Heading to Rome

Heading to Rome tomorrow afternoon to catch an early flight Wednesday morning back to Ct!! Thanks guys for traveling with me, reading my blog, sending me messages full of positive energy and encouragement! I really appreciated it :-) until my next trip (I'm thinking central and south America? or maybe cross country USA ?)

stay well,
See you guys soon! <3 <3

Pisa

I went to Pisa on a day trip with a friend of a friend, I didn't expect much from Pisa because so many had told me .. that it was pretty much just the plaza where the leaning tower was... and I think they were just about right... I mean other than the leaning tower.. and the tourist vendors... Pisa looks like.. any other small town in Italy... but the leaning tower was nice.. we took a few typical tourist pics of the tower and size illusions :) lol got check out the pics.



Info on the leaning tower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa

Back to Perugia

It felt to nice to be back, back to people that knew me a bit, back to my old apartment...back to seeing people I studied with throughout my time here in Perugia. I took it easy, hing out with a few friends, took care of some paper work for school ( official documents and such) and then made a couple day trips out (Pisa and Assisi)
if your looking for a more "Perugia is like this" type of post, please look back at my "Lorriana In Italia" blog for post in the month of October...and all around there..



Some pics are up as always in my new photobucket! under EurotripII > Back to Perugia

Verona

As soon as the train crossed the Italian borders, it was no longer rainy outside.. the sun had come out over the mountain range…

Italy is a very beautiful country, Its definitely worth checking out just fir the scenery . Once the train stopped at the Verona station I jumped to my feet after the 6 hour ride from Munich ( going through all of Austria ) and step outside into the sunshine! ( after seven days or soo of pure rainy whether… I was glad just to be in the sunshine again) Oriented myself real quick, found the hostel I was staying it.. and then I was of to explore the city.. map-less… thus I was asking every other tourist that I saw if I could see there map for a minute so that I could figure out my next destination… ( lol I know I could of just bought a map.. but this was more fun ! I got to meet a whole bunch of other people this way! ) Verona beautiful, but.. it does look.. like.. um… a tipical Italian city ? lol there’s an old Roman Anfi-theater here which is the 3rd largest left standing in Italy .. ( the first one being the Colosuem I think.. and the 2nd one being the one in Pompei I climb the walls of …) soo umm the 3rd one.. wasn’t all that different.. nor exciting.. but I still went inside of it to check it out ! I also went to Juliet’s house and and did the cliché thing.. and leave a message underneath Juliets window like a million other tourist did…


( which was my main reason for wanting to come and check out Verona.. cheesy.. I know.. I know…. But im happy I did it.! ) I went to a a few other plaza, and churches…

Until next time readers ! I’ m heading back to Perugia! Only a week or soo before im back in the North American Continent! Leave me comments ! xoxo

Munich

Munich was a great destination. A medium size town… that like many in Germany was completely destroyed during world war two. However Munich, being one of the major Nazi Government points knew they were going to get destroyed and they were quick enough to save all the blue prints and plans of the city. Now a days walking through it, one get the impression that they are walking to an “ancient” city.. ( and ancient in parenthesis, because in Europe almost every place is “ancient” lol Here are some of the places I went to visit:

Marien Platz: Which is pretty much the center of the city, there’s a castle looking building that has a very elaborate clock, and every day at noon it rings, all at the little ( or not so little.. they must of look like three or four feet high from the ground , where I was standing ) figurines.

oh and the Justiz Palast ( palace of justice ) was right near there too.. so I went and checked it out 

Spiezeus Museun: Which is a Toy museum, how exciting does that sound ? lol So I had to check it out… a bit disappointing by the size of it… I was thinking it was going to be as big as like a toy factory… but no.. it was just five room, with old teddy bears, barbies, trains, mini toy soldiers , and metal toys behind glass… Nevertheless it was interesting to see the involvements of teddy and Barbie throughout the years!


