It's Not the End of the World

On the day the world was scheduled to end, I was in an airplane. I figured that there was no better way to tempt fate than to take an international flight that involved three different airplanes and stops in four different countries. As we all know, the world did not end, so instead of having a front seat view from the air of the world imploding, I was stuck in an airport in Toronto.

Although I am not new to transcontinental flying, this was my first time traveling at Christmas. I was tightly scheduled to take a bus from New Hampshire to Boston where I would catch my plane that went from Boston to Toronto Canada, Toronto to Frankfurt Germany, and Frankfurt to Brussels Belgium where I would be picked up by my French Partner in Crime (FPIC) and drive south to Lille, France to visit his family for the holiday.

The only problem was that my flight from Boston never left. In fact there were no planes available on any AirCanada flights as they were all stuck in a giant snow storm in Montreal. By the time I got to Toronto, my flight to Germany had left long before without me and my only option was to wait in line with all the other lost passengers to speak with someone who could put me on another flight. For two hours. You make friends when you wait in a line for two hours. I became very friendly with a lovely family of five who were coming from Victoria and heading to Norway to visit family, a nice German girl who was heading home for the holiday, and an American guy who was trying to make it to London to see his girlfriend. We swapped travel horror stories and complimented each other on being insane enough to get into international relationships.

When it was my turn at the front I was informed that the next flight to Frankfurt was the next day. I quickly explained that I didn't care about going to Frankfort as long as my final destination was Brussels. The lady then said there was a flight to Munich in 10 minutes and if I ran I could make it on that flight. I ran.

In Munich I found I had to wait six hours for a flight to Brussels. The only thing to do was have 9 cups of complimentary coffee, attempt to read a German newspaper and fall asleep on a bench across from 5 Spanish guys doing the same thing. The best part of the trip came when it was time to board. The stewardess came on and said..."the boarding of the flight to Brussels will be delayed because we have no plane and we have no crew".

Fair enough. We'll wait.

A bit more concerning was when she came back an hour later and said..."we found a plane and will begin boarding as soon as I check to see if the captain is ok"...and then shuttled us out on the tarmac to the very end of the airstrip to a tiny plane that we boarded via stairs. I had many questions. Where did they find this plane? What happened to the captain?

I finally arrived in Belgium, a little late, ragged and without luggage.  My FPIC was there to greet me, laughed at my lack of bags, and took me to have a hot wine and a waffle. I decided I like Brussels.

We then drove to Lille, bought me some clothes for Christmas and spent a very lovely time with my FPIC's family. The Pere Noel came and put presents in my shoes, we ate a buche de Noel, and shared wine from the year I was born. It was a Christmas just like my grade school French lesson book described.

Ok, enough talking. I would like to share a bit of travel advice before I end this. Lille, France is amazing. It is old and beautiful and colorful. It is filled with amazing shops, wonderful cafes, and very friendly people. I would argue that it is better than Paris. I would recommend anyone who has a soft spot for European charm to visit Lille. Even though it was rainy and cold, I loved every part of it.

That's all for today.
Thanks for reading.

Ferris Wheel in Lille Set up for Christmas

Streets of Lille 

Lille Train Station

One of me learning to ski...you may notice that I am not actually in this picture. That is because I learned to ski wearing a bright red, full body snowsuit that my FPIC wore when he was 14 and do not wish to share the photos of me. Not only was I a beginner on the french slopes, but I was easy to spot. 

When the Green Mountain State is Not Green

Hello all!

Living with a person who was born on a different continent than you means that there is never a lack of things to talk about. A common topic of interest between my French Partner in Crime (FPIC) and I is always the use of space in different countries. 

We have come to the conclusion that in Europe, specifically France, it is impossible to go for any length of time without coming across a town. All are quaint, complete with a town square, church, and local bar. People live very close together. In the United States, especially the north of Vermont, it is possible to drive for hours or days without seeing much and interaction with other humans is optional. 

