Un chien qui parle francais- A dog who speaks French!

I met my friend Francois through a language exchange website in Dublin and I have been working on my French skills and Francois, his English skills for the past 4 months. This past weekend, Francois invited me to his home in Tours, France so that I could experience the 'real France' because according to him, Paris is not France.

I woke up at 3:30am (it would have been earlier if it weren't for my kind housemate Ciran who gave us a ride) on Saturday, picked up Francois from his flat and off we went to catch our 6:25am plane. We flew to Beauvais airport which is just outside Paris, took a taxi from the airport to the train station and took the train into Paris. From there, we took the Paris Metro (Subway) to another train station and caught the TGV (a very fast train) to Tours....we arrived in Tours at 2:45pm and were greeted by Francois's mom, sister and the love of his love, his dog Uria.

From there, we drove to Francois's hometown Savionnaire (sp??) which is 15mins outside Tours. Francois lives in the middle of nowhere in what we would call a 'country home'. They have a nice and peaceful house complete with a pond (with fish and wild ducks), well, pool, wine cellor and veggie garden, all of which Francois and his father built.

After getting the grand tour of the house, his mom made us Crepes...mmmmmm....and thus began the over-stuffing of my stomach over the next few days.

Saturday evening, Francois had a dinner party where 15 of his friends came over. I was surprised that I was able to understand most of what was said and even able to express myself in French, though, some things will forever remain, lost in translation.

We had a HUGE dinner...I stopped counting after 4 courses and I tasted the many different wines from the region. The French sure do love their wine! All his friends also had wine cellors so everyone that arrived also brought wine with them. Around 1am, I could no longer keep my eyes open and headed off to bed. A special Thank you to Valerie, Francois's sister, who allowed me to crash in her room.

The next morning, we woke up to real French bread...oh my gosh, you have never tasted real bread until you taste French bread....croissants...mmmm....real croissants, more crepes and pain au chocolat.

Sunday afternoon, Francois helped his father in their workshop while I talked to Valerie. Valerie and I got along really well because we're the same age and she's a dietician and everyone knows that I love talking about food! I also took a look at Francois's mom's neck as she woke up with neck pain, showed Valerie some exercises and read the x-rays of Francois's dad...lol....a chiro's work is never done.

After another filling lunch of wine and French food, Francois and Valerie took me to Amboise chateau royal. There, we had a guided tour of the chateua en francais. There were people in the tour that were Quebecois, woohoo Canada! The tour guide proceeded to explain some of the history of France and talked about the various rooms and such of the chateau....I started to to tune out as it's difficult enough in English to follow the kings and queens and their kids, nevermind in French. The most interesting thing about the chateau is that it's the resting place of Leonardo de Vinci! He was invited to live in the chateau by Francois the 1st and lived there the last 3 years of his life.

After our chateau visit, we went to Charlie's (one of Francois's best friend's) house. This place was definately in the middle of no where. You can't even see the next closest neighbours!

Monday morning, Francois took me on a guided tour of Tours. We walked around the old and new parts of the town and of couse, ate some more....another pain au chocolat...mmmm.....we even bought some baguettes....typical French!! Then we went for a drive along the countryside and along the river. It reminded me alot of parts of Canada. Lots of green space. Even the driving was great as they drive on the same side of the road as in Canada, unlike Ireland, where I think i'm constantly going to be run over.

In the afternoon, we went to see the second love of his life, his yellow car, at his parent's office. We caught our train around 5pm and began the journey back in reverse....train, subway, train, taxi, plane, taxi..bed!

I had a great trip, ate loads of food and had the real French experience. Thank you to Francois, his sister, his parents and friends who were super welcoming and patient with my charades games when I didn't know the words in French. C'etait impeccable!

Now, it's back to the grind and time to plan my final trip before I go home to Canada....will of course, keep you all up to date. See you soon!

My Chiro. family in London

About 1 month ago, I decided to take a trip to London as I had promissed Trina and Brian that I would visit them before I went back to Canada. Since, my best friend Irene, happened to have an 8hr stop over in London this past weekend, I decided go.

I took an afternoon flight and arrived in London Gatwick Airport around 5:30pm. I hopped on a bus that was supposed to bring me into Central London, however, since Trina and Bri live in Greater London, I decided that I would be smart and more efficient with my time...so I got off the bus early and hopped on a train.

