It's Monday so this must be Paris

Greetings blogreaders

Unfortunately you've caught me at my most vague, having emerged at the end of a two-week (or was it three-week?) jaunt around the length and breadth of the French countryside. If you could be bothered getting out a map of France, follow me around while I briefly describe how we've passed the time (photos to follow).

Oh and you should note that I am not going to comment on the things I didn't like or what didn't work in the course of the holiday. I think those so-called "bad points" are best relegated to history and I sure as Hades don't want to relive them. So here we go - Gab's amateur geography lesson of France. Follow me, if you dare.

PARIS TO BORDEAUX
The Montparnasse train station in Paris was shrouded in a powdery snowfall the morning we left bound for Bordeaux. It was very easy to purchase a ticket and RUN for the train (the chase was one once I heard the "sorry mademoiselle but the 11am train has sold out, you can catch the one that leaves in 7 minutes if you would prefer"). So after a minor cardio workout and subsequent heart failure, I was not inclined to disembark the train at Poitiers for lunch, as originally planned. Good idea too, because we got to Bordeaux at about 2pm in quite fine weather, so it was good for a reconaissance mission on foot.

The town of Bordeaux is beautiful but is undergoing some serious renovations to revamp its tired image. Ancient houses and glorious buildings are being sandblasted to bring them back to their former glory. Neverthless, the city is easy to explore and the modern-day tram blends old and new effortlessly. It was also easy to check in to the Tourism Office and book a walking tour and wine tasting adventure, to help fill the 2 days we had there.

While the skies stayed clear but the wind cold, we schmoozed with two Canadians and indulged in our common love of drinking red wine, telling tall stories, and genuinely enjoyed each others company for 48 hours that passed by very quickly.

BORDEAUX TO LOURDES
Having missed a very early morning train, our punishment was to endure Bordeaux's train station for 5 hours until the next one. Fortunately we'd missed the train by about 90 seconds, so the train ticket guy was happy to charge me a simple reservation fee for the next train, rather than the full amount of a replacement ticket. Bless him. Maybe given our destination, he figured we were devout pilgrims or something? Whatever his reasoning, we got out of the situation lightly.

The train to Lourdes passed without incident and, as we neared the Pyrenees, the snow along the roadsides and on top of the houses grew heavier. Arriving in Lourdes, the taxi driver had mentioned a 20 cm snowfall had preceeded our arrival, so that explained the literal chunks of snow all around the town. It was a magical sight really, and I find I quite enjoy the crispness of the air when the snow is either about to fall, or has just done so. Our hotel was very centrally located, warm, and comfortable - even if it was under the management of three women who hated their lives, and hated us more for intruding in it. But there you go.

A quick visit to the Grotto, a splash in the holy water, and a walk around the town was basically all we could do in Lourdes given that (yet again) we were there in the wrong time of year. Some die-hard souvenir shops were nevertheless trading and it was a good thing too, because a few tacky yet fun presents were purchased (and some sensible ones too, of course).

LOURDES TO CARCASSONNE
Katie has long been a fan of Carcassonne so it was somewhere I had to see, given that I was going to find myself in the area. The train ride to the medieval city was easy, and we'd made sure to arrive at the station to avoid a repeat of our Bordeaux performance! See, we CAN be taught!

Previous posts have already mentioned the Carcassonne YHA and adventures with the ancient French keyboard, so I won't rehash them here. I will mention, however, that when we left the medieval city on the earlier train than expected, it was with a few cool photos and postcards in our possession, to atone for windswept and bedraggled appearance across the board.

CARCASSONNE TO ARLES
Ahh Arles, the inspiration for Van Gogh's works. Apparently - we can't confirm this, given that none of Van Gogh's paintings are actually IN the town (need to read the guide book more carefully next time?). But hey, we had great accommodation in a wonderful converted farmhouse about 5km out of the main town.

On one of the mornings in Arles we actually walked into town and this, coupled with the stairs in HK and Paris, have contributed to my 4kg weight loss, I know. Otherwise I think Kate's scales are lying to me, but I love them anyway. But I digress.

Our accommodation in Arles is a member of a number of "Silence Hotels" scattered across Europe, so called because they like to give their visitors a peaceful and quiet stay. So that means no rubbish trucks at 5am, no honking cars, and no jackhammers carving up a construction site nearby. As a result, I slept well, ate better, and emerged after 3 days feeling very relaxed.

ARLES TO PARIS
Okay so we thought we were coming straight back to Paris after Arles, but Kate negotiated a train trip to Strasbourg, in the far north east of France, almost to the German border. I had thought Kate and her Dad were going to be at a Conference in Strasbourg, but it turns out they had agreed to take a weekend trip through the Alsace region, and we were welcome to come along.

So there we were, visiting an ancient castle, eating way too much sauerkraut and pork products, and walking the cobbled streets past quaint cottages painted all the colours of the rainbow. Absolutely beautiful, and a stunning way to limp back to Paris.

We arrived back at Kate's place around 8.30pm last night, and have spent the better part of today doing washing and preparing for the next leg of our journey. We will head to Geneva, en route to Italy. Then it's back to Paris to fly to Turkey for a fortnight.

I find it hard to believe we're been away for a month already, but it's the sign of a good holiday that we haven't stopped long enough to think about it. Right?