Moving on so soon!

I can't believe that these months have passed by so quickly, i have worked hard and saved hard and now the season has come to an end. My boss has sold the Loch Leven Hotel and i am leaving along with her, with my last day being at the beginning on October. Its has generally been a good experience, with at least some of my faith being restored in the British hotel industry. Thank You.

The last post i wrote was about arriving in Loch Leven, with internet being completely dodgy in this part of the world i gave up on trying to post on my blog and Facebook etc. But now i am planning a short stay at my parents (who have hardly seen me in the last year), where i can rest and catch up on my internet life, which has been pretty much neglected over the last 4 months, and post some of the couple of thousand pictures of the Scottish Highlands and lochs i have taken.

So my next adventure is going to take me to who knows where next, but i do know that i am leaving the shores of Loch Leven soon. Already i am already excited about my next adventure, i can't wait to see what happens next. 

Louis IX - Lyon in the Rain

Europe is stuck in rut weather wise, but when the sun comes it makes for some dramatic pictures. 

1 Day in Annecy and a New Camera

Annecy has been on my wish list ever since i realised i was coming to France. However, i always seem to have had a reason to put of the visit. So after my camera was stolen last week, i rushed out to buy a new one. I already knew which camera i wanted to buy, as i have been looking at buying a new one for sometime. The only thing keeping me from buying it before, was my tight budget. I bought the Canon EOS 600d. I wanted this camera, for the possibly insane reason it has a flip screen and you can buy a remote control, which will make taking photos for my other blog that much easier. I also used to own an SLR, long before the days of digital and i have missed the control and quality that that camera gave me. On my budget this was the best camera that fitted the bill. Now i had a new camera, Annecy, Annecy, Annecy.  

Annecy is beautiful, and rammed with tourists. But this is one of those places that the tourists don't really put you off, infact i thought they added to the charm and gave the town a slight buzz. As soon as i arrived i headed to the famous canal with the row of colourful houses, i just wanted to get that typical Annecy photo done with first so i could concentrate on enjoying the rest of the town. This canal did not disappoint, its bluish waters running between rows of colourful houses and the palais d'isle in the middle was perfect. Though the water came out sludgy green in my photos, i assure you it was crystal clear.

Annecy lies at the outlet of a large freshwater lake. The waters are so crystal clear and blue it is amazing, you can see through meters of water to the bottom of the lake in the harbour area. The lake is bordered in Annecy by a recreational park. Here you can hire, boats, kayaks  bikes and rollerblades, or like me just sun yourself and eat your baguette.

I spent most of the day wandering the narrow streets of the old town, which are a jumble of colorful houses, shops and restaurant. If you wander to the north side of the old town, here the streets get wider and you find your more commercial shopping district, it's still very pretty though.

The Chateau just above the old town, houses a museum dedicated to local history, arts and crafts and also a good helping of modern art. It cost me €5.20 to enter. I admittedly was a little disappointed at the displays, especial the modern art stuff, i just don't get it. Here are some of my more favourite ones.

If there is one thing i will take from away from annecy its seeing everybody eat ice creams. At one point i was struggling to see anybody who was not eating one. How is the possible, it like they were eating one and the going back for more, again and again. Then again the ques at the kiosks were 20-30 people deep (the people who were not eating them). The photo below is totally out of focus, but this is just the beginning of this queue it was almost twice this length! So i had to join in and get one for my self. Yum, chocolate, chestnut and cream.

and finally for my mum some pretty flowers. 

Useful links:

Tourist office: http://en.lac-annecy.com/

Towns website:  http://www.annecy.fr/

Traveling and Theft

I have just had my camera stolen from my room, and while i get over the shock of finding out that my insurance has just expired. I thought i would share with you a little of my experiences of theft on the road. Not that i want to scare anybody, because theft is actually quite rare, for me it has actually happened more at home than when i have been traveling. But by being aware of what might happen, can help you make the right decisions in keeping your own possessions safe.

In my case it has only happened 3 times in 15 years, and simple precautions like not leaving valuables on show, or in easy reach usually work fine. I have lost two cameras to thieves and both time i slipped up momentarily and left them unattended.

Slashed Rucksacks

Barcelona, Spain 2004

Luckily for me i was not personally affected by this incident, but it happened in my hostel dorm. When i came back from a day of sightseeing, all of the backpacks in my room apart from mine were gone. My first thought was that people must have left, but then one of the girls came back and found her backpack missing. After a panic she found all the backpacks in the corridor toilet. They had all been slashed open and searched. Most of the owners of these backpacks had packed-up all their possessions and padlocked them. I remember one girl lost, an MP3 player, camera and 100s of euros. 

I always remember this incident every time i see somebody padlocking up there backpacks. Padlocks are great at keeping out pickpockets in airports, but will do nothing to stop, somebody with a knife or scissors entering a hostel with the sole purpose of taking what they can. Probably what saved my bag was the fact i am one of those annoying people whose possessions end up everywhere. My bag was on the floor with my clothes spilling out just as i had left it. I also never keep money or valuables in my backpack while i am not there. Despite not having anything to steal from me, if i had packed-up and locked my backpack, i would have had to buy a new one. 