While the majority of the time, my FPIC and I would like a bit more population up here in the north of Vermont (we once drove 2 1/2 hours one way just to eat Chinese food and go to a T.J. Maxx) we wouldn't have the Autumn in Vermont any other way. In France, the mountains are full of skiing resorts, touristy villages, chalets, and mountain farms, but the mountains in Vermont are completely uninterrupted. The view of miles and miles of hills covered in colorful trees is breathtaking - even to someone who grew up in New England.

 I would 100% recommend to everyone: pack a lunch, make sure you have a full gas tank and a well-functioning car, bring some warm clothes, and get lost in the north of Vermont in Autumn. 

Here are some Vermont-y photos for your viewing pleasure. 

No ski resort here.

A New England Home

The rest area as you enter the Northeast Kingdom boasts that there are 13 covered bridges to visit in the area. I laughed at this, but you can't deny that these bridges have a certain charm. 

The lovely town of Newport

That's all today folks! Until next time.

Paris and a biking adventure

Hola amigos.
Here again trying to catch up news on my blog. At this moment I am moving faster than I can blog so although I am currently living in spain, news for that will have to wait.

Recently, My parents and my aunt were able to visit me in France. My-French-Partner-in-Crime (FPIC) and I were excited to be able to take them around for awhile and in 10 days we attempted to fit in a months worth of things.

In addition to taking them around the Alps and the areas where I had been living, we of course had to go to Paris. My FPIC, being French, hates Paris...but for me it was my first time. It was just like in the movies. Everywhere we turned there was a monument or a famous building or a traffic jam. In 3 days, we fit in The Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, the Lourve, Versailles, Montmartre, and a million other things.

The Eiffel Tower of course. We did not go up it but we did go under it! Someone dropped a baseball hat off of it and a man caught it out of the air and put it on his kid's head.

Back in the mountains, my FPIC brought my dad and I mountain biking in the Alps. You can buy a ski lift ticket and then take your bike up the lift and ride down all day. It is beautiful and fun but also rather on the difficult side for a person who likes to go fast but has so technical experience like me. The first day I suffered from only a few spills, but on my second day out I got a little cocky and tried to take a jump. I am sure it ws quite impressive when the bike flipped and I flew landed face first and was dragged through the mud. In the end, I was able to stand up, collect my dented bike and broken helmet and we found a bar on the mountain where the waitress took one look at my face and led me behind the bar to use the sink.

Although it has healed now, I do have a nice scar on my nose and forehead from the day I thought I was an expert mountain-biker and flung myself facefirst down a mountain.

The view is amazing from the biking trails.

And thank you to all who were with me in person and in spirit on my special day.


Love to all,


Laura

A French Kiss

Hello All!

It's time to share my first big faux pas in France. After a couple of weeks of hiking and eating cheese and wine, my French Partner in Crime (FPIC) brought me to visit with some of his friends. I was a bit nervous to meet them with my still limited French-speaking abilities but decided to wing it nonetheless.

We got there and everyone started to greet eachother in the French style with a kiss on each cheek. In Chile, I had no troubles with this because you greet with only one kiss, but in the moment with one kiss on each cheek I wasn't sure which side went first. In the end I ended up planting a kiss right on the lips of my FPIC's best friend's girlfriend. Oops. I am not sure who was more surprised, me or her but it definately is one way to make a first impression!

Until next time!! Coming up next time is news shared from the previous blog preview...Pizza in Pisa!!!

A Little Bit of Haute Savoie

I have to be honest, until recently France was not a country that I ever really paid any attention to or planned to visit. In my efforts to learn Spanish, I didn't even really have Europe on my radar...but I am learning quickly what beautiful and amazing country France really is. My first two weeks here have been a surprise and unpremeditated vacation as my French-partner-in-crime has been playing tourguide for me in his home region. I have now really and truely fallen in love with the French Alps...and here are some of the reasons why...

Not uncommon in the Alps to see ski poles used as fence posts! They are everywhere. The poles are always laying around so people pick them up and use them.

Une bonne photo of Grenoble...the city where I am currently living...from above. :D From this site you can see my french-partner-in-crime's house and the city's most expensive rotary. haha

I had a day on my own to explore Albertville...a nearby city that felt every bit as European as an old time movie. I even gained the confidence to finally order an iced tea in french...(although mostly all I did was point).

