Paige's Europe

We arrived in Nice after taking the train from Lyon. B and I were sitting there chatting away and rapping to Superbass, all the while casually commenting on the scenery. Palm trees became less and less sparse and the smell of the sea rolled through the cabin windows. We started paying more attention to the signs as we neared our destination. The yachts got larger and larger at every town we passed. Next thing we knew we were passing Cannes. I had alllways wanted to go here during the film festival..duh celeb spotting would be fun... but it just hadn't occured to me how close Nice is to Cannes and that we would be seeing it along the way. It is an absolutely beautiful place to be. When I say beautiful take all of the appropriate synonyms and insert them here, because it seriously is the most stunning, breathtaking, tropical, glorious location. The warm tropical air and palm trees had us at hello.

Our hostel picked us up in front of a little grocery store at the bottom of the hill (this is where we later grabbed cheap booze and snacks). Our hostel was called St. Exuberis and it was one of the top rated hostels in the world, which was pretty cool. We slept in an room with six other people but it was spacious and clean.

The first night was pretty mellow for me since I had just taken my last antibiotics that day. B grabbed a bottle of two euro wine and had a fun night. We shared a pizza and met some Aussie friends. The hostel had a legendary breakfast bar of cereal every morning! There must of been 15 canisters of all sorts of cereals from fruit loops to granola all lined along the bar. B and I tried quite a few and our favourite was the chocolate nutella filled crisps ...word on the street is there is going to be a whole blog dedicated to just reviews of the cereal at this hostel lol! If you ever find yourself in Nice please look up this hostel as it was absolutely fabulous!

The next day B and I splurged on an all day sailing adventure down the coast. We had to be up and going by 8:00am to catch the train close to Cannes. B and I arrived a bit early to the boat, so I decided to go exploring the harbour with my camera, while she got her tan on.

I casually strolled through the gate to the private harbour to capture some amazing pictures of gorgeous yachts. The deck hands were on board and starting there morning routines, washing down the boats. Many of the owners were sitting on the decks drinking coffee and reading newspapers. I kind of felt like Goldie Hawn in Overboard when she sort of knows where she belongs hahaha.

The sailing adventure was absolutely amazing. B and I laid out on the bow of the boat all day long soaking in the Mediterranean sun. There wasn't enough wind to sail in the morning so we just motored slowly along the coast and anchored at a cute little island for the day. It was hot so we decided to go for a swim. Since I have a waterproof camera, I decided to bring it with me to capture some underwater pics. When jumped off of the boat the impact from hitting the water sprung open the battery case. When I came to the surface my screen was all haywire and fuzzy. Sadly, the camera stopped working from that point on. (Fortunately, I did upload my pictures a couple of days prior. I haven't had the heart to put my SD card in my computer to see if my pictures are still there or not.) I didn't let it ruin my day though. B and I baked on the deck all afternoon. Around 3:00 we set sail down the French Riviera and the rest is a blur of turquoise salty water and the suns rays. This was by far my favourite day to date in Europe. I' so glad that I was able to have this experience. It's definitely one that I will file away permanently <3

After getting no sleep the previous night and feeling like death the when I woke up, a train to Lyon was a welcome change. We went to Lyon on a whim and fell in love with the slower place, the great food, and the friendly people. We rented a hotel room for three nights to reclaim our sanity and get a few good nights sleep. We got the name of a few doctors, so we went to their offices to see if I could get in to see them. I pointed to my throat and tried to explain how I was feeling when the doctor looked at us and asked "are you pregnant"? Apparently he specialised in obstetrics and only looks after pregnant women lol....so I was told to come back later to see his colleague. The doctor was so sweet and accommodating! He fit me into his full day before all of his other patients, made sure I was taken care of, gave me antibiotics, and sent me on my way .

Britt and I had amazing food in Lyon. We got a recommendation on night to check out a street in particular that had a good restaurant on it. So we took the metro to this area in hopes of finding it. We turned down the street and to our surprise the whole street was lined back to back with outdoor cafes and restaurants alllll the way down the street. It was beautiful!