After asking for directions, I got onto a train and settled in. A few stops into the journey, I had a feeling that I wasn't heading the right way. The conductor finally came by and I was going in the opposite direction by about 15 miles (merde)!! The train station attendant had given me the wrong directions! (ca me fait chier)!! I got off the next stop and was in the middle of no where and the next train was in 45mins!! 3 trains later, and 3 hours later, I finally arrived in Twickenham.

Trina and Bri live in a beautiful spacious flat with a guest bedroom...no couch for me! Trina and Nicole (another chiropractor, 1 year ahead of us at CMCC) picked me up from the train station. For dinner, we had Mexican night and Bri made an amazing veggie bean dip for me! We pigged out on food, and chatted about chiropractic and such.

The next day was unusually beautiful in London....27 degrees and sunny!! We took advantage of the sun and went for a walk in and around Richmond park. After lunch, I went to meet Taco (another former classmate of mine) and we sat on a park bench for a few hours catching up and enjoying the sun. Trina and Bri then came to pick me up and along with Nicole, we went for drinks and munchies. Kudos to Trina for spotting the 2 for 1 sign that was almost impossible to see!!

Monday, I said goodbye to Trina and Bri and went to Heathrow to meet Irene. Irene is volunteering for the next month in Kenya and had 8 hrs to kill between flights. It was so nice to see my best friend again! We ate lunch, talked and wandered around central London. The time passed quickly and I was soon back at the airport. This was an easy goodbye as I knew that I would be seeing her soon.

Thank you to Trina and Brian for their hospitality! It was great catching up! Nicole, it was nice to meet you. To Taco, it was great seeing you again and thanks for the advice...a la prochain....and to Irene, have fun and I'll see you soon.

Next trip...this weekend! Woohoo! I'm going to Tours, France!

They may take away our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!

They may take away our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!
I figured that a Braveheart quote was a good way to start off this post about my Scotland trip....

So, I left Dublin on Saturday morning and after a short half hour plane ride, I ended up in Glasgow, Scotland. I took the train from the airport into the city centre. The first thing you notice about Scotland is the rolling hills and the many golf courses around. Once in the city centre, I began to explore. Glasgow is well known for it's shopping so I took a quick trip around the shopping district. What I soon noticed was that Glasgow is much cheaper than Dublin, even with the conversion rate between the Sterling and the Euro. Oh yeah, also the Scotish accent can be quite difficult to understand, especially when older people talk, but I like the accent, none the less.

Next, I wandered around George Square and headed east to the cathedral and the Necropolis which were the two sites that I wanted to see here. Glasgow is a small city and it's easy to get around by foot. Another thing to note is that Scotish people do loads more exercise than the Irish. The towns are full of little hills everywhere and people are always running or biking. Ok, back to the necropolis. I walked up to the top where you can get a nice view of the city. By the time I got to the top of the Necropolis, my backpack was starting to get really heavy, so I decided to go and drop off my stuff at the hostel. After dropping my stuff off, I wandered the city some more.

I went back to the hostel for dinner after stopping off at a health food shop and ran into two French girls from Dublin. Scotland is very vegetarian/vegan friendly, so I was able to find food easily. After dinner, I went with them to see a movie because Glasgow was voted the City of Culture in I don't remember what year. The movie theatre was HUGE seating close to 400 people and it was at least 6 floors high!!

The next day, I woke up bright and early and took a bus to Edinburgh, which is only 1 hour away. Edinburgh is absolutely georgous!!! There is a picture moment everwhere you turn. If you have a chance, you must visit Edinburgh. I was super impressed. From almost anywhere in the city, you can see the famous Edinburgh Castle situated on top of a hill.

The first thing I did was walk up Calton Hill. From here, I got a great view of both the old and new town. Next, I walked to the old town and found myself on the Royal Mile. At one end of the Royal Mile is Holyrood which contains the Palace of Holyroodhouse which is the Queen's official Scottish home. I took pictures from outside as I didn't want to pay to get in. Next, I went in the opposite direction to Edinburgh Castle. Normally, it's 11 pounds to get into the castle, that's around 25$...crazy!! however, this weekend was 'Visit the Castle for Free' which happens once a year. The line was super long but I didn't mind. The first section was the scene of executions and mutilations for centuries, nice huh? There was also a tiny chapel which is the oldest building in Edinburgh and was super small.

