saint malo to nantes: goodbye france

dear friends,

so another coup out post.

so after all the complains and hate mails that i have been receiving, i will be nice with my postings from now on and not write anything that will portray myself as being nasty. i will censor stuff on this post and put the uncensored one on another site. but seriously, i am actually really really nice.

how is everyone doing by the way, instead of complaining, how about some updates on your lives ? i would so love to hear about what i have been missing down under too. its not a one way street u know.

anyway ...

Saturday 20th : Rennes
Day 37

(great recovery at rennes)

great. absolutely fantastic. i finally managed to get out of bed, caught the train and made my way all the way to rennes. my chest still hurt but no longer that much. i m finally exploring again. i actually feel as if its the first day of my trip again. the same feeling i had when i landed in amsterdam. felt so alive and well. also i m happily snapping away with my camera. rennes is a very nice city. somewhat reminiscent of strasbourg and carcassonne combined. every corner is interesting and inviting. there were some kind of demonstration there. i couldn't read what they were going on about nor i care if i did anyway. i just walked around them. just when i thought my luck has turned, i got another LOUD snorer in my room. this time i got up and sleep in the common room. as quiet it may be there, i woke up with a chest AND back pain ! hell. decided i hate this place now, i packed up and left.


Sunday 21st: St. Malo revisited - Day 1
Day 38

(st-malo: sunny days are here to stay)

an absolutely beautiful day to arrive. the sun was out and it was actually warm for a change.

didnt find chai-i. i guess she must have went to the mont saint michel to see the tides. instead, i went to sit by the beach to just chill and relax. also will go and have pizza at the same restaurant on my previous visit. got this sudden craving for pizza.

chai-i came looking for me in the evening. apparently she decided not to stay there because the tides only comes twice a month. every 15th and 30th of the month. instead, we went to the old city and have a really good dinner. we found this really cool little restaurant that serves local food. had a great night.


Monday 22nd: St. Malo revisited - Day 2
Day 39
the sun went away today. it was absolutely freezing. we went to the old city to hang out instead. chai-i had this craving for spaghetti and i had my pizza craving. we managed to find this other really cool cafe that serves both spaghetti and pizza. i resisted the pizza eventhough when i looked around at other people's pizza, they looked so good. i am saving my pizza craving for tonight, back to the other shop. when chai-i saw the pizzas, she couldn't resist it either. she held back and got her spaghetti.

we hung out at a really cool coffee bar after lunch. again, small, interesting and only patronized by locals. very nice.

the journey back to the hostel was a killer. it was freezing. it was nice and warm back at the hostel. anyway, i kinda made chai-i get out of the hostel to the pizza place. she swore at me all the way to the restaurant coz it was fucking cold and u know what ? when we reached the restaurant, it was closed. hah. we decided to skip dinner because it was a bloody long walk to the old city. We met a really cool canadian traveler but i think i shocked him with my inquisition ice-breaking question. hah.


Tuesday 23rd: St. Malo revisited - Day 3 + Dinan
Day 40

(dinan: nice)

woke up today to a beautiful day. so we decided to stay another day. we decided to do a day trip. we worked out that the only bus to dinan was at 12.30. chai-i still had spaghetti craving, so we headed to the same lunch place. same situation. we resisted and ordered the same thing.


(dinan: cats galore)

dinan is beautiful. so glad we came. such an amazing old city. we walked around the place, stalked a few people and relaxed. i will let the pictures speak for themselves.


(dinan: nice)

the bus back to saint-malo didn't come. so we had to run to the train station to catch the last train back. we kinda just made it.

back to saint-malo, it was fucking freezing again. finally made it to the pizza place and boy i was satisfied.

after having such a great time today, we did some research on where to go next. it was either bayeux, chambourg or some closer destination. unfortunately, the train line and schedule didnt quite work out the way we planned, we decided to stay one more day here before saying our goodbyes.


Wednesday 24th: St. Malo revisited - Day 4
Day 41

(st malo: the tide)

the day today is pretty cloudy. so declared it a lazy day. we had to go back to the same place for lunch this time coz chai-i had to have the pizza there and i ended up getting the spaghetti hah.

hung out in a really cool tea house the whole afternoon.

on the way back, we saw the most amazing tides. the waves came sweeping into the street. apparently its very dangerous and every year, there are a few deaths. people thought its amazing, they stand there and watch, a big wave comes and take them in.

we decided to cook that night and chai-i made a feast. it only cost us 2 euros each. hah.


