Rennes/Bretagne

Rennes/Bretagne was the next stop along the way, which in fact is out of the way but I thanks to a little improvisation was able to catch a ride at the last minute with my cousin. If you like cloudy skies and wind you'll like Bretagne. Super cool area though, it's the home of crepes and galette so you know it's gotta be half way decent. Was able to visit some super cool towns like Dinan and Dinard. We passed by the smallest town in France in fact along the way, didn't see any lepers though. Went to St. Malo, home to Jacques Cartier, infamous pirates, and my grandmama. Caught up on reading some Asterix comics in the process. Got a little taste of the sea with some raw oysters and bulots (the escargots of the sea). Got to relive the life of a 13th century monk for about an hour at the Mount Saint Michel. Experienced a bit of the night life in Rennes. It's difficult to sum up, but overall food+family+old stuff+food = awesome.

Caen/Normandie

Well I think it's been long enough since my last entry to write about what I've been doing, and after about 5 weeks I'd say that the one thing that I could write a dissertation about is the obsession that the french have with food. Obsession may be a bit strong, but seriously you could just walk up to a random French person on the street and start a 10 minute conversation about the fabrication of bread.

Anyway, I've been lucky enough to stay with a number of family members over the past couple weeks in several regions around France and it's pretty amazing what a country the size of Texas can fit.

Caen/Normandie of course was my first destination, and was filled with plenty of outings and saw ton's of family. Went to the beach a couple of times. However, February isn't exactly the time of the year to lay out on the beach and take in the sun in Normandie, but it was still good to just hang out. Visited a couple of cool little castles William the conqueror style. Went to the landing beaches of course. Attended a French hip hop concert. Saw a hockey game interesting enough French style, which means it kind of had the atmosphere of a soccer game and the hot dogs come in a baguette with mayo (seriously) which I'm not gonna lie it was actually really good. Watched a bit of soccer on the tele along with some rugby which is fun to watch, but would probably be more interesting if I understood the rules. I was able to eat some amazing food thanks to Tata Francoise, and along the way got to try for the first time some frogs legs and escargots : ) .. Watched plenty of movies in French and one in English (never had seen the godfather and the French voice overs kind of killed the film). Overall, it was a great time. I imagine I'll be making a few more visits in the future.

Mon debut

Well my time in England has finished and I've moved on to the land of my ancestors. Which has given birth to crepes, the ménage a toi, and existentialism (talladega nights)... beat that.

I began my journey fittingly in the capital of world culture, Paris. With the cost of living I was able to last a bit longer than in London, which was about 7 days as opposed to 4. Besides the pigeon-like Armenian girls trying to steal your signature and the occasional dog poop you step in on the sidewalk, Paris still has got the charm though.

Initially I claimed that London was my favorite city in the world, and even though I've been to Paris previously I've officially changed my mind. Paris is definitely the best city in the world of which I've seen. Food, architecture, history, pure genuine hatred towards Americans.. nothing like it. Alright I was just kidding about them hating Americans... it's actually the Romanians they really hate.

Seriously though greatest city in the world. Pretty much every corner you turn you could take a pic and sell it as a postcard.

I've gotten to see and do a lot so far, but I'd have to say the best part of it has been the museum of the French military. In my biased opinion, best museum in Paris. Although the louvre is pretty good. There is nothing like a good reenactment of how Napoleon beat the Spanish under unfavorable circumstances.

Pieces of advice to any visiting Paris, go see "how to become a Parisian in one hour" and make sure to pay a few visits to the patisserie. Also if you go to the louvre be prepared to be overwhelmed.

Some take home notes include how much the English and French dislike American mustard, pickles, and mayonnaise, how amusing it is to see a cross eyed cat, and be wary of people with gold teeth. Also I need someone to explain to me the significance of modern art.

Well it's on to Caen/Carpiquet. We'll see how much more English I'll forget over the next month or so. In the words of jemaine, in the context of learning French, "it's business time".

The Hatch

Since London I've spent the last couple of weeks in middle of nowhere on a little farm in worcestershire with my cousin. Its pretty much your typical English country home with plenty of hills, hedgerows, and sheep of course. It's definitely one of the most beautiful areas in England though.

Although I am in the middle of nowhere, I've been keeping plenty busy. I've gone to visit some of the small towns around here which are super cool just because everything is so old. I swear there is a 500 year old church everywhere you look. I've also gone to see some of the more well known places in Worcestershire such as Ludlow, the malvern hills, and Worcester (sauce city). All of which I'd definitely recommend anyone visiting. I've also been able to experience the pub scene fairly well, and with that comes English bar food and warm beer. There are nature walks a plenty out here so of course I've been able to go on a few of those as well.

Also in living out here in the English countryside I've been able to partake in the tradition of plucking/semi gutting a pheasant, which wasn't that bad after I spent 30 mins crying.

Some things i've noticed are that I've had more tea in the last couple of weeks than in my entire life. There is a condiment called brown sauce which is new to me which the English put on almost everything it seems like. Apparently every person in the uk despises Margaret thatcher to put it lightly, they were planning her funeral at one point. Finally, my advice to anyone visiting England is if you're ever served black pudding, don't ask what it is.

Week 1

Thought I'd be going on this thing more often than I have been, but now is a good time to look back on my first week in England. London was really nice. As a tourist I found out you in fact do not need a map to navigate your around. Just walk in one direction for a really long time, find some cool stuff along the way then once you get lost locals can just smell a lost tourist somehow and they pretty much just come up to you and tell you where you need to go. Also found out that Indian restaurants are deceiving, but Moroccan restaurants are awesome. In Hyde park alone exists every known breed of dog to ever exist, even the ones everyone thought were extinct. Also met some really interesting people in the hostel I stayed at. I found out that you do not need to be of youth to stay at a hostel. In the end London is still my favorite city on earth, but if I stayed there any longer I'd be eating too many apples and mixed nuts... so bloody expensive, but the free museums make up for it.. Finally anyone who goes to London needs to go to the royal Albert and Victoria museum... it's awesome, especially trajans column

Going away dinner

A delicious going away dinner with the fam at redwood lodge for my last American meal

Day 1

Off to a good start so far, remembered everything... I think. I sat next to Jordan Taylor's brother on my first flight to Cleveland so at this rate hopefully on the flight to London I'll be seated next to robin van persie's sister. Looking forward to hanging with the Brits though, just hoping I don't offend too many people while I'm there. Ive been working on my Canadien accent though to ease any animosity people might have towards the land of McDonald's. Finally if airport food is any indicator of the price of food in Europe, I'm going to be eating a lot of apples and mixed nuts. My arteries will be nice and clean when I come back in August :)