Picking up where I left off before, I was in Rennes on my way to Paris.
Paris was definitely different than the last time. I got in midday and found my hostel…I didn’t book very far in advance and managed to find a place that was relatively inexpensive in Montmartre. It was interesting…not a place I would ever stay again, though. My roommates were cool and we hung out during our stays. I managed to go out dancing for the first time since May, there’s dancing in a plaza type area along the left bank of the Siene. I didn’t do nearly as much as I did my last time in Paris, but I did go to the Museé d’Orsay, climb to the second tier of the Eiffel Tower (and wasn’t tired!) and go to the largest flea market in europe.
After Paris, I took a trip down to southern France to a town called St. Affrique. I went because I was supposed to be meeting some friends there and I was going to get to really go dancing…but when I got there, I couldn’t find them. It was very disappointing seeing as how this place was really out of the way and I was looking forward to seeing some familiar faces.
The next day I headed out to another town called Carcassonne, which is known for this big castle that’s in the city. I stayed in a great hostel in a small town called Priexan, about 15 minutes outside of Carcassonne. It was a great place to stay and I got to spend some time just walking around admiring the lovely countryside. I also got a chance to play with some animals again, the hostel had a cat and a dog…and a new cat showed up and made himself at home while I was there. I would have loved to take him with me, but somethign tells me that would have been very difficult.
After leaving Carcassonne I made my way on to sunny, sweltering Spain. I had to spend the night in Barcelona on my way to Valencia and the train ride there was hilarious. There were some funny spanish kids in my car who were singing the entire way and making up funny lyrics about France and Spain. They all had the super-stylish mullets de muerte which are exceedingly popular in Spain and would get up and dance to the announcement music every time the conductor said anything. The view out the window of the train was amazing. As we coasted along I had the beautiful rocky coastline on one side and the mountains on the other side. The sun had set and a crescent moon was hovering over the tops of the mountains. It looked like somethign out of a painting. Not a bad first impression of Spain.
Anyway, I’m out of time…but I will continue along soon.
Adios, Vanessa