Wednesday 25th October - Friday 2nd November: Nantes revisited - Days 1 - 9
Day 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50

(nantes: revisited)


(nantes: revisited again)


(nantes: in japan)

eventhough i didn't see the sun at all for the first 3 days, it felt so good to be back in nantes. there is something about this place which i just cant describe. its just a feeling i guess. totally love it. it feels so much like i belong here. i just wanna settle down here. when the sun finally shone, it felt GREAT !

stephane came here for the weekend and as usual it was great hanging out with him. he gave me a great tour and history lesson on nantes.

i found a art house cinema here that actually shows english films in english with french subtitles. i ended up watching 2 films.
1. control - an english film about the lead singer of joy division
2. paranoid park - a gus van sant film. i used to watch every single gus' film right up to psycho. was a big big fan. suddenly i stopped. i dont really know why but after watching this film, i m killing myself for not having watched his other films. now i have to go back to sydney and dig out all his other films that i missed.

found some extremely cool coffee bars :-
1. the cult cafe
2. live bars
3. le lieu unique
4. hangers a bananas

be sure to check these places out should anyone chose to visit me here in the near future.

found a shop that makes sting instruments. how cool.

there is a little japanese garden here. u can actually experience being in japan in nantes. cool.

above all, i did have a traumatizing experience. i needed a haircut bad and since all the french look so good, i thought i wanna look like them. so i went into this hairdresser. she spoke no english at all.
she went "blah blah blah"
i went "just a trim. A TRIM"
she went "blah blah blah" and cut cut cut and "ok ?"
i went "no enough not too much"
she went cut cut cut somemore ? "ok ?"
i went "yes enough ok ok ok"
and she went "yes ?" cut cut cut somemore and "ok?"
and finally i shouted "stop !"
and she went "good good good ok !"

note:
kaori !!! I MISS YOU. at times like this, i really really feel homesick !

also managed to talk to quite a few locals here. its interesting to dwell into the minds of the french people. apparently there is this little competition between rennes and nantes. almost like the sydney and melbourne thing. people here seems to be angry with the current political situation. i dont like controversy so i won't post it here. their president isnt very popular at all. young people here have big hopes and dreams. they actually believe that there should be a fair world. they so should grow up.

ok thats the end of france.
lets do abit of summary ...

the valuables:
lost : susanne's rainbow umbrella, my cap, my beanie, one white t-shirt (dont even ask me where it went), a sock (not a pair but one)
damaged: my sunnies, the straps on my day pack
bought: a pair of gloves, a new cap, the science of sleep DVD

the past:
left sydney: 58
in europe: 50

the lows
coughing days: 40
chest aching days: 5
rainny days: 26
snorers: 2

top 5 top french list
1. absolutely everyone there looks incredibly good. slim, cute and beautiful. if you see anyone fat and ugly, they are either a. american or australian tourist, b. married with kids, c. not french.
2. nantes
3. annecy
4. friendly local people. contrary to what the rest of the world thinks of the french, they are really nice people. just dont tell them you are english. hah
5. coffee bars

bottom 5 bottom french list
1. dog shit. u just cant look up when u walk. dog shit everywhere.
2. dogs. the french loves their dogs. they take them absolutely everywhere. even to trains and restaurants. we all should be EATING dogs !
3. fat and ugly and loud american tourists
4. grenoble
5. montpellier

xxx. j.

Nantes: Not "like a bullshit yea ?" but le corbusier.

Eric,

so, i am crazy but u must me so proud of me. i went out of my way to see an architecture piece and not just any architect's work but Le Corbusier ! Yes. i walked 1 hr 30 minutes looking for the Maison Radieuse. its actually not in nantes but in another suburb called reze. and yes i walked all the way there. which i m glad i did because i saw lots of other interesting things long the way. boy, i am impressed !

Day 12 - casual encounters

so i thought i stay one more day here and i m determined to go look for le corbusier's building. from the map i got it didn't look too far but i didnt realize the map was scaled at 1:1000. fucking hell !

Encounter #1
This woman came up to me and went "blah blah blah blah".
jxe, went "huh ? english ?"
woman "oh" took out a poster showing god and destruction.
"do you believe that god and he brings destruction to the world" (along that lines but broken english)
jxe shook his head
woman, "how u explain that ?"
jxe removed his sunnies, looked into her eyes and responded, "bad karma !" and put his sunnies back on.
woman laughs profusely and responded, "maybe haha!"
jxe walkes away.

along the way i saw some really interesting buildings, warehouses, structures and cranes. one that i was most impressed was the Palais de Justice.

