French food. It was a good introduction into the French culture and language. In fact, I started having flash-backs from high school about my not-so-great French teacher, Maddam Rankin. I did very poorly in her class as I never expected to use such a language in my life. To justify my less-than-steller performance, I committed to memory one French phrase for the remote chance I would visit a French speaking country: Je ne parle pas Français...which means "I don't speak French". My advice to you: don't slack in your foreign langauge class. You may need it someday.

The next two nights were spent in the city of Paris. I didn't expect to like Paris, or France for that matter. In my mind, I thought it would be like the bigger city's in Italy: hectic, crazy, and disorganized. Instead, Paris was everything that you here people romanticize about. Furthermore, everything was impressive: The Louvre, The Orsay, The Eiffel Tower, The Champs Elyse, The Arc de Triomphe, and The Boat Tours. There was so much to see and experience in Paris that I'm kicking myself for not spending a few extra days there. I simply have to go back.

Well, I'm now in London, and I think all this traveling has taken its toll on me. I've had to dip into my cache of antibiotics because I think I'm developing some kind of cold or sinus infection. Its not bad, but it was enough to make me sleep most of yesterday when I got into England. Between the vitams, Airborne, and Z-Pack I'm hoping to feel much better by tomorrow.

Today I'm supposed to meet Rachel at Gatwick airport as she's flying in from a family reunion in Spain. It'll be great to see a familiar face from home! I can't believe I've been gone for only 3 weeks. It feels more like a month and a half!

Anyhow, until next time...

Good times!