France - Bordeaux / Nante / Kerloc'h

Blanca, my old housemate in London, sent me a message saying she's in Barcelona and that I should visit! Toulouse isn't that far from Barcelona when you look at a map so I thought YEAH!

Toulouse, as it turns out, is about a 6 hour drive from Barcelona and it is a largely uninteresting drive.  The guy taking me there was ok but at times he kept veering between lanes which, after observing a few drivers, seems to happen a lot. Don't just drive in the middle of two lines guyz! This isn't India.

So I get to BCL and find my way to Blanca's apartment and it's awesome! It was just like old times in Whitechapel except this time she's got a new flatmate and we're in a different country. What did I do in Barcelona? Very little actually ... I've been before and I was really just going to hang out with Blanca so during the day I just kind of bummed around the old town, had some tostas, patatas bravas, beer etc. Then at night we explored the Gracia and Borm areas. I feel like this trip to Barcelona was more 'natural' than the last. I suppose I haven't really gone back to visit cities that I've travelled to. There's a sense of familiarity ...

(YEAH!)

(The English spirit lives on)

My sojourn to Barcelona was short lived though and I ended up jumping into another car to Bordeax after just two awesome nights. The trip to and from Barcelona ended up being a bit expensive and took quite a while hahaa... I can't say I regret it but I frown a bit when I look at my credit card. Actually I was really lucky with the car I got into (lucky in regards to convenience... the guy didn't speak any English so that wasn't great). I left it to the very last minute - surprise! - but the ride was put up super last minute as well which saved a lot of hassle.

In Bordeaux I had arranged to stay with Sebastien from Couchsurfing whom I knew absolutely nothing about besides the countries he had been to, one picture on his profile, and his exceptional English in the messages to arrange things. The couch surfing website can sometimes have some pretty bare profiles I must say. However because there's nothing on their profiles I don't have any issues sending a hasty request and luckily it turned out he was pretty cool. I was his first couchsurfer (setting the bar high obvs) so he was really generous.

As it was a weekend we decided to get in the car and drive out to wine country. An hour or so later we were in Saint Emilion - a beautiful town and area famous for it's red wine. The famous Bordeaux red wine! The town is very easy to explore but still so satisfying! We found a nice restaurant and indulged in some duck (a speciality of France's south west) and wine until we visited a vineyard for a wine tasting.

(Rows of them)

(€25 was the cheapest bottle)

Out of the group of 11, 8 of us only spoke English. Despite this fact, the tour guide spent twice as long with his French explanation than his English explanation and managed to make the same joke twiiiiice. It culminated in a tasting at the end and some obligatory buying of wine... but I didn't buy any (Sebastien did so pressure off). I get that good wine should be properly enjoyed but I don't want to look like a fucking twit with every sip so ... I might just stick to my current method of drinking wine normally instead of aerating it noisily and swishing it about in my mouth.

(Tried the grapes and yeah! Not bad!)

I was in a bit of a rush to head northwards actually. I had made plans the month before to stay somewhere in France through the helpx website. It's like couchsurfing but you help them out doing whatever they need in return for free food and free accommodation - so I needed to be around for that. This necessitated only one night in the city of Nantes but even then I managed to get a nice tour of the town (something I never actually did in Bordeaux!) and still pulled it off relatively cheaply. Bravo to me.

Since Nante I've come to a small little Bed and Breakfast near Camaret-sur-mer. It's a nice house right by a beach and it's lovely! Everyone is really warm and friendly, the work is quite light (I'm fixing a bird house at the moment), the food is incredible if vegetarian and after lunch I'm free to just hang out and explore the area!

(Moon AND sunset sans pollution or buildings or whatever)

(Snorkelling with a loose mask results in mild panic. Pretty though.)

(Some of the company at the bed and breakfast)

The owners are really lovely and there are two other helpers around too, a cool girl from New Zealand and a Moroccan/French guy. We usually spent our afternoons together either going to a beach or just hanging out in the lounge room. My tea and vegetable consumption both skyrocketed during my stay. I got massively into brioche, got a bit sunburned, did NOT learn much French, Watched some cool movies and made the worst pavlova I've ever made or been witness too. It was all very relaxing, however, there were some peculiarities.