Viktualien Market : yep ! you’ve guessed it.. it a market place, held out in the fresh air, everyday except Sunday all summer long, There you can find everything from the latest cheese , sausage, beer, seafood, and local artisans good.
Asamkirche: A Roccocco style church, I’m actually not sure if it went in the right one.. but the one I went it was beautiful, filled with pastel colored marble.

Garther Platz: which was suppose to be were the hopping gay scene of Munich is..but I guess Germans a a bit more conservative.. about their villages.. Then lets say.. Paris, NYC or Montreal is… It didn’t strike me as any different as a regular neighborhood in Munich.

Dachau ( 1st Concentration Camp ): Dachau was the first official concentration camp that was founded right after Hitler was elected in power. The government claimed that it was a work camp, and that its occupants were just lazy Germans that needed to learn how to work properly and then they would be released back into society as better citizens. We now of course know better… in the ten plus years the camp was open , over 200,000 prisoners were registered there.

At first it was political prisoners, communist , then came the homosexual prisoners, the law breakers , and then the Jews. But I was told Dachau was mostly filled with political prisoners… communist… that weren’t necessarily Jews.. To be there was emotionally draining… depressing… filled with negative energy… i was told that over 40,000 ( a lot more died out of that 200,000 but they were shipped to other concentration camps to be terminated.. or to work.. but even then… lots died during the commute) prisoners had died on the grounds I was walking on… some from starvation, some from torture, some were just shot in the back for what seems to me.. as no apparent good reason.. etc .. I spend a good five , six hours walking around …reading all the signs…and expositions.. visiting model “dorms” that showed the different living situations the prisoners were put in.. throughout the years.. and as it got more and more crowded … I could go on and on.. but I won’t let me know if you want to know more.. here's the website of the camp and Definitely go check out the pictures under the NEW photobuket Login: eirelav103 Pass: lorriana under EurotripII > Munich

And to end this post on a more positive note… In Munich I stayed with Phillip , Anna & their kitten lily ! They ‘re a really chilled couple. They took me out to a typical German restaurant one of the nights I was there.. and Yes Simon.. I did the ticky tacky thing lol ! they laughed at the fact that it was known in the states…. But ..apparently its not a all that comment thing to do in Munich… I mean.. oh I almost forgot to mention… Munich is where Oktober Fest ( international Beer festival ) happened every year! Very popular tourist attraction…. But it was no surprised that the local aren’t that fond of it anymore…. Since lots of the tourist can’t actually handle their alcohol and it just becomes a type of drunk fest.. There.. That’s a bit more positive … lol

Frankfurt

ever slept 24 hours strait ? I have :)

Frankfurt wasn't a planed place to visit... and i didn't have any particular points I wanted to see.. so I slept... or welll I should say... I stayed up probably 36 hours stair before I crashed... You would of too if you were in the hotel room I ended up staying in.. I guess that's why they say booking online isn't always the safes way to go.... I ended up in the shabby part of town ( red light district style ) and the hotel room was so dirty.. that i chose to stay up all night and stay alert of my surroundings. However the next day as soon as I walked into the beautiful, clean hostel I slept for 24 hours strait.. and for most of the remaining time i spent in Frankfurt... I did manage however to go walk around a bit go check out the view right out side my hostel.

Berlin

This has been a quieter stop on my travels, with it rainy hard and or extremely cloudy ( thunder clouds type of weather ) almost every day I haven’t really felt motivated to go out and explore.. and since I’m on my own here, I’ve felt the language barrier. I mean yes, most people have a base in English, and will try their best to direct you where you’re going .. but I haven’t exactly struck a deep intriguing type of conversation with any local… However these are the sites I did check out:

