Last week, I spent a day in Paris with Emily and her mother who is visiting from the States. We pretty much just wandered around the center before going to Galeries Lafayettes to check out their sale and very expensive merchandise. All and all, a good day.
The following day, after lunch (and WiFi) at the cafe, I took advantage of not having the distraction of internet to majorly clean my room. I didn't go through my clothes or anything, but I did throw a way a bunch of rubbish and shoe boxes and the like. I felt productive! To reward myself, I treated myself to a diabolo (and WiFi) at the cafe. I hung out there for awhile in the sun which was nice. As I was leaving, I notice M. with some of his friends, so I went over to say "Hi". They invited me to stay with them, so I did. I run into them all the time when I'm with Natasha and/or Paul, but they never invite us over. I show up alone, and even though they know I'm leaving, they insist I stay. So it made for a nice evening.
Friday, I made my way over to Strasbourg to visit my friend Katie that I went to school with. I arrived in town before she was out of work, so I wandered around for a bit. I visited the cathedral (complete with its astronomical clock), had a drink at the cafe, and wandered around La Petite France which is a cute area of the city surrounded by canals. Once Katie was free, we met up and caught the train to Molsheim where she lives. I finally was able to meet her husband who is super nice. We all dinner together (a little BBQ!), and then Guillame thought it would be fun to make me try practically all the different liquors he had. Luckily, it was pretty much just sips and not actual drinks, but still. Some of them were quite good and made locally.
Saturday, Katie and I went into Strasbourg. We had a picnic lunch at the pretty Place de la Republique and then spent a few hours wandering the streets, seeing the sites, watching some families of ducks along one of the quais. Good time. Since it was really nice and warm out, we treated ourselves to some delicious ice cream. Yum! That evening, we went out with Guillame's parents and other family members since he had some cousins up visiting. We went to one of the best local restaurants (which was out in the middle of nowhere) for tarte flambee an Alsacian speciality. His parents insisted I tried the freshly brewed beers there, so I did, and we enjoyed tarte after tarte of delicious goodness. One was covered in Munster cheese (different i.e. much stronger from the one in the States). They were surprised that I didn't make a face at it. Hey, after some of Picardie's smelly cheese, something like Munster cannot phase me! I told them I like the cheese in the film Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis (maroilles), and they were shocked! We even had a tarte for dessert which was covered in some sort of liquor and then lit on fire. It was still soaked in liquor even after the fire. Interesting taste.
Sunday, the three of us had lunch before Katie and I visited some of area. We went to Obernai which is a cute little town near where she lives. It had a really nice center with lots of colors. Next up, Mont St. Odile which is an old convent on top of a mountain. There were some really beautiful old mosaics and such up there as well as great views of the region. After some fun mountain driving, we arrived in Barr and wandered around its center and some vineyards. We drove through a few more cute little villages before heading back through the mountains to get back to Molsheim where there was a VW Bug reunion thing or something going on. Rather entertaining. It was a really nice trip and Katie and Gui are such gracious hosts! I'm really glad that I finally had the chance to get over to visit them.
At Mont St. Odile
Today, I am back in Chauny. I was supposed to head to Barcelona tomorrow, but as Natasha is now not coming, and I'm not quite interested in going alone, I've made a change of plans. I've already been there (it was Natasha who really wanted to go), so I've seen all the sites, so wandering around by myself didn't seem so appealing and the ticket wasn't too expensive. Instead, I am heading off to Aix until Sunday. Vero is prepared to spoil me rotten.
Have a great time in Aix!
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