beziers to barcelona

where to start, where to start...
the end of last week we all took a trip into beziers, approx. 45 minutes north from here, to see friends there. we had a great time, stayed indoors most of the time due to sever winds. the south of france is a windy windy place. i took some of my favorite photos of the country side...see attached photos to appreciate the pure french beauty.

this weekend we ventured over to barcelona, spain. i love it there and am stoked to be going back in about to week on our portugal and spain jaunt. the weather was beautiful on friday but turned to rain on saturday and into wind on sunday. it was a little sad. i tried not to obsess.

friday we arrived via train and checked into our hostel. it was a fantastic hostel, great location, safe, clean, comfortable beds, and free breakfast. (worse coffee i've ever had. ever. it was instant. ew. i'm a snob. note: spain and france have the best espresso. ever.) after we got settled we went out walking, went to plaza de reial and had tapas for lunch. delicious. we then went shopping for a bit, walked around and explored. the street performers were pretty hilarious and terrifying. the english girls, kili and i then ventured to gaudi park which was amazing. the top part was closed so we failed to see the best view of barcelona which was disappointing. the park was beautiful though... i loved the tiles that deocrated the benching surrounding it. after the park we met up with the rest of our group and had dinner at this really great place in the plaza which was actually quite reasonable. i had duck. it was the best. do i feel bad about eating duck? ...just until it hits my pallet.
saturday we had a hostel breakfast...haha, punny, then went to el boqueria, an outdoor, amazing market. i took some rad pictures... which don't really do the place justice. greg, ash, kili and i had smoothies that were the best. i had coconut and strawberry. we then met everyone for lunch at this funky place with murals on the walls. all the murals were of lions, some of which were tearing apart naked men. it was odd. the americans then went off to the gaudi cathedral, sagrada familia, beautiful and impressive. we had a picnic dinner in our hostel for dindin.
sunday we walked to the beach. it was chilly out and windy, but the beach was amazing regardless. greg, kili and i put out feet in the sand. i wandered around and picked up stones and shells, watched the surfers. this day i had ice cream and it was the best. in the afternoon we caught a train home, satisfied and exhausted. we had crepes at alice's here in perpignan, then walked greg to the train station. we're all pretty sad that greg went home.

i am feeling a little homesick, if that is the correct wording, but having a good time.
here are my photos: enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/ashleyraelanning/BeziersToBarcelona#

et un photo.

photos of perps. & peeps.

attached is a link to photos of perpignan. perps is a windy city, so being glam flies right out the window along with everything else. most of these photos are from today when greg, kili and i went out to explore the town. we came across some beautiful places. i have an infactuation with doors, inherited from my mother; i have a great apprecation for unusual (to my standards) architecture and colors, inherited from my father. perpignan often reminds me of southern california, which greg and i decided really wasn't that strange since the influence heritage makes since: spain influencing mexico which influences southern california. spain is close to here. also, the palm trees and sun around here are so SoCal.

listening to: across the universe soundtrack. "all you need is love..."
only had one espresso today. impressive.
so thankful for my great walking shoes, my feet are pleased but we walk all over.
just want to eat. all the time. its so good!
i miss my home(s). realized i'm not homeless, just "houseless".

photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ashleyraelanning/WindsOfPerpignan#

david sedaris.

"There are, I have noticed, two basic types of French spoken by Americans vacationing in Paris: the Hard King and the Easy Kind. ... The second, less complicated form of French amounts to screaming English at the top of your lungs, much the same way you'd shout at a deaf person or the dog you thought you could train to stay off the sofa."
-me talk pretty one day

story time.

let me tell you about perpignan, from my perspective of course: (side note, i am listening to old death cab for cutie... so good!)

we walk everywhere. its a good thing we do because i eat a copious amount of cheese, bread, meats, and other unhealthy and delicious foods. chocolate too. we went grocery shopping the other day and bought lots of vegetables, fruits, meats, and cheeses. ashley picked out groceries for all the amazing meals she will serve us. she's a great cook and has a deep love for the activity. last night she made us all chicken pot pie and chocolate cheesecake! (i know, right?!?!) lucky us.

the "us" i refer to is the group of: ashley, kili, greg, who came yesterday via train-he is from bellingham as well, and the three english girls who teach like ashley: alice, emma, and karen. all of us and a few more will be traveling to barcelona via train this weekend. i am so so excited to get a taste for spain, which will wet my pallet for our two week jaunt to come in a few weeks. beginning of april, five of us are traveling in portugal and spain for two weeks! (eeeeeeeeeeee.)