The Brandenburg gate: Which was one of the point that separated east and west berlin, at one point it’s also one of the sides of the Paris Square which was named that way out of revenge.. well let me explain the statue story before I getting to ahead of myself. The Quadriga statue was originally a peace gift from France with the lady of peace riding in the carriage, later napoleon came by Berlin while he was out conquering ever place .. and when he saw it and decided to bring it back to his private museum ( the louvre ) as a nice “little” souvenir the German didn’t like that very much… and later after they had defeated the French in some war… they rightfully took it back and placed it on top of the Brandenburg gate again, renaming the lady, Victoria, the roman goddess of victory and then they named the square that it looked upon Paris square as a reminded to the French that the victory of the German will always be looking down upon the French. Ironically enough the French embassy is located there along with the American and the Québec embassy oh and the infamous hotel where Michael Jackson held his baby that had a sheet over its head, over the balcony.


The Holocaust Memorial: this it’s an interesting site…

beautifully design by Peter Eisenman… it felt very peaceful, and yet full of energy walking thought it… the block vary in sizes so at one point I was in the middle of the memorial , surrounded by blocked that were two and a half times taller than me.. and it made me feel over powered… lost in a sense.. in this “labyrinth” of big rectangular stones… its unrealistic to me the amount of victims wars create….

The location of the Hitler Bunker : where they say he his wife, the dog, and the rest of his close family committed suicide toward the end of the war.. When the Soviet soldiers were taking over the city and Hitler knew he had lost. – this site is not at all indicated, if it wasn’t for a tour guide telling me this I would of walked by it, without never knowing. The Germans want it that way… they don’t want Hitler’s Bunker to be a tourist destination.

Checkpoint Charlie: which is a completely fake tourist site… that represent where once was an actual check point/gate between west and east Berlin called checkpoint Charlie. Where the people of the west and diplomats could show the appropriate paper work and come in and out of east Germany… I said it was fake.. because the real check point Charlie was completely destroyed after the wall came down…. It was only by popular tourist demands that they re-constructed this little booth where a guard stands…and there’s a pictured of an American soldier looking over the east side and a soviet soldier looking over the west side…


The Berlin wall: the first part of the wall that I saw was a section that was in very poor shape, damaged of course from when the wall came down in 1989 after 28 years of existence, and then from tourist who would come to Berlin and chip of a piece of the Berlin wall… as a souvenir to take home.

(the common sense some tourist have.. I honestly don’t get… they use to do this to the coliseum too, the pyramids of Egypt.. and a bunch of other historical monuments… it didn’t come across their mind.. That they were destroying it? Disrespecting a piece of our human history ? ) here are some pic of the remains of the wall. The 2nd part of the wall I came to visit was the East side gallery which is infamous for being the most well kept..and longest piece of the wall that remained! I thought it was beautiful. It almost completely covered in “gratifies” art really by artists from all around the world. :)



Tiergarten: Which is just a very green natural garden which was nice to relax in.. its pretty big, like the 1/6 of the center of berlin maybe

The Humboldt University Square: I’m sure its not called like that.. but its where the Humboldt University is and where around 25,000 books were burn in one day …by students, by professors, book that had been listed as against the Nazi government… book that were to liberal , that were written by Jews , by homosexual, by non communist authors… can you imagine ..Students burning their source of knowledge… out of fear ( I think) if the government.. out of fear of being killed themselves if they didn’t..within that square there’s also the Berlin Opera House which looks like the Roman Pantheon. Funny thing is.. in Berlin all the “old “ building were reconstructed after the war.. and made to look old .. a good example of that is the Berlin Dom

which was built in 1901 and design to look like it was build in the 1800 .. 1600 hundreds… actually.. it a clash of different types of architectures … they even made it look dirty.. Its located in

Museum Island :( they call it.. I don’t know why.. its not an island… ) which is the next place I went to visit… there there’s the Altes Museum, Alte Gallery Museum , Berlin Dom, Lust Garden and they are rebuilding the Royal palace ( for tourist purposes.. and also to re-balance the look of the square )