Took a day to explore Mont Joux near Megeve. It was beautiful with the Mont Blanc in the background, small mountain villages, and really loud goats roaming around. This is one of those places where you would want to spend your life as maybe a sheep herder who gets around by motorbike and passes their time playing cards with elderly french farmers.

Most recently spent a day hiking to Lac Blanc near Chamonix. All the tour books highly recommend this as a must-see. It was amazingly beautiful with a different side view of the Mont Blanc. We took Les oeufs (the ski lift thing) up halfway and hiked the rest. The top was crowded but by scaling some rocks to the other side of the lake, we were able to have a nice, tourist-free, picnic of bread, cheese, sausages, and of course, wine. We walked all the way down, which we dont recommend because the lower half of the mountain is a loose dirt road that is just a pain. Our decision to RUN down resulted in me loosing my camera (from where i stupidly left it in my pocket). It wasn't until later that night that I realized it was missing and too late to go look. Instead, the next day we got up at 6am, like crazy people, to reclimb the bottom half of the mountain to search for it. Miraculously after an hour of climb, we found it!!! It must have had an exciting night in the mountains. Unfortunately, it took no pictures on it's own. :D Glad to have the camera back, but now I can double-ly recommend that if you go to Lac Blanc, take the lift up and down for the first half of the mountain.

I end today with an amazing foto from Lac Blanc that would have been lost forever with the camera, but thanks to our borderline insane efforts, I can share with you. Bonne Nuit!

Taken from - no lie - about 3ft away, no zoom...National Geographic anyone?

England in the Morning, a Switzerland Afternoon, and a French evening...and lots of Jetlag...

Hello all,

Here begins the "Laura Leaves NH" adventures in France. I got here via London into Geneva Switzerland. The flight was fairly uneventful except that I almost never sleep enroute so I was very very tired and I got this funny piece of cheese as a part of my dinner in the plane.

For the moment I am staying in Megeve...in the middle of the French Alps...although I was told it would be beautiful, nothing could prepare me for what I was about to see. Beautiful does not quite cut it in the way of adjectives. Though it does not quite do it justice, here is the view from my bedroom.


I feel like I belong in the sound of music. The first morning I woke up to see hot air balloons floating over these mountains and my first hike was filled with the sounds of cow bells from the many cows grazing throughout the Alps.

More news when I have time!!!

<3

Packing Procrastination

The next "Laura Leaves NH" are taking me in a new direction. Instead of going south I am heading across the Atlantic and going to Europe!


That's right. In two days I am moving to France and I have not yet begun to pack.


It is funny that I am moving to france since I spent my high school and college focusing on spanish, lived in Chile for a semester, and worked as a spanish translator in Nicaragua. The reason that it is funny is because now I am attempting to learn french. French is hard. It is especially hard when you are still learning Spanish. When I am in the shower I like to think to myself in Spanish so I don't forget, but all of my french learning is getting in the way.



My french partner in crime has taught me a few key phrases that will be very useful in getting me into trouble in bars. For normal everyday conversation, I have resorted to listening to french lessons on my Ipod that i downloaded from the cheap version of rosetta stone (the $49 dollar version). It insists on continuously teaching me how to talk about a girl names stephanie (Stephanie habite a Paris...Stephanie est blonde...stephanie a trois frere...Stephanie voyage souvant...La famille de stephanie habitent a bordeau) and about how to find my hotel or the bank (Ou est le banque?...dans quelle rue est l'hotel?...ou se trouve le banque?)


All in all, I am going to make good conversation in France. Hah.


Despite my worries about mastering French and my lack of packing, I am extremely excited about this new move. I feel a little insane about moving to france without having even been to Europe before, but life needs a little adventure right? If you are interested to know, why the sudden move to France?, you will have to inquire in person. :D


So the next time you hear from me, it will be from France (which is a feminine country...referred to using la as opposed to le according to my fake rosetta stone).


Bye All!