Tour clip

Again, I'm not sure who this is, someone near the beginning, but you can see the speed, and how close we were!

Thursday tour de France in Annecy!!!

On thursday we traveled to Annecy very early.  We left the train station on a bus at around 6:30 in the morning!  When we got there at about 8:30 we walked to the lake and scoped out a place for Julia to buy a t-shirt for her brother.  We then found a place to plop and waited.  Before the riders came there was the Caravane, which was like a little parade of advertisers throwing free stuff.  We did get some good things though, including water, newspapers, and a glasses cleaning cloth.  The second picture is Julia wearing her free hat holding up her free comic.  The third picture of course is a rider, not sure who, zooming past.  And boy were they fast! Especially the last ones (they go in order from last place to first). The other pictures are from beautiful Annecy!!

Guignol puppet show

here's a clip from the puppet show:

Wednesday with our Lyon City card

Wednesday in Lyon was quite productive!! We got a Lyon City card and tried to make the most of everything that was offered.  Included in the card that we did were: riding public transit, Basilica and museum of religious art, Lumiére museum (brothers who fathered early cinematography), Museum of Modern art, Guignol puppet show (native puppet form to Lyon), boat tour down the river, and then we just walked around a little and also went to a market.  As you can see, it was quite the busy day!!

Tuesday in Lyon

On tuesday we had a full day in Lyon.  We woke up and had breakfast in the hostel then walked around.  We found a little park where we decided to take a nap. After that we walked around some more, exploring, and then went back to the hostel so that I could look up some things to do in Lyon.  We found a nice street to walk down, a pedestrian only street, where we also ate supper.  Also on our walk we found the tourist office where we found what to do the next day... the Lyon city card...

The past few days

The past few days we have done a lot!! In Lyon we walked around the first day and the second day we bought a day pass.  We made the most of it by going to many museums and a boat tour, all included in the one pass!  Then today we took the train to Geneva where we will be until sunday when Julia goes back home and I go back to Germany.  The internet at this hostel is charged by the time, so I'm going to keep these next few posts short, and then elaborate later.

Our Youth Hostel

This Youth hostel is really nice! and fun! We are in a room with three bunks (so 6 people).  Our roommates seem nice, though we haven't had much of a chance to interact with them.  For breakfast there is cereal, baguettes with jam or other toppings, and juice or hot beverages.  There is also a patio outside, but that is too small for all the people.  The one problem arose when Julia tried to shower.  She didn't know how to use the shower, and tried many things, finally realizing that there was something that looked like a bolt that was the button.  Also the button has to be pressed all the time, a probably excessive water saving trick.  So, Thats our Hostel!! So far, really nice!

Monday meant a morning in Paris, then to Lyon

On monday we woke up and went first to the Louvre.  We didn't have much time, less than an hour, so we saw some specific pieces in Dutch 17th century, French classical sculpture, and Ancient greek art.  It was soo nice, but of course we only got a miniscule taste of the ice cream cone that is the louvre.  Then we went to Sacre Coeur to find lunch near Montmontre. We found a little place to eat, then took some pictures of the church.  We then went and grabbed our luggage and went to the train station.  Julia and I said good-bye to Maria who took a train to Cannes to meet up with the family she's baby sitting for the week. Julia and I then got on our train to Lyon!! When we got to Lyon we found some food, and went to the Hostel.  There was quite the hill to get up to it, but the view was definitely worth it!! The third picture is the view.  When we got to the hostel, the receptionist person was on dinner break, so we went to this little park, and then a café.  We came back, got our room, then went into vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) right by the hostel and found little shops to look at.  I even tried violet flavored ice cream! It reminded me of rose flavored turkish delights.

Sunday in Paris

Today we did some exploring in Paris!!  In the morning we left a little later than we were hoping, but we still went to a nice little market near the Train station we came in from.  It had a good mixture of food and antiques/clothes/stuff.  Then we went back to the hotel to drop some things off, and Maria took a quick little nap while Julia and I explored a French Targetesque store.  Then we went to the Louvre.  We ended up arriving later than we expected, and 10 min before closing, so we moved that trip to tomorrow, and instead walked down the Champs Élysées.  We then went to the Eiffel Tower and later tried to rent Velib bikes, but the machine wouldn't work with my card for some reason, so we took the Métro to the latin quarter again to grab some food.  We walked there for a little, and then came back to the hotel.

Train ride, and an evening in Paris.

     Here are some photos of our train trip! So, it ended up being a bit longer than we planned.  First we missed our first train because we had some delays and couldn't find where the train was.  When we got another train, we finally figured out that the train tracks were under construction, so the trains were busses... Then the bus was full, so we had to get on a different bus that went to a different train station in Lyon.  Also Julia and Maria had to share a seat in the back, while I sat on a little seat up front that folded over the stairs.  The views were AMAZING though.  Well, we then got our first TGV, which was very nice.  

     When we finally arrived in Paris we went back to the hotel and then later went to the Latin Quarter and walked around a little.  We had some of the most amazing falafels, and then crêpes.  This was a lovely evening in Paris!!!

Train train train

So today we traveled by train from Antibes to Grenoble where we met up with Julia!! Tomorrow we go to Paris!!

Thursday meant off to an Island!!

On thursday we visited an Island just off of Cannes.  It had a nice beach, and a tree-covered area, and some interesting history in an old military fort.  The water was lovely, and the views were amazing!!

Wednesday

Wednesday was the day that Maria and I were to make dinner for the family.  We woke up and went to the market to buy some food.  It was crazy to see how many things grow in France!!  We then decided to have lunch in Nice and walk around before coming back to purchase the last of the food and make dinner.  This was the day Harry Potter came out, but we decided that we didn't a) want to waste hours in France watching  this movie, and b) Maria can't understand French Dubbing.  However, after walking for a little while and getting really tired out, we happened upon a theater that had it in original Version with French subtitles! So, we decided to see it... We then came back to the house and made the meal of Minnesota Wild Rice (that I brought for them), pan-fried vegetables, green salad, and fruit salad.  The brother wasn't at the meal this evening, because he was at a U2 concert, so instead Sarah (a friend of the girl in the family my age) came to the meal.  It was fun to see her again! and after the meal she made Moroccan mint tea, mmmm, so good!

Tuesday on the Beach!!

Tuesday we went to a beach called Juan les Pins.  We took a train there, and walked down to the beach.  We decided to buy a place with a chair and an umbrella on the beach for the day so that we would have some shade.  Then we swam and swam and swam...

Monday in Nice

So on Monday we went into Nice.  We went to a market, walked up a large hill with a water fall, saw some nice views, and saw some nice sites!! Ha ha, some nice sites in Nice...

Sunday in Cagnes sur Mer

Well, today we went into Cagnes sur Mer!! We first saw a little market were there was an accordion player.  We tried Socca (a very thin Chick pea pancake known in this area).  Then we walked to the beach along the Mediterranean sea.  Sooo beautiful!! The last picture is a house we found on our walk back from Cagnes sur Mer to the house.

Saturday in St. Paul de Vence, then swimming

Saturday Maria and I went to St. Paul de Vence, which is a historical little town. Then we went swimming!! The brother of the mom who I am staying with has a pool that we used.  Ahh... The weather is soooo nice here!!! So warm and summery.