Then check out these wonderful photos of European soccer fields, by Hans van der Meer. Watching the slideshow of these photos feels like reliving my solo backpacking trip through small French towns all over again, only with many cities added that I haven't seen before.
Via Kottke.
UPDATE: I just found this other site, which you may also enjoy: the author, who appears to be an artist living in Rotterdam, sets the auto-timer on his camera to two seconds and photographs himself running away from it. The scenes surrounding him are always interesting.
Speaking of that, it was seven years ago when I embarked upon a six-week backpacking trip to Europe. It was the first of many vacations I have taken alone. I had left my first law firm and negotiated six weeks off before starting my next job. Not surprisingly, none of my friends were able to get that much time off work. My flight left on the Millenium New Year's Eve . . . December 31, 1999. Choosing that date for the flight, when so many were claiming the world would end that night, was my tiny way of daring fate about what was to come next.
I liked traveling alone even more than I had expected. It was while riding around on trains in Western Europe that I read "Atlas Shrugged" for the first time and wanted to find within myself the strength of Dagny Taggart. My French-speaking ability was vastly improved as I made light conversation with the French and with French-speaking people I met in the other countries I visited: Spain, Italy, Austria, Turkey and Germany (in that order). I made new friends on the trip and am still in touch with one of them, an energetic, smart and fun writer from Australia.
There were, however, times when I was a little lonely. Even then, it was pretty easy to find internet access. So I tried to send a missive back to friends and family about once a week, checking emails from home at the same time. I was feeling a bit nostalgic for that kind of travel after looking at the photos linked above and dug those missives out of my email. I thought you might be interested in reading them--here's the first one:
Bonjour, All!
I am sitting in the hottest copy shop in all of France -- hot meaning warm, not cool. The trip is going well so far! I figured out what I forgot (those who saw me pack will wonder how that could have happened) the moment I stepped off the plane -- gloves, my Neiman's mints and mailing addresses so I could send post cards! Please send me your mailing address, anyone who would like a card!
So far, I have been to the following French cities:
Paris (shopped in the Jewish neighborhood and rode in a sardine-like packed mètro that reminded me about certain cultural differences)
Ambroise (saw a cute group of French schoolkids embarking on a field trip, the chateau where Henry II, who was 4 feet tall, bumped his head on a low -- how low could it have been?!?-- doorway on the way to a tennis match and died, and a chocolate shop in business since 1913 -- for good reason!)
Fontevaud (visited an enormous Abbey, which happens to house the "remains" of Richard the Lion-Hearted and would make a great setting for a horror movie -- my favorite place so far)
Saumur (more on that later)
and Tours (I am here now and for the next day or two, met my first English-speakers -- an Australian and a girl from Denton, Texas -- in 3 days here and will use it as a base to visit Chateau Chenonceau tomorrow).
My French-speaking capabilities have ranged from decent to embarrassingly awful, but I am already starting to think in French sometimes! As you would expect, some people are incredibly nice and some are not.
To those of you who said you were envious of this trip, this description of my day yesterday should cure you (STOP reading now if you don't want to be disillusioned!): awoke at 7am to catch train, walked to station with 40-pound pack, picking up croissant and Coke breakfast, rode to Tours, I planned to leave pack at the station for the day, learned thanks to the terrorists most stations won't store packs anymore, rode train to Saumure after comical half-French, half-English exchange with Information about location of the proper rail line, in Saumur walked to youth hostel with very heavy pack because line was busy when I called for a reservation, found hostel closed for 2 weeks (Let's Go book apparently missed that one!). Sat down, thought about revenge on Let's Go, contemplated asking garbage truck drivers who came to this isolated place for ride back to station. Help arrived in the form of a sweet (and cute) special education teacher with a van of his students -- he told me not to be afraid -- I wasn't -- and gave me a lift back to the station. Begged Saumur information desk people to hold pack while I visited the Abbey. In Fontevraud, misread French bus schedule and feared I would not get back to Saumur before info desk closed for night. Found timely bus, retrieved pack, rode train to Tours and splurged on cab ride to youth hostel, where I had made a reservation and they were actually open. Tried to find internet source last night, got bad info from hotel hosts, met kind Chinese/French girl who led me on internet hunt, then to dinner.
