Back in Leeds,

I hate French keyboards, so I decided that I'll jot notes down in my book throughout the trip and wait till I get back to Leeds for a full update. Like the brilliant mastermind I am, I forgot to jot stuff down and here I am stretching my memory to its limitations remembering all the details since Lyon. I'm hoping Fisch's blog entries have been more in depth so I can just take stuff from him.

Anyway, Lyon was one of my favourite cities on the trip. There is something about the layout and attitude of the city, from its bustling river-side food and art market to their wonderfully touristy old-town to myriad squares and fountains lining the city centre that really did it for me. Certain elements of French culture intimidated me, especially when my juvenile French linguistic abilities limited my abilities to communicate, but my overall experience with the city was amazing. We climbed a large hill in the centre of town in crazy heat to a cathedral that offered up gorgeous views of the city.

Much of our time in the city was spent walking around and eating. There wasn't a museum that was worth going to (that we knew about) and it was shabbat, so Joe couldn't go out anyways. Instead we spent time exploring the city aside from its tourist stuff. The first night we ended up at an Australian Bar (called Ayers Rock) because we thought we'd meet English speaking people. We ended up conversing in poor French with a few girls and met some American soon-to-be lawyers who wanted nothing to do with us. Following that I got a Falafel - which was decent - and we went home.

Our last day in Lyon I met up with my friend Emily Mallick, who lives with her boyfriend Jeremy in Lyon. They are teachers at an international school but are moving back to Canada in a few weeks. We went for Ice Cream and drinks and walked around, before I met up with the guys dinner. We went to a recommend burger joint, watched some world cup on TV and went back to the Ice Cream place for dessert.

The only crappy thing about Lyon was our hotel. I would never recommend Hotel de Bretagne to anyone. It is a 1 star. 1 star. We shared two double beds, had cobwebs everywhere and there was no hot water at night. Plus, the owners spoke no English. I tried to stay away.

On our third and final day in Lyon we went to Paris. We caught the 6PM train and proceeded to do nothing but find our hotel (a 3 star) and go for dinner. Dinner, and subsequently our introduction to the city, was fantastic. We went to a Kashmiri Restaurant around the corner from our hotel (in Villiers) and were treated like royalty. Good food, lots of it and good treatment. Kashmiri food is different from Indian I learned. The spices are a bit different and the presentation and preparation of the naan is different. Regardless, it was damn tasty. After that we walked around and Joe and I indulged in some Creme Brulee Ice Cream before going to sleep.

The next day was a bit of a whirlwind day. It was my last day in Paris and it was crammed with stuff. We left the hotel at 11AM and didn't get back till the Metro closed after midnight. I don't quite remember every single thing we did, except that we walked around for ages and ages. We went to Hotel Invalides, which houses Napolean's grave and the museum of artillery and armour, which was nice. The building was also fantastic. The grave was a bit ostenatatious, but such is life in imperial graves. Atleast it wasn't the pyramids. Following that we walked along the Siene for a whole before hopping the Metro to Montmarte, the area which has Sacre Cours. Sacre Cours is a gorgeous church on top of a big hill that offers great views of the city. We paid our €5 (after getting angry as all hell with the automated ticket teller) and hiked up the windy stairs to the top. The view was great, but the walk was crap. Also, my camera died on top so I only snapped a few pictures. Kowski, still feeling under the weather since Milan, decided to wait at the bottom as he did the hike last year.

Following that we ate lunch and walked back to Champs D'Elysses, stopping at a bookstore for a moment as well as some pay phones. We then had dinner, sat on the Arc de Triomphe for a while and walked down to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up, all tacky looking, at nite. It still looked gorgeous, despite the obvious over-doing-it of the decorations. Sipping Heineken, we relaxed around the eyesore for a while before going home.

Lastly, we went to Versailles on my last day before I boarded the train to Amsterdam. Versailles's garden is gorgeous, a site to be seen, but we all grew tired of its interior. It was nice, almost too nice, but it all moulded in looking exactly the same and we really thought the interior designers of Louis XIV went a step too far in outfitting the palace. An hour into touring the rooms after waiting in burdening heat for an hour outside and we were done with it. The best part of Versailles was a stick fight the four of us had. At times we got frustrated with each other and silence was usually the best weapon of choice. This time, in trying to hit Joe, I hurled a stick at him, accidentally whacking Fisch right in the head with it. A flurry of stick hurling ensued, entrenching all four of us in a stick hurling melee until we were all on the ground in histerics, pleased with our actions.

After lunch and a coffee, I boarded the train and said goodbye to the guys. I'll really miss them, but I sure do need a break from them as well. Travelling with someone, seeing them 24/7 can be exhauasing, and you can get on each other's nerves quicker, without having time apart. I think that happened a bit on this trip, and a break was needed. I also learned a lot about myself, and needed some time to just relax, be alone and think. More about that later.

Lastly, where in all hell are Kalman and Lance? They should really get in touch us, those shitheads... Hopefully they are still reading this.

Music - the radio in Josie's house... Robbie Williams, god help me I think...