Encounter #2
i was taking pictures, this guy came up to me and went "blah blah blah blah".
jxe, went "huh ? english ?"
he went, " no blah blah blah blah ..."
jxe just noded and noded and smiled and noded ...
more, "blah blah blah" and then we shook hands and we walked away.


(Palais de Justice)


(Maison Radieuse - in sight)

when the Maison Radieuse was in sight, i got very excited because with my lousy sense of direction, i was actually heading the right direction. the booklet said i should call and make a booking for a guide and pay 5 euros. though fuck this shit i'd just turn up and look for the guide. when i arrived, i was really impressed by the building. i was surprised that its a residential apartment and people live there. really run down building. went to the reception but no one was there and everything was written in french. so i thought fuck it. i m here i may as well give myself a tour and go up the elevator.


(Maison Radieuse - ground level)

people were all staring at me and all going blah blah blah. i just ignore them and went to every level. its just literally a corridor leading to the individual units. so i saw nothing.

Encounter #3
she saw me lost and all clueless. "blah blah blah, tourist ?"
jxe, noded, "yes, english ?"
woman, "a little, blah blah blah, come come, blah blah blah"
jxe followed.

anyway, she took me to her pad, unit no 633. she had a little 4 year old kid. could tell she didnt have much, living very modestly. yet she was really proud that she is living in a designer building. to my surprised, she took out a folder filled with information about le corbusier and the building and started explaining to me about the building. the pad is a duplex and give me a tour around the pad. she was explaining the desgn concept of the pad to me, the balcony, the kitchen, the arched doors to the toilets and baths, the colors, the floor materials etc. i could only understand 1/4 of what she said but enough to put the pieces together. she even had a 3D section of her pad. i was so impressed with the spacial planning of the pad. i tot it was abit inappropriate to take any photos, so i took pictures with my mind. its such an experience. love it.


(Maison Radieuse - roof top: kindergarten)


(me and Maison Radieuse and more)

when i left, it rained, so i had my packed lunch under the building.

head back to the city and it rained some more. i ran to a shelter.

Encounter #4
this guy started talking to me in what he later claimed to be japanese.
jxe, "errr english ?"
guy, "oh i love speaking in english, i love expressing myself in english"
jxe, what the fuck ?
anyway he went on about shit and more shit, to world piece and how he just found out he is a jewish and there are jewish out there who dont even know they are jewish.
jxe rolled his eyes.
he asked me what i did today and i said i went to the Maison Radieuse.
guy, "no way. i live there !" he took out his wallet and showed me his address and then went on and on again.
the rained stopped. jxe smiled. we parted.

what a day.

back at the hostel at night, got abit upset that i couldnt book anything for bordeaux tomorrow.

Encounter #5
this korean guy saw me feeling disturb and asked me whats wrong. i told him why and he said, "no problem, go to la rochelle, very nice."
so i said, "really? ok!" and chatted to him and his wife all night.
coincident ? its the moon cake festival tonight and mr korean is called Moon !

i love this city. this is by far the best city i have been. love to live here for a couple of years. if only i could speak french ... and what a day !

xxx. j.

Nantes: it gets better and better

Hey Brooke,

so found me on facebook and we are friends again. haha. hows everything ? like i said i have so much questions to ask but i m sure u will soon write me a long email telling me all about it from japan to now in canada. i bet you had a great time and now is my time. glad u found your way to this post and u are loving it.

Day 11 - second impression
ok. i had to catch a train and a bus to get here. it took me 4 hours to get here. my first impression of this city is em. boring.

additional notes from me journal:
ok i walked into a park after arrival and i saw a couple in their 80s french kissing. boy i was scarred !!!

but as i walked around it grew on me. i dont know what it is but maybe just the vibe. people are quite friendly here. they all give me the friendly smile. but hey, i'd do the same to me.


(streetscape)


(some castle)

a cross between a old and new city works very well. lots of industrial looking buildings. i wondered to this place called, la galarie des machine. the structure looks amazing with the giant mechanical elephant looks so in place.


(la galarie des machine)


(me and la galarie des machine)

after spending half a day exploring, i have decided to stay another day coz i m loving this city. also i feel its more economical to stay more than one day at a place. another great traveling tip from jxe !

got chatty with this french dude who was doing fashion design. he is specializing in designing clothes for kids. i managed to talk him into designing for dogs too coz i said there's a big market in australia. haha. i dont even like dogs but it made me look intelligent. hell i am intelligent. haha.

xxx. j.