OH GUYS MY PHOTOBUCKET ACCOUNT WAS FULL SO NOW ALL NEW PICTURES STARTING WITH BERLIN ARE AT www.photobecket.com login eirelav103 password lorriana

thanks! leave me comments of what you think ... oh also my travel plans have changed again.. I'm going to Frankfurt on the 15th until the 17th then Munich 17th-20th then Verona...and then.. well I'm making my way back to perugia! just thought I'd keep ya'll updated! xoxox

Amsterdam ;-)

Hey readers ! Writing to you from the train on the way to Berlin ( yes I’ve changed my traveling plans once again..… I decided to stay in Amsterdam a bit longer… and then go directly to Berlin from there… no more Copenhagen, Denmark) which is about.. a 7 hour train ride..but before I get into that.. let me tell you guys about Amsterdam!

I got there around 19h00 on the 3rd of May.. my trains had been a bit delayed.. and it caused me to miss one of my connections.. but I guess I have amazing luck… or..something.. because It turned out the train I was on that I thought I was suppose to end at Uther Central ( where I missed my transfer… ) didn’t end there… it actually went way beyond Amsterdam Amstel.. so I rushed back on to it! And then the rest was a piece of cake… I’ve gotten quite use to finding the closest public transportation.. and with the help of google earth.. im usually pretty well oriented. Took the tram.. and then I arrived at my friend ,Saskia home shortly after .. And the Adventure continued! Since I had decided to stay a week there…. I took things at a slower pace … took the time to have great conversation with Saskia.
Since a week’s time is hard to write about without going on and on… I’ll save you guys the confusion of following my random type of thinking / writing and stick with the listing format.
May 4th Saskia took me biking all around Amsterdam ,showing me some of the most famous site.. Important museums, the center of the city, the red light district ( which is more touristic than anything else… I mean.. when you see families walking around talking pictures of the prostitutes posted up in the window.. you wonder.. whether it not just all a catch.. to get people intrigued about Amsterdam and come visit.. this goes for the infamous “Coffee Shop” let me just state it once quickly.. “I’ve been told”.. its bad quality .. that the Dutch chemically enhance the THC from its original 50 something chemical ( i think it is.. ) to a higher dose of 7 them.. and the other ones are left out… and so “I’ve been told” that it gives you paranoid type of result… rather than the cloud type of… fun ? plus.. its way over priced … its.. about 6 € for.. what they call a “gram” ( which is... not.. its more like .6 .7 ) and.. “So I’ve been told.. “ It’s better in Canada. ;)
May 5th there was a bunch of free concert around the center of Amsterdam.. in honor of Memorial day.. which was the 4th ? if I’m not confusing my day… We watch the ceremony on the teli ( t.v.) that night . I spend my evening downtown.. Hopping from stage to stage listening to music I’ve never heard before.. there’s this one bang that I liked.. called Giovanca … and in between different states… I went to a sex museum a friend from Perugia had told me all about…

pictures are up on the photobucket under Eurotrip May 6th Saskia and I went to the Ann Frank House. There was a like a 2 hour line to get in.. but it was worth the wait… I was the annex .. where her family hid out… with quotes of her diary on the walls. ( and if you were familiar with the story it was very interesting standing in the exact location where she wrote it originally.. where is all happened..) The part that really caught my attention however was from them being discovered ..In one of the room of the house here was a type of exposition of where all of the member of the annex were sent to and how they died…. The only one who survived was her father Otto Frank. From then on the museum turn into how he reacted from reading his daughter’s diary and what he did about it…. Needless to say he did his all to publish it .. and then.. he started foundations against discrimination.. and well there was so much…. Ask about it in a comment if your really interested…
May 7th was a sluggish day for me.. we ran some errands… and then Saskia took me to an independent film movie theater and we saw “Los Viajes del Vento” which was… indeed an independent film.. lol with beautiful scenery of Columbia….
May 8th Saskia took me to her house in the country to do some gardening. It was absolutely beautiful !