(The birdhouse I made!)

There were just a lot of times when there was touching that I would deem inappropriate (Me. Kris Burridge. Would find inappropriate). Particularly from one of the owners to the Kiwi girls. He kept offering her these massages and although she was interested in learning how to give massages they apparently became quite tantric? I, however, as a man was not offered a massage. It was all just a bit more intimate than normal. Don't get me wrong, I've been in much weirder situations with much more overt behaviour but this is a bed and breakfast!

I stayed for just one glorious week and then made my journey to Paris. A Journey that started at 6:30am and ended at 3:30pm. Which is certainly not the longest trip I've ever made but I was in a car with two people that didn't speak English (it was bound to happen eventually) so I just kind of chilled out in the back and was a bit antisocial.

My host in Paris, Yannis, was a nice guy but he was very quiet. It took a lot of energy to get a smile and after a while you have to think "why try?". He worked during the day so I spent the time exploring. On the first day I walked from Bastille (where I was staying) to the Arc de Triomphe. It was a nice walk past a lot of brasseries and shops. It seems that every road I walked past had some beautiful building at the end of it, not least of all the arc itself. I was told that the view from the top is the best in Paris but just as I was considering it I decided instead to meet up with Arnaud instead.

Arnaud is a native Parisian and self-described epicurest. He was very generous and spent two days showing me around his favourite places in Paris. It was great having a guide and he suggested some really great, authentic restaurants too. We spent a lot of time just kind of walking around and enjoying the beautiful weather.

(Yes it's a generic picture but it IS quite impressive as a structure)

(Some gardens as the sun sets)

(Some of the food I mowed into)

As a consequence of meeting a local guide, however, I found I did not really manage to do as many as the touristy things as I perhaps was expecting too. I saw the Notre Dam (beautiful on the outside ... average on the inside), Saw the Louvre but did not enter it - also the bridge with all the locks close by, Had a somewhat hurried trip to the Eiffel Tower as the sun was setting (very pretty time but impossible for posed pictures), saw the city at night from Belleville, and spent most evenings in the Oberkampf area. The cool area. Naturally.

Paris was amazing. People had warned me that it was smelly and dirty but I honestly did not experience any of that at all. For me, the weather was beautiful, the food was lovely, the people were kind and the city itself was marvellous. Expensive though - Paris is fucking expensive. Also it is, obviously, a touristic city. I understand the nature of tourism but at one stage I was stuck between two bus groups in the Notre Dame for about 4 minutes as people idly shuffled by each other with those stupid ear piece things.

(This terrible photo was taken by some Australians (Surprise!). They suggested a strong man pose)

So it's been a long journey. Cologne - Hamburg - Schwerin - Berlin - Leipzig - Dresden - Prague - Brno - Ceske Budejovice - Cesky Krumlov - Prague again - Munich - Lyon - Montpellier - Toulouse - Barcelona - Bordeaux - Nantes - Quimper - Kerloc'h - Paris. There have been some great times aaaand times where I've thought "This isn't even fun. I'm just tired and stressed". However I can say that I've appreciated the trip as a whole and I'm glad I got to spend a good amount of time exploring some amazing countries and meeting some great people. Hopefully the next time I come back it'll be a little more organised (but only a little bit) and more of a re-visiting than an exploration of a new frontier.

I wonder if I'll travel again before I leave London? Hmmm...

France - Lyon / Montpellier / Toulouse

(This is where I am y'all)

The journey that should have only (only) taken about 8/9 hours ended up taking about 11 hours which meant I was quite late in getting to my host's  house in Lyon. He had band practice and I literally made it with about 5 minutes to spare. He gave me a quick run-through, a set of keys, then was out the door. So for my first night in France I decided to go to the supermarket and buy some food for some wholesome home cooking. As usual, made too much then ate too much - good times.

