Colourful traditions

As promised, here are the pictures from our recent road trip to the Dunkerque Carnaval!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48141953@N02/sets/72157626147664009/

If you're inclined you can learn more about the history of the carnaval here or even visit the official site here.

Coming home from Carnaval

We heard this song as we were heading back to the Ferry to England after our weekend of cross dressing, drinking, singing and my first proper Carnaval. I'll post some pictures of the weekend here when I get to see them myself. 'Till then listen to this song and let me know what you think...

Road trippin`to France!

Why not? I've been living in Reading for about 6 months, haven't been anywhere outside the home counties yet, and the cost split 4 ways for petrol and the round trip ferry ticket made it too good an offer to pass up! We're gonna hit up Lille the first night and then off to Paris for the 2nd and then back over to the UK for the 3rd. Not a trip I would fly for, but taking a car somehow works for me!

I've contacted friends in both cities that I made a few years ago when I first passed through France, and hopefully the 4 of us will be able to find a couch together but who knows? I'll take lots of pictures though, and post, perhaps, the best 3 or 4 of them!

La Maison des Chameaux

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDkRjm_U_s8

Life is never dull these days! I've been living on a camel farm in the south of France and loving every minute of it.

http://www.lamaisondeschameaux.com/home.htm

Everything else I had written here has been deleted.

Thrice.

Don't pretend to be disapointed. I'll tell everyone about everything in person the next time I see them!

Happy Holidays!

What a poser.

Right on time

Today is Tuesday and as promised here I am, about to write a fantastically compelling entry to my blog. Buckle up folks here we go . . .

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my posse. From left to right they hail as follows . . .

JiPi - Short for Jean-Phillipe, we all call him Jean-Phillipe. He's the man that organized this place. It's an old house and he's renovating it in an ecologically sound way. We're helping. So far that consists of flinging muck made of woodchips and chalk powder at the walls. We call this insulating.

Jeneviéve - An integral member of the cast, Jeneviéve is from Québéc. She's the kind of person that makes you wish you had a stronger sense of national identity. She's fun, friendly, a great cook, and tons of fun to be around. It wouldn't be the same without her.

Grayson - The most kick ass dude on the scene.

Petra - The 2nd Petra I've met abroad. She's a Somerset girl educated in London with an accent that very consciously sounds nothing like that of the area she was born. Her culinary ability is worthy of praise and her predilection towards doing the dishes is a very welcome addition to our little gang. It's also good to have another Anglophone in the crowd, just to even things out a little.

This is a picture of my on the first day of my arrival in Chalabre. I guess I was a little excited to be here.

Damn

Ran out of time. Was going to make a great post, but sadly I need to give up the computer. Next time I'll have internet is Tuesday.

Check back then.

Glad to see everyone's paying attention.

So I've been in Lille for the last few days and I've had a great time. I went to a Canadian bar last night and it sucked. A lot. Today I'm off to Antwerp and then to a Balkan Circus Party!! I'm justifiably excited about that!

I'm equally excited about a site my current host showed me. www.deezer.com where you can listen to pretty much any song you like; for free. No downloads but if you're on the road who needs 'em?

Hallowe'en

Folks in Lille aren't so keen on Hallowe'en. They've got their own French celebrations on November 1st so nobody really does much. That said there might be a party tonight in which case I hope to go.

I've spent today hitchiking from Paris to Lille a 2 hour drive took me hours, but I saved €53 and got lots of practice speaking french. When I arrived in Lille I had nowhere to stay; but now I have 2 options. I think I need a French sim, especially if I'm going to be in France for a month.

This picture is spooky; it's from Norway. I have no camera; it was dropped during Oktoberfest at the University of Oslo.