we spend a few hours there.. and then she drove me around Holland to all these different towns.. I was impress by how flat the scenery is here ( no mountains) and.. they are literally bellow sea level . Go check out the pics in the photobucket under Eurotrip> Amsterdam and there is explications on some of them yay! Oh and that night I went out to meet some of the couch surfing community… yes I know not all of you know that I’ve been couch surfing for a large part of this trip so far… I’ll make another post just explaining it. But for this one lets just leave it at I have a fun night meeting people from all over, and some Amsterdam locals too . Travelers have such interesting stories!
May 9th I stayed in.. and continued showing Saskia the technology of today… Computers.. and some Internets sites! I thinks its wonderful that she’s intrigued to learn about facebook and all that jazz! Saskia if you reading this, keep it up! You’re doing great! :-) oh and sweets if your reading this use the word chameleon in a sentence next time we talk :)

Until next time readers. Stay safe . and leave comments bellow! :)

Fun Fact: did you know Amsterdam was called Amsterdam because its where the Amstel ‘s river dam is located.

Belgium

Pairs Nord-Brussels-Namur-Charleroi
Each travel day... seems to be longer and longer... the train train to Charleroi that normally takes an hour and a half from Paris Nord... took me.. about 6 and a half hour counting the time in between my transfers and the actually time I spend aboard the train... I had a four hour lay over in Brussels.. so I decided to venture out and get to know the city a little... I figured the train station I was at.. had to be the one that was on the map that I had of the center.... but... once I got outside I realize I was way off .. (Brussels. actually.. has.. 3 or 4 different train station) I had walked out strait into the "zone" as they say here ( the ghetto ) of Brussels.. and granted it was day light.. but with my laptop in my bag.. and the fact that I wasn't extremely awake.. and energetic.. the ghetto didn't seem very welcoming.. (nor safe as a matter of fact..) So.. after walking in a circle..trying to find my way back.. I headed directly to the train station.. and waited out the four hours in a coffee shop..

Once I got to Chareloi Mathile was waiting there for me with the mom and her sister.. that was on the same train that i was. It was wonderful to see her again! We talked about our future travel plans and our study abroad in Italy all weekend long.. and she took me to all these school events of hers where I got to meet a bunch of her friends.. and fellow scouts! It was great to be adopted into her family! and her life style! Towards the end of my stay we went to Brussels for a day( which was an adventure on its own.. We rushed to a train.. that came in late anyways..and since we planed on buying our tickets on the train.. and we never got controlled.. we rode for free to Brussels aka comic book heaven... we walked around a whole lot.. visited the Comic book museum.. and then I saw this building in the distant.. that looked important.. and we decided to set out for it... little did we know.. after walking an hour in the rain in the same direction.. the building hadn't gotten any closer .. we were discouraged.. but we kept on.. and when we finally got to this .. building we found out that it was a closed church.. lol .. fun fun... ) and then to Namur where her door room is :) It was a Short but Sweet little insight into life in Belgium! Just like this blog is!


More Pictures like always can be found in my Photobucket under Eurotrip> Belgium

Paris!

Umm.. I dont know where to start...
Paris is Amazing! definitely my type of city ! It's super rich in culture, history, arts, people from all over the world!