Lyon has this great energy to it and makes you feel absolutely at home. The architecture is stunning and people are just so sweet. We decided to take a tram to the top of the mountain to see the Basilica that's perched on the side of the mountain overlooking the city. Wow was it beautiful. There's something so comforting about walking into a church no matter where you are in the world and seeing beautiful artwork and stained glass windows everywhere. And somehow, they all have the same distinct smell .

After the visiting the Basilica we raced to get ice cream and catch a river boat tour of the Rhone and Saone rivers. Somehow was got put on the geriatric boat but it was good for a few laughs. We saw guys with jetskis and seedoos goofing around in the boat's wake. It reminded us of home.

We left Lyon early this morning after a quick skype date with Steen and Nat. It was sad to say goodbye to Lyon, but it's bittersweet...As I write this B and I are on a train headed deeper into the South of France. We booked a hostel in Nice for two nights and plan to lounge on the beach and swim in the Ocean.

Til next time -xo P

So I wrote this blog post and the one after on a train, so that I would be able to post it once I could find internet again. I had all these great pictures picked out....but for whatever reason I can't seem to get them to upload right now ....so here it is minus pictures. If I can figure out how to get them to upload later I will!

Britt and I arrived in Paris safe and sound. Maybe a little tired and sore, but still excited to get to our hostel and get settled. We decided that our first night in Paris warranted a an authentic French meal, so we showered, grabbed a map, and took a stroll down the street. We found this lovely little French cafe on the corner where we sat and drank delicious wine and marvelled at how beautiful Paris is at night. As B and I were sitting there chatting away, lost in our own conversation we got approached by these two guys who invited us to join their table . There was a DEFINITE language barrier haha... But we eventually understood what they were asking. It seemed harmless enough so we moved over a couple of tables to join them. We spent the next 20 minutes tryyyying to have a conversation, which wasn't all that successful. We kind of got the creep vibe, so B and I got our bill. B went inside to grab the change and our waiter pulled her aside and warned us about going anywhere with these boys, which wasn't going to happen. Turns out our spidey senses are bang on these days lol. B and I developed a "safe word" to use in situations where we're not comfortable, someone's creepy, or there's something that just isn't right...Hence the word: Popcorn! Let's just say there was a whole lot of freshly popped popcorn that night. We realised after they walked to the ended of the block and waited 5 minutes for us to come back out that they were more than a little creepy lol. When the coast was clear we made our way back to the hostel.

The next morning B and I had our traditional French breaky of croissants and oj, before heading out to explore the city. We partnered up with a nice Australian guy named Travis who offered to be our tour guide for the day and show us the sights. First stop was the Arc de Triompe in the middle of a square. B had been wanting to see it since she first saw it on an episode of the amazing race. It was stunning and huge! It's in the middle of a traffic circle in the middle of town and houses a tomb of an unknown soldier.

As if there was a doubt:
The shopping in Paris is amazzzzzing!

The next stop on our tour was the Eiffel Tower! B and I filmed our reaction as we came around the corner and saw it for the first time across the river....it's pretty funny! We'll see if we can upload it somehow. But as we turned the corner, there was a monument right in front of a tunnel. Being the tourists that we are we take our picture and keep walking, but something caught my eye. I saw a couple of pictures of Princess Diana by the base of the monument, so I decided to read what it had to say. Sadly, we had stumbled across the memorial monument that sits directly above the tunnel where Princess Diana died in the car accident. It was a really surreal moment to look down the tunnel. I can still remember the news cast the night she died showing that exact tunnel.

We walked across a pedestrian bridge to get closer to the Eiffel Tower. You don't realise just how large it really is until you're standing underneath of its big metal legs and staring into its large open belly. There were tourists everywhere! Obviously a popular place. The three of us were determined to grab a baguette and eat lunch in the gardens in front of the tower.

After lunch in front of the tower we decided to take a stroll to see the Louvre. I've been dying to go to it ever since reading Dan Brown's novels. The walk there was long and it was a scorching 30+ day. I was feeling really sick and was absolutely ready to head back to the hostel after our museum visit. By the time I got back I had a fever, a really sore throat and was really sick. After napping for awhile and B booking us on a train to Lyon, we headed out to find a pharmacy. A word to the wise...don't go out exploring Paris at night unless you absolutely have to. I felt like I had to and we were more than a little sketched out on a few occasions that night. We finally got to the pharmacy, got some meds and asked the lady behind the counter if it was okay to take a taxi. Her response was a little unsettling: "Just talk to the man for a minute and see if he seems alright or not. That's what I do". Needless to say we opted for the bus.