I never realized how much work it is to make all plans and do all navigating on your own! Last night, I raised a glass in toast to Amy (my partner in crime on my last trip here) -- she made that trip infinitely easier! Even this computer keyboard is a challenge -- it must be arranged to accomodate keys commonly used in French. All in all, however, I am very glad to be here and am learning a lot, not just about France.
I should grab some lunch (it's 7 hours earlier here than in Illinois and Texas). Have a great day and talk to you again soon!
Lisa
P.S. Thanks to those who sent e-mails already -- it's nice to read friendly messages from home!
This is lovely Saumur. Here is where I found the pic, as mine from this trip are not digital.
4 comments:
That is the most awesome site I've seen anyone link to all week. Maybe in months. I absolutel loved it. Thanks for posting that.
If you want to go backpacking across France or Europe again, I'm game!
Man oh man sometimes I could just kick myself when I think about how ingnorant I was when I was younger about how great travel to Europe would be.
If I had it to do all over again, I would have gone to a college that has a big study abroad program too.
yeah, yeah, I know "I was studying broads long before college" ba dum bum ;-)
What beautiful pictures. Six weeks in Europe sounds wonderful. Lisa, given your experience in traveling through France, I'd welcome your advice. I've scheduled 10 days in France with my nine year old daughter. These are 10 full days, not including flights. How many days would you spend in Paris versus touring outside the city? We don't want to do a whirlwind tour of the entire country so what other region would you visit other than Paris? Thanks.
Hey, Jay, I know what you mean about the "should haves" on travel! I feel fortunate that I decided to go to Europe when I did (after law school) or I probably would not have gone yet. I'll travel there with you anytime!
Brett, I hope you and Beatrice make it to Europe soon! I know I was really worried about the cost, but if you spend time outside the cities, it is very easy to see a lot at a very reasonable price. You will never regret this trip! :)
JD, I would love to make some suggestions about your trip to France with your daughter, though I haven't seen France through the eyes of a nine-year-old, so I trust you will be able to locate the fun-for-kids stuff along this route. I think that you can see a lot of Paris in four or five days. I would probably spend four days in Paris, and take the rest of the time to explore the country, which is really what France is to me. A caveat: my travel in France has been limited to the areas covered in the trip I wrote about here (basically Loire Valley heading down to Spain) and another trip, in which I saw the Riviera area--Nice, etc. I personally think the French Riviera is overrated and touristy and prefer the interior.
The towns I suggest you visit are:
Ambroise
Tours
Chenonceaux (day trip)
Poitiers
Rocamadour
You could easily visit these places in five days or so and still have time for a leisurely train ride back to Paris, on which you could explore a new place or two of your own. You can take a train to all of these towns, except that in Rocamadour, you would want to arrange for someone to pick you up at the train station, as it would be quite a hike into town. The owner of my chambre d'haute picked me up and was nice enough to stop at a scenic place to permit me to take a picture. I LOVED the chambre d'haute there--here is their info:
Marguerite LARNAUDIE (3 épis) - L'Hospitalet - Route de Lacave
Tél./Fax 05 65 33 62 60 - Portable 06 83 17 84 50
Sadly, I wonder if the omission of Pierre from this listing (he is Marguerite's husband) means he is no longer with us.
Other tips: You can't go wrong with Rick Steves' guidebook for Paris. Get the museum pass for Paris that allows you to jump to the front of the line everywhere you go--so you'll spend time seeing things instead of waiting. Buy a Eurail or other train pass for your trip outside of Paris. While some like the freedom of having a car, I think the experience of navigating train stations and seeing the country go by outside a train window is unmatched by the car experience. Always buy your ticket out of town when you arrive in town, so you will know exactly when the train leaves and don't have to worry about whether the ticket window will be open when you come back. While this may already be something you do on your other travels, it is particularly important in these small French towns, where there may not always be someone manning the ticket window when you want to leave.
I'm glad to share more thoughts if you like--if you prefer to email about it or have more questions, just let me know!
Thanks Lisa. This is very helpful. I guess it is time to get serious about planning.
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