Toulouse
Wednesday May 10, 2017
Toulouse is France's fourth largest city, and sits on the Garonne River, which also runs through Bordeaux. The Canal du Midi runs through the city, linking the Garonne to the Mediterranean Sea. Though it's called the pink city from all its terracotta brick buildings, I found it quite green, with trees and gardens everywhere I went.
I dropped my bag off at the hotel yesterday and successfully claimed my replacement Visa card. I walked down the Canal du Midi until the Japanese Gardens and hung around there for a while, enjoying the magnificent sun and warmth. From there, I cut back through the city centre to check in at my hotel, then explored the other side of town, by the Jardin des Plantes.
It was then that I realised that the drawback of enjoying two summers is that I also enjoy hay fever twice.
I wandered in another direction this morning, towards to the northeast but found nothing of interest except a large cemetery and the observatory. I was at the train station and found the Piano en Gare, and played To Zanarkand when a man came up and said to me "Final Fantasy is the best music!" It made my day.
Posted by Jeremy at 8:47pm on Wednesday May 10, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 
Bordeaux
Tuesday May 9, 2017
I've been in Bordeaux, city of wine and delicious things like oysters and steak. By the time I arrived, it was late afternoon and I needed to do laundry, so that was pretty much all of Sunday night.
The city was quiet yesterday because it was a public holiday. I was up relatively early and got to the Mirror of Water by the riverside. It is the largest reflecting pool in the world and goes through three phases: the water fills up slowly and ripples across the surface, then the flow stops and the reflections shimmer into focus, finally a fine mist is sprayed over the pool. I got there so early that the water hadn't even filled up yet, it was completely dry. Thankfully it didn't take long for the pool to activate.
I continued down the river, walking through the flea market and around the public gardens. I had a winery tour to catch in the afternoon, so I had a quick lunch and then met the tour group outside the tourism centre. We visited two wineries, Chateau Marquis de Vauban and Chateau Cayac, sampling some of Bordeaux's finest red wines. The countryside is full of vineyards stretching for miles, it's no wonder that wine is such an important part of the Bordelaise lifestyle.
I went for dinner with two people I met on the tour. I was dying for a piece of steak so we settled on a small restaurant near the tourism office. Afterwards, I braved the cold and waited for the lights on the riverside to switch on to get some stunning photos with the Mirror of Water.
I'm now on the train to Toulouse. I found my Piano en Gare and got a little tinker of that, and some elderly man complimented me on my playing, but I didn't really understand him because it was all in French. Oh well! Glad to bring a bit of joy to someone, in any case.
It hasn't been completely smooth sailing these past few days. I discovered some unknown charges from Uber on my credit card in Australian dollars. I spent a while trying to contact my bank in New Zealand to get it cancelled, as well as Visa International to get an emergency replacement card. I also heard from Uber, who confirmed that my credit card was listed in two different accounts. Though the cards weren't too much, I still had to go through all this hassle for safety, and being on the other side of the world hasn't made it easy. Thankfully both ASB and Visa were incredibly helpful, and my replacement card should hopefully be waiting for me at my next hotel.
Posted by Jeremy at 8:51am on Tuesday May 9, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Nantes
Sunday May 7, 2017
Nantes is a cute little town in the west side of France. It's got a very relaxed vibe, and a great cafe culture. As I often do, I wander around with Pokemon Go active and the Pokestops point me to things I wouldn't normally see; in Nantes, many of the Pokestops are video game street mosaics like Mario, Luigi, Kirby, Pacman and Space Invaders. I love it.
The most famous attraction in Nantes is the Isle of Machines. What started as an ambitious project of art and culture is now a hub of mechanical marvels exploring movement and wonder. I think it's fitting, given Nantes is where Jules Verne was born in 1828. There are three aspects to the Isle of Machines; the marine merry-go-round, full of boats and sea creatures with movable parts on a carousel, the giant elephant, capable of transporting a few dozen people and shooting water from its trunk, and finally the gallery, where exhibits are showcased before being added to the current project.