The following day my host, Julien, had to work so I just walked around and explored Lyon by myself. The city doesn't really seem that big given the population. I've heard it described as a big little town and I guess that rings true. There's a medieval area, a cathedral on a hill (great views), a shopping area, big squares and all that. It's a nice place! Lots of side streets to wander around in. It was cool to turn a corner and see a beautiful courtyard shaded by a tree with some chairs and tables for the local cafe. There was a lot of nice things to see.

(reflectioning like a boss)

(At the moment I'm sweating like a whore)

(Courtyard YEAH!!)

I met up with Julien in the afternoon to have wine and cheese in the park. He is from a small town outside of Lyon so the wine and cheese were both from his area. Very thoughtful. Instead of going out we just decided to go back to his place and drink some more wine with a bit more chat. Julien is really into heavy metal and I, as it turns out, am not! I must admit though his playlist was decent. We hung out in the park and we busted out a few Red hot chilli pepper classics. I was supposed to help translate the meaning of the lyrics but I suppose like all songs they're a bit vague.

Afterwards we had crepes for dinner! I did mention that I wanted an almost stereotypical French experience and it was almost certainly delivered!

(He loves it)

From Lyon I carpooled again to Montpellier. When travelling it's always nicer to visit the smaller towns but, practically, it can be difficult organising accommodation and transport in France, which means so far I've stuck to the bigger cities - Montpellier included. Indeed, it's a very nice city! You can tell that many parts of it are new because they're so shiny and cleaaan!

We were able to spend some time at the beach which was great! I haven't been to a beach for a very long time and, although I wouldn't really say I'm a beach guy, I really enjoyed it! Jumping in the water then resting on the sand afterwards to dry was just the best! Afterwards we went to an old town inside castle walls. It was a really chilled out day.

(Beach selfie)

(onwards)

Let me say it though ... My couchsurfing host was very strange. Lying down in the street with no explanation, insisting that we keep going to bars, asking to keep my book when I hadn't finished reading it yet, criticising the dinner I had bought for him, suggesting we try French then launching into extremely fast conversation about the current government (then saying I've got a bad accent when I try to speak)... I don't know... My overall conclusion is just that he's a really lonely guy that struggles to make friends and he really wanted people to go to a bar with or just be seen with I suppose. On the second night he wanted to go out and I said, verbatim, "I'm really tired but if you want to go out, we will. I just don't really feel like a nightclub and I guess I'd prefer somewhere close by?"

So of COURSE we ended up at a nightclub that was a 25 minute walk away. When we arrived it was utterly dead (being a Monday night, y'know?). Eventually more people came but my host was trying to meet women in just the worst ways ... touching their hands or grabbing their asses. It did make me feel a bit uncomfortable I'll be honest. It's not my job to be a wingman. I mean, he was going after the bar staff and that's just ... that's just not the done thing.

(There he is. Symbolic)

After Montpellier I managed a lift to Toulouse - another bigger city! I stayed with a really great couple and had a blast! We played petanque on the first night I was there (I'm terrible), explored the city by bike, they had arranged a party before I asked to stay with them and it turned out to be, literally, a wine and cheese party. Turns out one of their friend's house mates was leaving France so they wanted to indulge him before he left ... we had to dress in red, blue, and white and everything! Both the cheese AND wine were lovely! It was MORE lovely to meet their friends and hang out in the nice atmosphere. Everyone was pretty good at English which was a big relief. It didn't feel like a hassle for them to speak it - it seemed quite natural.

(Petanque pros)

(French party prep)

(Wine n cheese demolition)

While exploring the city by bike, my host's girlfriend and I stopped to have some cake at a shop recommended to me by a friend. We were enjoying a nice pear/chocolate crumble when all of a sudden everyone around us got up to leave warily without much of an explanation. Turned out someone had called in a bomb threat! After this flash of adventure we bought some cheese and artisan bread (because it's fucking FRANCE y'all!).

"What is the word contrary to soft?"
"... hard?"
"yes! This cheese is hard!"
"How do you know the word 'contrary' but not the word hard?!"

(This would be a hard cheese! Conveniently the same one Julien offered in Lyon!)

I was planning on going to Bordeaux but then I got a message from an old housemate of mine!