29 May 2011
It’s 8:34am and I am sitting in a cloud of Greek cigarette smoke (not mine) on the Ferry from Piraeus to Mykonos. Finally. We missed the boat (literally) yesterday and had to stay the night in Piraeus. This is an experience I’d suggest avoiding if at all possible…was not brill, although a gin and tonic drip certainly softened the blow. If, however, you ever ARE stuck there, please do yourself a favour and steer clear of the little man from New York at Smartchoice travel. This place, despite the name, is not a ‘smart choice’ – they will charge you more than double for a rather mediocre room and act like they’ve just saved you from the Ebola virus whilst doing it.
But we’re on the boat now and it’s only 3 hrs till we get there. Already had 3 coffees. There is a group of local musicians sitting to my left (refer back to my comment about sitting in a cloud of smoke) amidst 7 instrument cases of different shapes and sizes. Aside from their chain-smoking, they’re quite charming and laugh a lot. They must have seen my travel guitar and decided we were the safest table to sit near…
My last couple of days in France (before my horrible day yesterday in Piraeus) were awesome. We went to this little place called Vezelay that had two amazing things:
1) a church which was simply beautiful. I got the sweetest little Mary Magdalene bracelet there – and it was also really interesting because the church itself had the signs of the zodiac carved into the walls. How weird is that? I’ve always been led to believe that astrology and religion where diametrically opposed, but this made me wonder if that was actually rubbish.
2) a brilliant photographer called J-C Gadreau. He’s seriously talented, I’m not sure if he’s on the net anywhere – I got the feeling that it wasn’t really that sort of town – but look him up if you can. He has all these shots of provincial French life and they are stunningly charming in an off-beat/60s/French sort of way.
Other than that I am now totally over cherries. If I never have another one in my life it’ll be too soon. If you’re ever on ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ and get a question about the regional fruit of Clamecy/Burgundy, call me. Or maybe don’t, since now you know the answer. But seriously, in the last week I’ve had fresh cherries, cherry booze, cherries soaked in booze for dessert, cherry pie, cherry salad, cherry steak, cherry toothpaste – okay now I’m exaggerating, but you get the drift. They’re bloody everywhere and in everything.
Speaking of TV game shows, I’ve been thinking (dangerous, I know): after managing to drive from central Paris to Clamecy at rush hour, sans map and with a sat-nav woman who had clearly been programmed by the devil; after surviving a night in Piraeus without flinging myself out the window; and after successfully changing the language on the TV at an airport hotel in Orly (Paris) to English via a remote control with only one battery, I’m pretty much ready to go on some sort of urban version of the reality show ‘Survivor’. Offers are welcome.
Am joking, sort of.
xxx
Monday, 30 May 2011
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Jean Patou, champagne, travel guitars, a hat and a million baby ducks...
May 22, 2011
So here I sit in provincial France, typing away on my beloved mac. It’s truly stunning here. The house we are staying in is big and bohemian, with wooden shutters that open onto a beautiful canal – I’ve never seen so many baby ducks in my life!
And it is silent here except for the birds, the odd rogue fly that’s found its way indoors and the sound of one of my more enthusiastic companions yelling ‘bonjour’ at every barge that goes past. We had champagne at 11am and I’ve finally had the opportunity to wear a rather beautiful hat I bought a while back and never got the chance to sport – I’m totally in love with it. Want a million hats now!
The only true negative is that, being an old house (I’d guess about 300 years old but I’m no historian), the doorframes are extremely low. In truth I think I might have concussed myself in the middle of the night whilst trying to find a glass of water. And stupidly I didn’t bring mosquito repellent with me - luckily I found some in a drawer. However, I’d say from the packaging that it was a relic from sometime in the late 60s and just one squirt is so pungent it’s sure to kill every insect in the northern hemisphere. Not even Jean Patou can save me now.
But my travel guitar made it in one piece and I’ve figured out how to work the coffee machine. So the essentials have been covered…
xxx
So here I sit in provincial France, typing away on my beloved mac. It’s truly stunning here. The house we are staying in is big and bohemian, with wooden shutters that open onto a beautiful canal – I’ve never seen so many baby ducks in my life!
And it is silent here except for the birds, the odd rogue fly that’s found its way indoors and the sound of one of my more enthusiastic companions yelling ‘bonjour’ at every barge that goes past. We had champagne at 11am and I’ve finally had the opportunity to wear a rather beautiful hat I bought a while back and never got the chance to sport – I’m totally in love with it. Want a million hats now!
The only true negative is that, being an old house (I’d guess about 300 years old but I’m no historian), the doorframes are extremely low. In truth I think I might have concussed myself in the middle of the night whilst trying to find a glass of water. And stupidly I didn’t bring mosquito repellent with me - luckily I found some in a drawer. However, I’d say from the packaging that it was a relic from sometime in the late 60s and just one squirt is so pungent it’s sure to kill every insect in the northern hemisphere. Not even Jean Patou can save me now.
But my travel guitar made it in one piece and I’ve figured out how to work the coffee machine. So the essentials have been covered…
xxx
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