These aren't sculptures or models; they are machines that move and come to life. Inside the gallery, we were treated to movement demonstrations of the spider, caterpillar and heron, each capable of carrying people. They are destined for the Heron Tree, a project set to finish in 2021. The Heron Tree is a massive structure with branches spanning up to 20m from the central trunk and 35m into the sky. There is a prototype branch sitting above the cafe at the entrance, filled with plants and reinforced with steel - the perfect intersection of man-made and nature.
I only stayed in Nantes for a night; there wasn't much of interest to me apart from the Isle of Machines. I managed to finally find a piano not being hogged by anyone at the Gare de Nantes, and my little spiel earned me a bit of applause and a few "merci", so I'm happy!
Posted by Jeremy at 10:23am on Sunday May 7, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Au Revoir Paris
Saturday May 6, 2017
We got back from the Normandy tour quite late last night. It was basically shower, sleep, get up and head to the train station. I'm now en route to Nantes, leaving behind Paris and its many landmarks.
From Caen yesterday, we drove to St Malo, a fortified city overlooking a portion of the English Channel. The bay also holds many small tidal islands that are accessible by foot at low tide. I kinda wanted to try some of the local seafood - especially oysters - but many of the restaurants didn't open until the afternoon, so I opted for a savoury crepe instead, a galette.
We also visited Mont St Michel, a famous island commune that was the inspiration for Minas Tirith in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies. It's a beautiful little town with a majestic cathedral towering over the buildings; we were there just as the tide was coming in, so I managed to explore the intertidal zone very quickly before it was swamped with water. They say the tides in this area are one of the strongest in the world, and it's very easy to get swept up. Sure enough, as we left, water had already reached the far side of the island.
We were caught in traffic around Caen on the way home, but finally after more than four hours of driving, we were back in Paris. It was nice to get out into the countryside and see some old settlements, as well as fields of yellow Canola flowers in bloom. The weather was quite foggy and cold at times, but not as bad as in London. Hopefully it'll improve as the days go by!
Posted by Jeremy at 8:37am on Saturday May 6, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Caen
Thursday May 4, 2017
I've left Paris on a two day tour of Normandy. We're staying overnight in Caen, but we don't actually get to see much of it.
Yesterday I met up with Priscilla for lunch. We had raclette and it blew my mind. I'm lucky I had someone to share it with because there is absolutely no way I could have eaten all of that by myself. I'll write more about it on my food blog once I get a chance to sort out all my photos.
I went to the Jardin d'Acclimatation afterwards, just to digest all the cheese I ate. Because the weather was so foggy and wet, there weren't many people around, but I found it peaceful walking through the park. There's a massive building there called the Foundation Louis Vuitton, commissioned by LV as a museum and modern art gallery, as well as a bunch of amusement rides and water features.
I ended up going to Chatelet to find a patissier that Priscilla had recommended, and stayed in the area for dinner as well. I continued walking around Le Marais, but didn't find anything interesting, so I went back to the hotel. I had an early start the next day.
This Normandy trip started at 7.15am this morning, which meant I needed to get up at 5.30am, to get out of the hotel by 6.15am, to get to the meeting point by 6.45am. We left Paris and headed to Rouen, famous for being the town where Joan of Arc was burned alive at the stake for being a witch. We continued northwest to Honfleur, a coastal town where the Seine meets the English Channel, where we stopped for lunch, and then to Omaha Beach, which was a landing point for the Allied Forces trying to liberate France from Nazi control during World War II. We also visited the nearby cemetery, full of fallen American soldiers; it reminded me very much of Arlington near Washington DC.
Tomorrow we will continue our tour of Normandy, heading further west to St Malo and the famous Mont St Michel, the tidal island with a majestic castle aesthetic, almost like Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings. I'm looking forward to this the most, and I'm hoping the weather warms up too!
Posted by Jeremy at 9:57pm on Thursday May 4, 2017 :: 0 comments ::