clermont-ferrand

clermont-ferrand is fabulous. its so green and lush. i may have said this already. don't remember.
we moved chels and remy into their new apartment on monday. its lovely and french. i have a bed! i am thrilled about this. also, there is hot water and water pressure. life is good. currently chelsea is reading, in french, instructions on how to plant certain herbs, to remy. they are intensely discussing this. i don't understand the lingo. they have a gorgeous garden space in the back where they will plant these herbs and other things.
my hosts are wonderful and inviting to me. i helped decorate yesterday, hung up photos using metal hangers, string and such. i loved the project. pictures to come.
for now, here are some photos of us around town, in parks, in rain showers, in the apartment, loving...
i cannot believe chels and i have been friends for six years, we can't believe it. time flies and things sure do change. i have some amazing friends though and for that i am grateful.

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

chelsea et moi.

i arrived to clermont-ferrand on wednesday. it is absolutely beautiful here. i love the city, lush and green with many parks and pretty places. i can see why chelsea loves this city. remy and chels are wonderful to me. last night we came to remy's parent's for dinner, which was delicious and hilarious. i am realizing my french is ok when i'm just asking questions or saying statements, but when i am at a dinner table with a french family, i hardly understand a word. its painful. remy's mother just speaks to me like i understand, which is so endearing. i smile a lot but no, i don't really understand.
chels can't get a job for awhile, due to visa issues... SO this means she can spend loads of time with me, which selfishly, i love.
note: i have not been able to upload photos for a bit... so i decided to attach a photo of chels and i, taken sophomore year, so a good...5 years ago? crazy. little youngins.
we move remy and chels into their new place on monday. its a quaint little french apartment with beautiful flower wall paper and bright shutters. they have a shared yard space, where they plan on having picnics, BBQing, planting herbs and veggies in. behind their fence is a river that runs through town. there are brick bridges spreading over the water, with little castles built on top. in the river, black swans swim about. the swans here a huge.

i am so happy.

today we experience carnival, with loads of artisits and performers roaming about, i presume... i really don't know what to expect. not one bit. i am eager to see what all the fuss is about though.

i feel nostalgic.

my time in perpignan is winding down. i set off to clermont-ferrand tomorrow morning and arrive in the afternoon. for some reason the train takes 8 hours, even though it should only take a few, due to the train's route. so, i'll get my fill of much needed me time on the train. i bought enough snacks to feed a small army, am borrowing a book from ashley (i went through the two i brought, than 3 others here, already), and have plenty of writing paper. the interesting part is, i don't have a watch, so i will have no idea what time is it or how much time i have left the entire ride up. not too concerned, when its says clermont, i'll get off and know i am home. temporary home. i'll be with chelsea and remy for 2 weeks than will be traveling up to paris to meet mon amour. so happy for all that is to come....

today i was mistaken for a french woman. twice. so exciting.

love to home.

don't worry, i made it.....

here are some random tidbits about spain and portgual, in my experience. i'm exhausted and have been up for too many hours now, so bear with me...

"don't go on the grass". it seems like everywhere in europe, sitting, walking, or doing anything on the grass is forbidden. as our buses raced down highways and i gazed out the windows looking at fields of farm lands throughout spain and portugal, all i wanted to do was yell for the bus to stop, and make a run for it. i'd run all over those hills and grassy miles, i yearn to run. and then, once i am exhausted again, i will lay down in the dew and take a little nap. mmmm. nap.

so we were in granada, spain and these old ladies came up to us with rosemary in their hands and reached for our palms. i was interested even though i assumed there was a scam involved, ashley let the lady take her hand, karen and kili ran away. i was told, based on my palm's story, that i will be lucky in love, have two children and have a long life. i thought this was lovely. then she wanted money as soon as she shoved rosemary into my palm, i scrounged up some for ash and i, which was awkward and still unsatisfactory for this lady... so we basically ran away. we then found out that we all got the same fortune.
i still was pleased with mine though. i don't care if it was a scam. plus the rosemary was delicious smelling.

in granada we visited the Alhambra, a fortress/castle/palace with acres and acres of gardens and walls and flowers surrounding its buildings. it was was favorite part of our trip, so beautiful and vivid. i took a loooot of photos, some of which are attached in this post, check them out. words cannot describe and photos cannot capture the great detail in these buildings and the beauty of the gardens. amazing.
also, i saved a little girl from going over a landing here. my heart hurt afterwards, but i'm sure her mother was sicker than i. i am glad i have quick reflexes from watching the boys.