April 25th
Strait off the train I met up with lily, we went and dropped of my stuff and then headed strait to the Louvre ..where I lost lily not even 5 mins into our visit, but..some how after my I don't know how long.. visit I found her ! The louvre is a great museum, but as im realizing more and more.. unless you study a piece of art.. or know something about the author .. or something.. its not all that interesting.. to just look at something.. I means.. sure there's always the technique to sit back and admire but...
After the Louvre we went to "le Jardin des Tuiliere" ( beautiful.. giant park), "le champs des Elysees" ( a street filled of expensive fancy stores... ) and then the "Arc de triomphe" the next day we went to "Notre Dame" , "Le palacede Justice" , "le musee Pompidou"(we didnt go inside but its a very cool architecture building ) , "la marais" (aka the villaged, which i absolutely loved) and then we went to see a french movie called "tout qui brille" which.. was.... well..... a french movie ?? lol... every.. predictable.. simple..slow passe.. I think i could of filmed it.. but.. let me stop bashing it..
April 27th I went to Park Monceau ( which is a beautiful little park, I think they were filming an independent movie.. in it.. because I saw a lot people carrying mics and video cameras.. ) spend the morning there and then walked from there to the Eiffel Tower ( which.. how many of you guys been too ??? do you agree.. is just a metal structure.. that has.. no purpose ?? its one of the biggest touristic spot... legit.. I heard more foreign languages.. then french..but.. standing underneath it.. I honestly didn't get what it was all about.. I mean.. maybe.. its a bit negative to look at it.. but.. its just my point of veiw.. oh but dont get me wrong.. it is a very pretty design piece of metal )
Later that day I went to a different friends house in Paris, Andres who lives in Montmatre, Which is the neighborhood where the film Amelie 2001 was filmed! Its also where lots or famous artist ,like picasso, lived back in the day... its a beautiful little neighborhood with "Sacre Coeur" right in the middle of it !
I spend the afternoon of the 28th visiting it! and sitting on the steps of "Sacre Coeur" watching street theater and break dancing! it was all very pleasent!
On the 28th I went to visit the Museum D'orsay, where I saw a gorgeous collection of impressionism, realism etc.. from artist like Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Cezanne and Paul Gauguin. And let me just say.. I really adore Monet! and Impressionism.. I really think its one of my favorite form or art, all the little lines coming together.. all the different colors.. forming a beautiful picture from a far... I kind of think its a perfect symbolism for my life !.. ( well one of my philosophies.. anyways.. ) After the museum I walked around Paris.. and got myself.. perfectly lost.. I didnt get to the train station like I wanted to..but I got to one of the train station officies .. which served me just as well! Tomorow I'm off to Belgium.. yes indeed I am.
At 18h00 I met up with people from Wesleyan! It was great to see some people that finally.. knew me from.. the State.. lol I know It's kind of silly ( to be wishing to be somewhere else.. while im in places like paris, barcelona, rome... ) .. but i can't wait to be home... I miss CT and all of you guys in the QC!

Sorry if this blog is a bit grocery list style.. its just that paris.. is soo full of attraction.. that one could take.. months ( if not years ) visiting.. and ..years talking about.. so I'm keeping it simple! :) Here are some pictures of the places I mention above.. and like always the rest can be found in my photobucket under Eurotrip> Paris