This is not to say that all thieves will automatically go for the padlocked bags, because a padlock might deter an  opportunistic thief  who sees an open bag and decides to take a dive. But the chances are if you padlock your bag and its the target of thieves, then you will more than likely lose your bag as well as your possessions.

Missing Camera No:1

Melbourne, Australia 2008

Ok i will be the first to admit that i am an idiot. After two years of backpacking around Australia, and never having anything stolen from me apart from food, and hearing of relatively little of from others losing stuff. I left my camera on my hostel bed and went out exploring Melbourne. Could i have been any more stupid? I think i might have tried to cover it with the bed sheet! Made no difference though, my beloved Fuji FinePics S700 (easily the best camera i have ever owned) 'disappeared'. I only had a few days left in Australia, and this was not the the parting gift i wanted.

So i beg anybody reading this please, please, don't leave your purse on your bed, phone charging in the wall or camera on a chair and leave the room.  I see this all the time, and yes most of the time it will be fine, but if it goes missing you only have yourself to blame.

The Anti-Santa

Geraldon, Western Australia, Christmas Day 2007

Food theft is the biggest problem any backpacker will encounter while traveling. You leave your milk in the hostel fridge and when you wake up the carton is empty. It happens over and over every day, every hostel all over the world, there is not really much you can do about it. Its not like you can really padlock your milk to the bunk bed in 40°C.

The anti-santa went one step over milk theft though, and to this day is probably the most shocking theft i have ever come across.

I was driving down Western Australia with a fellow backpacker, when we pulled up in Geraldon over Christmas. We found a lovely friendly campsite which felt quite safe, attached to a large caravan park. The camp area was only very small about 6-8 spots, but very well catered for. They had a nice camp kitchen, with a large fridge. It was Christmas, we and many others on the campsite went out and bought huge amounts of food and wine to feast on over Christmas.  I remember we bought lobsters, prawns, wine, endless amounts of veggies, salads, dips, ice cream and other goodies. We spent a ridiculous amount of money on christmas dinner for the two of us. The campsite was very good about this about bought in a second fridge so we could all cram all of our food in there, and those fridges were rammed. 

I was second to get up on christmas day. I remember waking up and making my way to the kitchen to help myself to Christmas breakfast. My friend was in the kitchen looking rather miserable, along with somebody else. I did not really think anything of it. I helped myself to some cereal  and some milk from the fridge. When  i got to the fridge, i noticed that there was very little in the door of the fridge and there was no milk. So i asked where the milk was. I just got a double look of misery back, it took me some time after this to realise that the whole of the fridge was empty. I then opened the second fridge, this was also empty, along with both the freezers.

I was shocked, Christmas day and we had had pretty much all of our food stolen, though for some reason they had actually left us our prawns. "Thanks". After some further probing it seems that these thieves has actually gone on quite the christmas shopping spree. Around the caravan park people were missing fishing equipment, towels, and children were waking up to find that the Anti-Santa had stolen their Christmas presents.

This was planned and well executed. These thieves must have come in overnight and loaded up their truck. Not you usual milk thieves.

Instances like this have their positives though, it really brought the whole campsite together. We all got together and worked out what we had food wise, and what we could spare we also found a petrol station that was open about 30 mins drive from us and stocked up on nachos and Coke Cola, the owner even managed to find a couple of cheap bottles of wine for us.

Apart from being majorly pissed off in the morning, this is one of my most memorable Christmas's and i actually had quite a fun day.

Lesson learnt? There is nothing you can do about theft like this, apart from hope the lobster was bad (very, very bad).

Missing Camera No: 2

Lyon, France 2013

So to the latest incident. I am staying in student halls of residence and have the luxury of my own fully lockable room. I have been careful to always lock my door, even when going to the toilet or shower, as there is just something about the atmosphere here which just makes me a little cautious. I have been right to be cautious, as a few days ago i went to the toilet across the hall and did not lock my door. When i was on the toilet i heard something in the corridor, and when i got back to my room my camera had mysteriously 'disappeared'. 

To make matters worse, i have stupidly let my travel insurance expire. It expired two days before my camera 'disappeared'. Now i won't be able to claim the cost of a new camera on my travel insurance. It is almost like this happened to remind me why we take out travel insurance. At least it was not an expensive serious accident, that i would be paying for for the rest of my life. Still having a camera is very important to me, and i don't have much money left. 

I have a month left in Lyon and then its make or break for me as i need to walk straight into work as the cost of a new camera is going to be coming out of the money i had put aside if i did not find work straight away. I am even considering going back to the UK to try to find work.

Today i Found Spring (in Lyon)

Spring has finally come to Europe, well Lyon at least. Today i woke up to a warm pleasant day and spent the day walking in Lyon. I even came across this square (Place des Celestins) where the trees were in bloom. 

Spring, i could not be happier.