in lisbon, portugal we went to a restaurant for dinner which was recommended by ashley's europe on a shoestring book. sadly, the restaurant apparently decided to have a little makeover with a lift and was NOT the restaurant it used to be/the guide book was claiming it to be. we went there expecting a very inexpensive meal and were fooled. we had a lovely meal though, over looking a sweeping view of the city. there was live fado music; this man's voice was so good i wanted to eat it with a spoon. at first we were really upset that we had been fooled and were already seated. ashley started to cry, it was a mess. than... the owner of the restaurant took pity and sent over a free bottle of wine. nice.

faro, portugal was beautiful and peaceful. i saw a child who looked exactly like me. it was strange. this boy had my same face. he was about 2 years old.

our accomodations along the way, although cheap or free the entire time, were exhausting. they made two weeks feel a lot longer than that, as i reflect back. our hostel in granada, spain was the absolute worst. it looked like the shining, check out photos, those of you who know what i am talking about. made for some good laughs.

malaga and granada, spain were lush.

check out my photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/ashleyraelanning/SpainPortugal#

porto, libson, faro...

well well well,
i am currently in faro, portugal and oh so happy to be here. our first week of traveling has been wonderful but sometimes exhausting.
we took the train from perpignan, france down to girona, spain and flew out of there to porto, portgual. we spent a few days in porto staying with a sweedish women we found through couch surfing, jonna. jonna was a great host and had two whole bedrooms for us! we loved porto... the river running through town was possibly the most beautiful scene i have ever laid eyes on. we saw hilarious dogs, got kicked off the metro several times by the policia ( i cried and he said, in perfect english "why does your face look like that?"), looked at beautiful people.
from then we took a train to lisbon. our group is not a big fan of lisbon. this is due mainly to circumstance and not so much the city itself which is beautiful. we stayed at this hilarious hippy commune type situation, camped in a tent in the back. we met people from norway, portugal, sweeden, france and the u.s. i opted not to shower because the place was so filty, and opted to stay in the tent even when a bed was made available, in fear that the inside of the house probably had flees. i stand by this. the place really lost its charm for me when i got food poisoning and had to stay on the emergency bed in the hallway so i could be only a few feet from the bathroom at all times. i was pretty sick and sleep deprived when we had to travel to faro yesterday....
let me tell you, train and food poisoning... worst ever.
so we got here and i slept the day away, managed to eat a thing of jello the girls bought me, which was the best. i actually hate jello. today we went to the beach. i love faro. its beautiful here and the beach is amazing. iºm collecting shells and such... have yet to decide what to do with them. this morning i still felt like my stomach and back had been tenderized by 1000 fists. now its only a few punches worth of pain. iºm a waif, mom! hahahahahah.........

so it goes.
love you all.
happy easter!!!

sun yoself.

wowza. ok, whew, so we're off to portugal and spain today! we're leaving this afternoon via bus than plane and flying into porto, portugal. we will then continue down the coast of portugal and over to the coast of spain for the next two weeks. we'll be back by the 19th. if you need to reach me, email me, but do not be alarmed if i am less than hasty getting back.

travel companions: ashley, karen, kili, et moi.

yesterday we went to the beach not far from here, it was beautiful and warm. kili and i lounged in the sun and tanned our bodies. kili swam in the mediterranean sea and gasped from the cold; i declined the sea's offer to host me but will visit it later...in spain and portugal when it is deliciously warm. (love).

so that is that.
here are my recent photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/ashleyraelanning/Beach#

hope you're all doing well at home. odds are, i miss you a lot.
be well, be safe, be happy. i'll do the same.
xoxo.

hahahahahaHA

so today i was walking home with ashley and kili from town, and i was carrying this delicious baguette which smelled heavenly. we were just chatting and walking along, commenting on the french and france in general, when my baguette pealed itself out of its wrapper and fell right into several huge piles of dog poo.

so it goes.

ANYWAYS, the pigeons will be delighted. there are so many pigeons here. i kicked one today. don't judge me. it was necessary, those things will sit on you if there is food to be had. i've wanted to punt a pigeon for some time now.

thats all.

lyrics & words going through my head.

"when the road looks rough ahead and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed, you just remember what your old friend said, you got a friend in me."

"Here I give you my phone number
When you worry call me
I make you happy."

"This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath"

"we tralfamadorians read them all at once, not one after the other. there isn't any particular relationship between all the messages, except that the author has chosen them carefully, so that, when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep. there is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. what we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time."