HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
I didn't do much for New Year's eve -just stayed at home here with some friends with some good food and wine...and saw some incredible fireworks at the Uni-Platz at midnight and then settled in to watch a movie - 'O Brother Where Art Thou' featuring George Clooney - and talk till the wee hours of the morning...but it was nice and cozy..a bit odd not celebrating New Year with my closest friends as I usually do, but nice all the same to celebrate it with new friends!!!
Hmmm...my fabulous trip to France...it was pretty phenomenal I have to say!!! For one, the journeys to and fro were so wonderfully smooth..ofcourse as Patricia said after my adventure to Sweden I am an expert at travelling by train within Europe so anything would seem smooth...but I must say the pleasure of having trains arrive at the destination on time, and getting to the next platform by walking not running is great!!! Hehehe!!!
Bordeaux - that's where Patricia stays and I spent 4 days with her, spending Christmas with her family. That was cool...her fiance Bernard is a nice guy - very typical French I would say , could almost fall in a stereotype!!! I also got to meet her mother, brother, his 'paxi', daughter, Bernard's mother, friend and father...and with these people I had to talk in French...incredibly slow and rusty French but I spoke all the same - and understood most of what they said!! Felt pretty good after nearly 3 months of not understanding anything of the conversation that flowed around me in German!!! Met some of her friends too - she's got a cool circle of friends and I really liked how they are with each other - I guess that comes with so many years of knwoing each other...pretty darn nice !!!!
The stay was fabulous as I said- Patricia and Bernad showed me around Bordeaux, walking around the city centre which has amazingly beautiful buildings and this labyrinth of streets filled with cottages, shops and cafes!! The cafes and restaurants were the best feature of the trip - we ate out once a day, and were at a cafe/pub/wine bar twice...'THE' French way of doing things as I was told..and do I love it. As I told Kunu on the phone...do the French know how to live in style!!
On Christmas eve we were at Bernard's mother's house for dinner...a traditional dinner, but then I ate very traditional and typical French food through-out my stay in France - and loved the cuisine!! I am a big fan of 'Foie Gras' now - it is simply mouth wateringly delicious!!! *Smack my lips* LOL!!!
The next day for lunch Pat and I were at her mother's place, while Bernard spent the day with his father. After lunch we drove down to Lacaunau, which is a beach on the Atlantic ocean shore...as Pat told me, if I knew how to swim and had the stamina and will oer (and insanity to try) I could swim across to New York from there!! Luckily though it was cold the day was clear so we had a nice long walk on the beach...and I realised then that I do miss even the beache back home...that's on my list of things to do when I return - walk to Versova beach and watch the sunset from the rocks there.... On the 26th we drove to St Emilion which is a village where some of the world's best wines are produced...though the vineyards were dry, the day was charming. The village is a heritage site so you can imagine...maze of streets winding up a hillside, church and houses dating back to the 12th century, restaurants set in wine cellars...utterly captivating!!! And a most memorable day and great way to wind up my stay in Bordeaux!!
Pat and I spent 3 days in Paris from the 27th to 30th. Her friend who works at the National Assembly had let his stay at his flat while he was holidaying in Switerzerland, so we had an increbible flat (filled with books - he seems to be a voracious reader and I was duly impressed - more by the books than the locality, or his salary which was also mind boggling!!!)...I had a great guide in Pat. Bernard was living in Paris till a few months back so Pat knows her way around and knew just the right places to visit. Ofcourse I did the Eiffel Tower bit, going upto the top, despite my fear of heights!! Beyond that we walked around alot - Opera house, Invalides, Pont Alexander (the most beautiful bridge in Paris), Montmartre (seeing houses of writers, cafes where famous artists, writers etc had rendezvous, Moulin Rouge, the cafe in 'Amelie' etc etc), Sacree Coeur, Notre Dame, Village de Saint Paul ( an area where only antiques are sold), Hotel Ville, Galleries Lafayette, Samaritaine (in which we had coffee in a restaraunt giving us a fabulius view of the Seine and the city at sunset and twilight!!!) .....more so much more that I can't put in an email!!! My mind is bursting with memories of the trip...if I liked the way the French lived from my stay in Bordeaux I was floored by Paris...as I said...I want to go back and stay longer...and be richer this time!! HEHEHE!!!
Hmm...now I'm back in Magedburg...short stay here...just packing up, winding up....am I dying to return home. 6th...the day is approaching fast and I couldn't be happier!!!
Guess this is it for now, the details of my trip shall be filled in soon...perhaps on my return to Bombay...but they shall come for they are worth sharing!!! So be patient, and the fruit shall be sweet...LOL..it sounds funny translating the Hindi saying into English!! Ciao for now...
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