After the castle, I was getting tired of my bag again and went in search of a hostel as I had not yet booked one. I found a hostel for 13 pounds near the castle. The hostels in Scotland are more than Dublin and Belfast but everything else was cheaper. After dropping my stuff off, I wandered into the new town and took a stroll in the West Princes Street Gardens. Edinburgh was colder than Dublin but with the sun, it was ok. Next I walked around the National Gallery of Scotland and went back to the hostel. I met loads of Aussie's and Americans in this hostel.

Monday was my last day in Scotland and I woke up sick. I had a cold, a stabbing headache, aches all over and the chills. But since it was my last day, I decided to give it all I had. I went to Holyrood Park with a French guy that I met at the hostel and we climbed to the top of this stupid hill. It was not a good idea since I was sick but the view was worth it. It took us about 1.5 hours to get up and back down. The climb killed me. It also made my headache even worse and made my body ached even more from the climb. I left Edinburgh in the afternoon and headed back to Glasgow. I tried to wander the city some more but was just too tired. Around 5pm, I took the train back to the airport. My plane didn't leave until 9:45pm but I just couldn't go anymore. I waited in the airport and then caught my flight back to Dublin and jumped straight into my bed.

ok, gotta get to work now. Am feeling a bit better today, however the headache is still here and I need to be adjusted because my back is hurting from carrying my backpack. Overall, my trip was fun though it was a lonely travelling alone at times. Until the next trip....

To move or not to move...that is the question

So it's been a while eh? That's because I haven't gone anywhere recently!! I hope to plan my next trip for either the end of March or the beginning of April.

Anywho, here's the story...at the beginning of Feb, my landlord decided that she wanted to raise the rent by 35Euros a month which is an extra 53$ a month. I decided that that was too 'dear' (to quote the Irish), so I moved out. I moved just down the street into a cheaper house but this time, I had to share with the landlady and another flatmate. The landlady is in her mid-40's and lives alone with her two dogs. She can be a bit nosy and eccentric at times but overall, we get along 'grand'.

Last Sunday, the day after my birthday, she came home one night and the fireplace was on. She asked me who had turned it on and I told her Ciaran (the other flatmate) had. She then said that she had told Ciaran before not to turn on the fireplace because it was expensive. 5 minutes later, she comes into the living room and suddenly says 'this isn't working out for me', you two have 1 month's notice......crazy lady! I wasn't even sure what had happened because she offered no further explanation. On top of that, that was the day that rent was due and I had paid her that morning! So I spent the early part of this week looking for a new place to live. I wanted to leave ASAP...who wants to live in a place where someone else doesn't want you there??

Anyways, I had found another flat that was further away from work and the gym, however, it was full of people my age. They seemed fun and they offered me a room there. The rent was more expensive though. I texted them to accept their offer.

Yesterday night, my landlord said that she had to talk to me again. She then proceeded to APOLOGISE for acting the way she had. She said that she over-reacted and she really wanted us to stay....wow....and it was all because Ciaran had turned on the fire place! The funny thing is, he offered to pay her extra for turning it on before...

So for now, I am staying put as I have no wish to move again...however, I will be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Also, thank you all for the birthday wishes last week!!! I had a really good time. I went out to dinner with Anne, another chiropractor that works with me, and we went to the Hairy Lemon for drinks after. I then went to a house party because it was another friend's (Francois) birthday. We felt like dancing so we headed back into town with an international contingency (French, Spanish, Swiss, Aussies and me of course) and danced the night away.

Gotta go, patients here. Ciao ciao.

Two Canadians in Paris

Mmmmmmmm, pain au chocolat, croissants, Mont Blanc, crepes avec Nutella, baguettes and more...is what I ate for breakfast in Paris!! My stomach is still trying to recover from these culinary delights.

Last weekend I flew to Paris to visit Erika who is studying French there. Last month, I saw Erika on MSN and I asked her how Korea was (she had gone there from Toronto to teach English) and to my surprise, she had finished her contract and was now in France.

I flew to Beauvais airport just outside Paris with Ryanair for 70 Euro, taxes inc and Erika met me at the bus stop in Paris and we started our adventure. We first went to Basilique du Sacre Coeur. It was beautiful and located on the top of a hill overlooking Paris. We then wandered around the cobble stoned streets, watched the many artists and painters and ate crepes.