ok back to present, the food here is just too much to handle. we're planning and making most meals at home, but the few times i have gone out have basically blown my mind. i french know how to eat. of course, i'm impressed with daily baguettes and cheese.

also, i love their espresso. and its cheap! guzzle guzzle guzzle...

walking around in our group, we're a funny mix of english and american. the english girls speak french, so i ask them and ashley questions constantly and communicate on my own whenever possible. i am stubbornly independent. i'm also learning a lot of fabulous english words which i find endearing, hilarious and wonderful. i started them writing down and the girls laughed at me. understandable.

perpignan is beautiful. it has been sunny and near 70 F. since i've been here. my skin is pleasently surprized by the sunshine. perps. feels ordinary and wonderful in its commonality. the people are nonpretentious and easy to speak with, when i've had the opportunity. the streets hold absolutely no pretention, they're covered in dog poo and dirt and pee and crud. i think i've gulped in a few glasses of polution. the french like their cars apparently.

love to home.

moi.

photo comment...

copy and paste the link.... for photos.
ok?
ok.
d'accord.
bien.
tu es magnifique.

perpignan

je suis dans perpignan! (i am in perpignan!)

kili and i got to perp. this morning, early, after much ado, as they say. the night train proved to be anything but relaxing, we hardly slept. we have hardly slept since arriving in france actually. ashley is making us stay up tonight and restart the sleep schedule.
the night train was boring, long, sort of comfortable, but luckily (despite what i was told) it did feel safe. kili and i were up by 3 a.m. so we saw the sunrise as we came into perpignan. it was gorgeous; something i tried in vain to capture on film. no luck. the pyrenees (mountains) appear as the train nears perpignan, they are beautiful.

here are my photos thus far, click on link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ashleyraelanning/ParisJeTAime#

xo.

au revoir, paris.

our time here ends, for now, in a few short hours. kili and i take the night train down to perpignan this evening, where ashley will meet us. i am excited to see her and settle into her place for a couple weeks. i think i can speak for both kili and myself when i say, sleeping at someone's house will be lovely after being in the hostel. this hostel is lovely, but sharing a room can be... interesting? weird? annoying? great? yes.
i would recommend the young and happy hostel to anyone who wants to stay in the latin quarter. its cheap and clean and safe.
i would also recommend the scandanavian airlines, well...at least for the bulk flying from continent to continent. our first leg of the journey was great, very comfortable, good food (i quite enjoy airline cuisine thankyouverymuch), overall quite nice. the second leg, from coppenhaggen to paris was rough but only because it was a smaller plane. and you had to pay for water.... strange, but culturally notsostrangeatall. ha.

today we went to cimetiere du pere-lachaise, the cemetary perhaps best known for housing the bones of jim morrison and oscar wilde. kili and i kissed oscar wildes grave, with our red lips, as is customary. showing appreciation. made me think of 'paris je t'aime, which i love, but it always makes me feel so silly for comparing a real life experience to one i saw in film. oiy. the cemetary was beautiful and overwhelming in its immencity.

in true parisian custom, kili and i have embraced long picnic luches and long meals, like we have all the time in the world. we are relieved for these breaks when we allow ourselves to have them, for we have been all over this city in just two days, are still exhausted, have blisters, and noodle legs.

i am sending you all positive love thoughts.

quick!

lets see...
where to begin...

yesterday kili and i had the most amazing and most tiring day. we are still a little ''jet-lagged'' but decided to make the day of it since our time in paris is so short. we walked all over latin quarter, to the pantheon, to luxenbourge gardens. then bought some lunch fixings, bagette, cheese and fruit, and walked to notre dame then to the seine river. at the river we sat and ate lunch. it was really warm out and i got some color on my white white skin. that was truely my happy place, there in the sun. after that we walked alllll the way to the eifel tower, which is a long walk! :) it was really fun though. and gorgeous out. we bought postcards on the way! then we walked home.
my internet time is expiring....

xoxo

ah paris

i am so happy. and so tired. and so happy.

i only have a few things to say:
snails? delicious.
duck? delicious.