Getting Settled in Lyon, France

So i am in Lyon to study French. How exciting. When i chose to study french in Lyon, i was very unsure about my choice. I did not know much about this town, 1 month is a long time to be stuck in a boring city. I decided to come here purely because language courses and accommodation seemed to be cheaper here then elsewhere in France.  So glad i chose this place now as its such a beautiful city to live in. 

I've have chosen to study with Alliance Francaise Lyon, i did not know what to expect, because despite really good reviews of the school. The process of applying for the course and accommodation has not run smoothly, mostly thanks to my bank rejecting payments to the school. At one stage i was very worried that i was going to arrive and the school not exist. Well i am here now and my school and accommodation does exist, so one huge sigh of relief.

I arrived over the Easter weekend, so getting setting up in student accommodation has been a struggle. Unlike hostels and staff accommodation.  Here i have had to provide my own towels, knife, plate, cup etc... Also all the supermarkets were shut so finding food or any of the items listed above proved a struggle. Thank god for McDs. 

Getting WiFi has also been a nightmare  It has meant that i have had to visit the university accommodation office, which was shut for the first two days, then apply for a WiFi code, then wait two days while it was processed.  4 days without proper internet access, i have not known what to do with myself.

The accommodation is in Halls of Residences, on a large student campus. I honestly never thought i would revisit my student days and live in halls again. Nothing has changed, these halls are remarkably like the ones i lived in whilst studying for my degree over 10 years ago. They are very basic, but i get my own room and i am not knocking accommodation in a beautiful city like Lyon for 200 euro a month, a hostel would be more than twice, that. Oh i got my own room, hehe. 

Lyon was a little dead over the Easter weekend. I went for a walk and everything was shut except a few stores along the main shopping street of Rue de Republique. But i did find a Street Day festival on in one of the main squares, which kept me entertained in graffiti art and French Rap music for an hour or so. Though in truth this is not really my thing.

This city has some amazing places to visit though, I took the funicular train up to the top of Fourviere, where i found a massive cathedral the Fourviere Basilica, which is defiantly on of the most impressive churches i have been into for some time. You can download audio-guided tours for your phone, so i shall do that and revisit it at some point.

There is so much i want to do in Lyon while i am here, both travel, language and personal wise. Maybe my first assessment of a month, was just not long enough.

Washout Day in Grasse, France

Apparently this is the wettest March in Nice on record. I am not surprised  its rained most days and on some i just haven't even bothered to leave my hostel. But i had to brave the wet at some point so i decided to visit the town of Grasse. I have visited Grasse once before, and loved it. Hence i was keen to go back. The photo below was from my first visit, last year.  This picture is what should have greeted me.

Grasse is a old industrial town north of Cannes, its industry is very much centered on the perfume industry. The town itself is very run down, with many abandoned and neglected buildings. Most of the modern day perfumeries are build out of town in more modern industrial units. But it is the neglected look which gives Grasse its character and charm, and what bought me back here. 

Even in the heavy rain, as soon as i stepped of the bus i could smell the scented air. The Grasse that greeted me this time though was a very different experience to last time. Nearly all the streets were completely empty, as most tourist took the day to relax in their hotel lounges, and as at times i was sometimes wading ankle deep in water, i was thinking they had the right idea.

I could not quite work out why it was thought it was necessary to hose the streets down in heavy rain!?

The Notre Dame du Puy, Cathedral  was a welcome break from the wet. Its tower shrouded in mist, just to highlight how bad a day it was, there was going to be no panoramas of the surrounding countryside today. Inside the cathedral their are paintings by several famous painters including the local painter Fragonard.

I wandered the wet streets until my jeans were so wet that i was struggling to move and then headed into a couple of perfumeries to start sniff testing. My favorite has to be the Fragonard factory just on the edge of the old town. They have a small free museum and guided tours, when i visited this time around, the factory part was closed for refurbishment, and was due to open again in a couple of days. You can still sniff test all their products in the factory shop.

I spend most of my time in the Musee International de la Perfumerie (5 euro), drying off. It was a good museum, filled with thousands of perfume bottle, both ancient and modern. There is plenty of opportunity to get your nose buds out, with smells from roses, jasmine, nutmeg to cocaine and marijuana. They do guided visits and also a free audio-guild. The audio-guild was not automatically given out and i only found out about it because of a sign in French. Usually i love audio-guilds, but would not recommend this one as i found it a bit, basic and also confusing, as to when i was supposed to press the buttons.

The journey back to Nice on the Bus was amazing. Once we were below the worst of the clouds, I got amazing glimpses of the surrounding countryside half enveloped in mist. Unfortunately the bus driver speed pass too quickly for me to get a decent shot on my camera.

Arriving in Nice, What a beautiful Sky!

On arriving in Nice, France on a very cold wet day in March. I put on my snow boots and ski jacket (hopefully for the last time this year) and went for a little explore. The rain stopped and the rest of the day was overcast and dull. However, once i had taken and checked a couple of photographs, i noticed just how beautiful the sky looked. Sometimes i have to hold a camera before i even notice these things. 

I walked down to the beach and then up on to Castle Hill. I tried to stay on Castle Hill until sunset but security closed up and i suddenly found myself being whistle blown and shouted at in French. It was time to leave.