Me in front of the Louvre

Parc Monceau

Eiffel Tower

Sacre Coeur

Besancon

I got to Besancon around one the train..was delayed about 20 mins.. which is not all that bad.. for the SNCF… ( which is presently. No longer on strike! I’m excited about that ! lol ) Juliane was waiting for me there with her sister ( I think its popular to have your sister visit you during your vacations.. oh yes.. did I forget to mention.. for the last two weeks.. I think.. its been.. kind of like spring break in france.. for the College students.. ) . Juliane is a fellow Rotary International veteran ! It was great to reminisce about the good ol’ past.. when ii first traveled abroad on my own… Juliane was one of the exchange students that came to Connecticut… the year I was off to Venezuela.. we met at a picnic.. while our Rotary experiences over lapped! I had a great time at Besancon over all! Even though it was a short visit.. from the 23 mid day.. to the 25th 8h00 when I caught my train to Paris.. ( which is where I’m writing you guys from by the way ! hihi ..smiles.. I’m running on 4 hours of sleep this time ! )
As soon as I got to Besancon we went directly to Juliane’s house in her cute little cat!! Fiat 500 to drop up my stuff off, and then without losing time.. we went to do some grocery shopping and then to the historical center of the city to walk around a bit .. and then back home to do some laundry.. and then to Juliane’s school.. for an even organization meeting she had to attend… then to a friends house to pick up the mattress I was going to sleep on.. Some more back in forth.. it was hilarious trying to fit a twin mattress inside a fiat 500 ! :)
then back to their place to eat some American Dominos Pizza lol.. I love the clash of culture! the rest of the evening was very college life like! .. apt hopping.. from gatherings to gatherings.. in a group of 10 people … I got an insider look… on the “quiet” ( near exam week) French college life style. It was great lol!
The 24th The same group of friends from the night before threw a BBQ in the yard behind their apartment complex. We got some sun! and ate hot dogs.. French style.. with.. real sausages.. and French baguettes.. for the buns!  it made me smile! .. Some of the guys played “baseball” and then.. juliane, her sister, and I went to “La Cintadelle” http://www.citadelle.com/ which is a fort/castle from.. the medieval period… which they turned into a zoo! We saw Kangaroos , lions, tigers, monkeys ( all types ! ) flamingos and many more

check out the pics! Eurotrip > Besancon I had a blast there! I like the fact that it wasn’t just .. an old stone fort.. like.. they actually made something out of it.. something that would attract visitors of all ages.. and not just historians :-)
Later than day we went back in to town to get out self hydrated and meet up with some other friends to go to a Chinese restaurant ! and……..yes Chinese food in France is different.. perfect example this is stir fried rice … in france Smiles! We stayed at the restaurant.. I think it must have been at least five hours… with the slow service.. and .. then us talking.. fun times. We ended the night early thought because my and Julian sister ( her names mailene (probably spelling it wrong .. but its pronounce my-lene in English.. lol )(( yes mom your with me in spirit ! )) had to catch the 8h16 train to Paris….

-Write to me guys ! I love getting feedback on what I share with you all!!!
Xox. Lorriane

Nantes part II

So I’m a bit behind Readers,my apologies .

Mercredi April 21 Donc, I ended up staying two extra days in Nantes, Clemence’s sister , Caroline took me in! which was quite nice of her!( pics ) this is a picture of the view from outside her window… gorgeous sunset! I which I took a pictures earlier on… it was even prettier! Later on that day we went downtown where there was a children’s Carnival! It was cute! We walked around for a bit and then went to a travel agencies…for college students… I’m not sure if I completely understood what it was.. but I’m pretty sure Clemence and her sister told me it was a place where they could get scholarships to go travel from the European Union … like if they wrote a report.. on there travels.. and focused on a certain aspect…of the culture.. they were all set.. and could get up to 1000€ which is pretty sweet! Free traveling anyone ?? lol
Later on that night .. we went out with some of their friends to a Chicha bar

hung out there for a bit.. It interesting .. to hang out with different types of people.. the subjects of conversations .. are all very different.. I’m not sure how to describe it.. but.. its both refreshing.. and nostalgic.. at the same time…
On the 22th Caroline and I went to an exposition inside the Lu companies old factory… ( you know Le petit écolier, les biscuit qu’on mange tout! smiles ) the Lu entreprise started in Nantes.. way back went.. it was interesting to see the old factory.. and even more interesting to see the expositions… it was art like this
and this

We spend all morning there.. and then in the afternoon.. I wondered off alone to the Cathedral of Nantes.. and an other church… called St. Catherine.. I think.. and then to a garden of the city… which I taught was absolutely beautiful! I spend the rest of the afternoon there.. day dreaming! … my camera died.. soon after I got there.. so there isn’t all that many pictures..but still go check them all like always in the photobucket under Eurotirp>Nantes
The next morning I was off on an 7h00 am train to Besancon… transferring in Paris… a 5 hour train ride.. on 3 hours of sleep…Priceless! Lol I think I’m really getting the hang of traveling around Europe by train!