kili and i had some loooooooong travels, but once we got here, were settled and had some food in us, we both became the happiest little travelers to ever walk these streets. we had dinner at this little quaint french restaurant near our hostel. we had the most amazing meal, we kept exclaiming that it was the best meal we had EVER had. i think this is only a slight exaggeration.... if one at all. we met the most amazing people at the restaurant who helped us initially with our escargot, and became dear friends of ours by the end of the meal. it was two older french men who wanted to tell us different places to go and things we need to see. whoever says french people are rude have not met the right people. they are wonderful.

already i feel slightly better about my french. i am trying and getting good responses. whenever i fail, they jump in with english and seem to think my attempts are endearing. :)

now we are going to settle in for bed and sleep, its going to be glorious.
i miss people already. but i am so happy to be here :).

planes, trains and auto(buses).

i am delightfully unstable. stability is overrated anyways. hives have become a close companion of mine, always there to heat up my body and make we writhe in pain and itchiness.

my poor mama has had to hear me complain, cry and moan about basically anything i can come up with to complain, cry and moan about. i think i've exhausted my resources and vow to be perfectly serene and composed from now on. maybe starting tomorrow. or the next day. ok, at a date to be determined in the no-so-distant future.

bien.

also, i would like to give a little "shout out" to my bellingham girls and say:

i have the most amazing friends!! i admire you all very much. and miss each of you already. for my travel girls, i am very impressed that you have embarked (or currently are embarking) on adventures which are completely terrifying and intimidating. i feel like i have a security blanket in this adventure because of kili, ashley and chels, not to mention that the place i am visiting is plush in comparison to some of your travels. i'm just really impressed with my friends. way-to-be. its intimidating to go somewhere new, no matter what the circumstance. you are all wonderful examples of courageousness.

also you're all the prettiest. and funniest.

also, if anyone would like to email me, DO IT!

ashleyraelanning@gmail.com

i love email.

be well, be safe, be happy, send me nice vibes...

i take off tomorrow evening.

xo.

remind me to breathe.

driving to olympia today i saw a gorgeous bald eagle soaring over the highway. we live in such a beautiful place. i tried to control my breathing as the overwhelming gut ache began to take control over my body. i need meditation and quiet. i need to sit still for a second and not have a thousand thoughts flying through my mind. i need to study. i need to be at peace. i need to not be so needy. ashley rae lanning.
leaving in 4 days, for 2 1/2 months.
determined to feel confident in the french language.
looking forward to eating cheese.
skinny love.
ill stomach pain that has become habitual.
my heart is pinched.
my head feels light and full, all at once.

i'm so happy that i can't stop crying.

i love this picture: the ashley's of book/cool club. i will miss my fabulous bookclub so so so much. you kids are the coolest; we schooled those books.

currently lounging in avellino, i feel strange knowing i leave bellingham momentarily and leave for france in under a week. i am thrilled but exhausted. i have said some goodbyes which pull my heart apart. i have so many wonderful people in my life; sure makes for difficult goodbyes , however temporary they are.

"James Joyce was born in February, as was Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo, which goes to show that writers are poor at beginnings, although worse at knowing when to stop". -Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins

packed up to ship out.

bonjour! hello friends, family, those i adore~

i am a bundle of excitement and nervous energy. in two weeks from today's date, i will be in france. i have recently realized that when an idea strikes, one must jump towards it with full force. a few wise souls brought to my attention that we each have the ability to strive towards what we desire, its no one's fault but our own if we choose to be apathetic in regards to our lives. i haven't had to make many decisions about my life, thus far. i want to be forced out of my comfort zone, feel the tramatic results of not knowing, i want to feel settled in not being settled. life is a constant learning process, if we ever stop considering the world around us and forcing ourselves to branch out, we are left comatose and incomplete beings. (in my oh-so-humble opinion).

i feel ill in my stomach when i think of how much i am going to miss everyone here. chelsea once expressed that, although she loves to travel and explore, the more people she meets and grows to love, the more people she longs for no matter where she finds herself. this is the problem with space, time and love. "absense makes the heart grow fonder".. "or forgettful"... robbin hood quote for you there. couldn't resist. i am very lucky to be able to embark on my travels though, and will eat up every moment of it. plus, really, time goes by very quickly, as i am starting to realize. adults have said this to me my entire life and i have waved it away; now i think i may become one who tries to impart this knowledge on younger generations, probably to no avail. its valuable to remember that we don't know everything, yeah? also, am i an adult now? hmmm.

more tangents coming early march, only released to select audiences....