Yaaaaa, Finally arrived in Amsterdam! Surprisingly, the flights really didn't seem to take that long at all. The food was surprisingly delish and I got to chill out and watch a bunch of movies I hadn't gotten around to seeing this Summer. When I landed, I was supposed to meet Britt at her carousel since we were supposed to arrive within an hour of each other but my plane was late and hers was early. It was really the strangest feeling to be looking at each other standing at opposite ends of a baggage carousel, half way around the world. Yet, it was comforting ! We grabbed our bags and decided we needed to find the subway to get to our hostel. On our way out of the airport we got stopped by a couple of guys who were needing pictures for this 6D experience in the airport and they said we could ride it for free. Being the tired, shy, and reserved.... Read.... enthusiastic, out going, and eager...travellers that we are we decided to go for it. They snapped a few pics, we laughed and screamed, and we took off to find our hostel.

Here's the link we're local celebs now hahaha
http://www.dutchdailynews.com/6d-xd-theatre-at-an-airport/

If you ever find yourself in Amsterdam please look into staying at the flying pig hostel. It's adorable and one hell of a good time! Britt and I made our way down the cobblestone streets past the tourist shops and down an alley (very Hogwarts lol) where we stumbled across the flying pig. It's about 11:00 by now and we're going on no sleep, but we decide we should probably make the most of it since we're only staying one night. Sooo why not join a three hour walking tour? Haha! Sometimes the ideas we have just make me laugh. We got to see some cool sights about 2/3 of the way through B and I were about done with the walking mostly because we were too tired to listen to the guide anymore; secondly, because we hadn't eaten in so long our bodies really didn't want to do anymore walking; and lastly, it started to pour down rain and we were in shorts and sandals. We headed back to the hostel and took a nap for a couple hours, showered up and started chatting with fellow travellers. Kelsey, an absolute love from Australia, a group of friends from London, and a Calgarian were our roommates. Within a couple hours B and I had met a ton of really sweet people. We got a group of about 20 people to head to the red light district for some partying! We hit up a live sex show and headed back to the hostel for more drinking. After a few tooooo many jagerbombs we passed out around 4am....

Clearly one night in Amsterdam just wasn't enough so we stayed for another night and hung out with our friends for another evening. For the record, British men can't play pool and are very sore losers when they are beaten in front of their friends and the kicker....by a girl haha!

After going back and forth on where to go next we decided Paris would be a must. Unfortunately, flights to Paris are ridiculously expensive. That's where Caleb (a nice guy from the hostel) came in. He and B booked us tickets on the bus to Paris as well as a hostel. So B and I say our goodbyes to our new friends and the lovely city of Amsterdam and board an eight hour bus to Paris. GREATTT idea for the first couple hours then the bus got fuller and fuller and before we knew it B and I were absolutely crammed together in the back of the bus laughing our asses off because that's about all we had room to do! The bus driver enjoyed the Canadian blondes at the back of the bus and would walk back, wave, and make small talk to make sure we were doing okay

09/05/11
I left Powell River yesterday in a mad panic racing to catch my plane. Sound familiar? I like to think I'm just genetically cursed with a predisposition to running late. Thank god it's such a small airport and I knew the lady at the front counter. She ushered me onto the plane so fast that I didn't even get a boarding pass or id check ! The pilot then proceeded to single me out and explain that since I hadn't been present for the safety speech he'd be sure to go over it again for my benefit. He was kind of a tool, but ended up carrying my backpack off of the plane for me, so I'll forgive him.

09/06/11
There aren't very many mornings where I'm awake in time to watch the sun come up. However, today is a great exception. It's 7:10 and I'm sitting in the Executive Lounge (thanks Nan!) drinking a latte and waiting for my flight to Calgary. From Calgary I have an overnight flight to Frankfurt and then onward to Amsterdam. It's going to be a lonnng flight but I'm ready for the adventure to begin. Aunty M and Uncle Paul were so gracious and housed me for the night. In fact they even set back up alarms this morning to ensure that I would get out of bed at 4:50. You would link they knew me or something .