We saw so many attractions that I cannot possibly remember the order in which we saw them. Here is a list of what we saw throughtout the weekend: Funiculaire de Montmartre, Theatre de la Madeleine, Opera, Palais de Chaillot, Champs-Elysees and l'arc de Triomph, Jardin des Tulleries, the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, la Pyramide, Chatelet les Halles, St Michel Notre Dame, Ile St-Louis, Bastille, Montparnasse, Champ de Mars tour Eiffel, Tour Eiffel, Hotel des Innvalides, Moulin Rouge....lets say we were really really tired from walking each day that I was there! Good thing there were lots of yummy treats to keep our sugar levels soaring!

The highlight of the trip was the Mont Blanc dessert which we bought from Angelina's right beside le Louvre (ummm, twice). The brown chestnut cream is sweet and dense, yet tenderly supported by whipped cream in the middle, and the combination adds a sense of lightness to the intensity of the chestnut cream. Underneath all the cream is a strong meringue layer that gives the two soft layers a distinct personality and texture....mmmmm....it was the best dessert i've ever tasted!!!

Another highlight for me was the Eiffel Tower. They covered the first level of the Eiffel Tour with snow and had free snowshoes that you could borrow....so I got to snowshoe around the Eiffel Tour while looking out onto the city of Paris!!!

Supprisingly, Paris was actually cheaper than Dublin for eating out. We had 3 course dinners for 10 Euro...oh god....the food I ate....

Thanks to Erika's great hospitatily, I had an AMAZING time in Paris and would love to go back! Paris is really as good as they say it is! Maybe I should move there next.......will add pictures later! Bonne journee!

I took the heat for granted and now it's gone away....

You never know what you have until it's gone.....I am reminded of that saying as I sit here at home in the cold. During the night, our heating system broke down and the cold came in. As I usually sleep with two blankets, only my nose was cold when I woke up. I went to the gym and when I came back, the house was freezing.

Thank god I took a shower while I was at the gym. I came home to find my poor roommate screaming in the shower because he had just woken up and had not realised that the heating wasn't working......poor guy. He went from bass to soprano in 1 second flat.

When I called the gas company, they informed us that the soonest they could send someone would be on friday, today is wednesday. I guess that I will have another couple of days to use my imagination....i am in tropical paradise.....ahhhh......take me back to the beach in Tel Aviv when I was there in August....

I am thankful for my heating system and I promise to appreciate it more.....can someone please send the repair guy now?? Please?? Brrrr.......

Christmas and New Year's in Cork, Ireland

Happy Christmas everyone! In Ireland, they don't say Merry Christmas like we do in Canada, they say Happy instead. No idea why. There is also no Boxing day, it's called St. Stephen's Day and it is a holiday like Christmas is. There aren't any boxing day sales here until the day after boxing day.

This was my first Christmas away from home and the first green Christmas that I can remember. Since I have no family in Dublin, I decided to pay a visit to my adopted Canadian Family in Cork. There are a bunch of us that were not able to make it home this year. I went to Cork on Christmas Eve and arrived in time for a Swedish dinner. One of Su and Ryan's roommates, Elin, is Swedish and her parents were there so they cooked a huge Christmas dinner. mmmmmm, Swedish meetballs.....even better than the ones Ikea makes!!! For the next 4 days I watched a marathon of movies. They are all mixed up on my head. Also, I went for a walk on Christmas day and the town was deserted. It was eerie....

I went back to Dublin for Friday, Sat and Sun because I had to work and yesterday morning, I took the bus back to Cork for Su's New Year's Party. I am really tired of taking the 4.5 hour bus ride from Dublin to Cork. It will be a while before I go back there again. The train would be nicer but it is 6times more expensive.

Su's party was good, we had a huge dinner for 13 people. Our friend Sebastien, from France cooked. Sooooooo yummy! Then of course, we celebrate New Years. Weird thing here is that there are no fireworks set up in the city like in Ottawa or Toronto. There is no place where everyone meets for the countdown. Apparently, Scotland is the place to be for new years....will have to make it out there one day. The good thing was that we had about 6 Canadians at the party no one missed home.

Wishing everyone all the best for 2008. Bonne annee et bonne sante!
Ok, tired, off to bed. Ciao ciao.