New diary entry - winter's coming!

My latest attempts!

xx

New Video Entry

Hey Friends,

Gosh, things have been really busy in Paris over the last week. I have done a few diary entries but never got around to uploading them. . anyway here is the most recent one.

It has started to get really cold here! It was 6 degrees the other day! Something that i am not used to.

I am putting the french first, for people that are trying to see if they understand my jabber! So if you aren't interested in that you can just fastforward 2 mins or so.

I am going to have to fix up the opening shots of the video - they are not the most glamorous representations of my good self !! Ah vanity!

On se tient au courant!
xx

Paris Video Diary 3

Hey there,

Gosh i am impressed with myself. . .3 days in a row, how diligent of me.

Still pretty slow and jumpy. . but hey you gotta start somewhere right!

Big kisses
Jane.

Paris Video Journal 2

Hey Today is short cos i'm hung over


xxx

Paris Video Journal - no. 1

Hey all I have decided to do a video journal.

I am going to be practising my french on you! I hope you don't mind!




I'll introduce in English and then say something like the same thing (as close as i can manage) in French. . . hopefully it will be show my improvement.

Love to all
xx
Janey A

Brittany, Tredion and surrounds

Hello France! Finally!



I was so excited to get to France, that perhaps i didn't allow myself to enjoy London. anyway, i am here now, and loving it!

First stop was a family trip to Brittany, specifically near the centre of Vannes, in a tiny little town called Tredion. We stayed at a 14th C chateau, which was pretty magnificent, if not a little quirky - but i think quirk is part of the charm any way!



My sleeping quarters. . . it was quite pokey let me tell you!



We travelled with my parents, Kari and Chris, family friends the Wallaces (Michelle, Ian and Sam). So we were a merry troupe. As we were with the over 60 set, lots of our time was spent looking at cute little villages, and artsy craftsy stuff.



Cute door! In cute village!



Cute Village!


The other thing of note was the amount of EATING! Holy crap! I think i put on at least 5 kgs over the course of the 2 weeks. There was delicious fresh bread at every turn, loads of pates, fois gras, rillette, etc etc. . and cheese, stinky soft cheese! Yum. . .and alcohol! Cheap as chips wines and yummy beers. Not getting drunk mind you. . . but just constant drinking, one or 2 with every meal (except breakfast!).


Eating!!!

I had my 30th birthday during this trip. And to be honest it was a bit of a non event. . .but who cares, i feel like this whole trip is my birthday, and it is at least my present (my parent gave me the ticket overseas as my 30th present). On reflection, i think i did all the freaking out about my age last year at 29, and now it doesn't phase me. What am i gonna do about it? Change it? Well. . .i do look younger than my age, so i can certainly get away with trimming a few years off when asked if i feel so inclined! ;)

So Brittany, was great. I love the French country side. The Brittons (?) are every friendly, once we found our local Bar and went there 2 times, the 3rd time there were hand shakes and kisses. We were accepted! Excellent, the cold stares were starting to disuade me a bit!

That is it for now.

Bisous
Janey

London

Hey everyone,

So, i have been pretty terrible with my blog. . . what can i say. .. sorry!

I haven't really felt inspired to write, cos i suppose i was dealing with the difficulties of realising a new life abroad. I was kind of agoraphobic for a while actually, but slowly slowly i have started to venture outside and enjoy the world around me. i've got time, so there is no rush right!

My time in London was spend with my darling sister and her hubby Chris, my new bro. They were so hospitable to me, and put me up the whole time i was there, so it was great. More so, because i hadn't really spent any time with my sis for a really long time. And also, it is a special time in her life as she is expecting her first bubba in the next month or so. So, i have really enjoyed being a part of her/their lives at this special time!

In terms of my feelings for London, they are kinda mixed. I can see the great things about the city, but i suppose it is not really what i am searching for right now. . so it left me kinda cold.

The shopping is great, if not full on (i felt at times like shopping in Top Shop would induce a heart attack!) and the music culture is great as is the history. But i feel a little bit like it is borrowed, or stolen. I was searching for the British identity, for London. . . but it just seemed really superficial and a bit fake. . . hmmmm

I enjoyed going to museums and saw some amazing music concerts (i was there when the proms were on, that is classical music stuff) and i had some fun nights out. But to be honest the highlight for me was shopping. And if that is the highlight, it makes me feel a bit sad. . cos although it is fun. . .it is a bit shallow !!!

So here are a few pics from London, some birthday stuff and a few tourist sights.

The London Eye.


Dad on his birthday

kari's sumptuous cooking!



I think this is the houses of parliment? Anyway, it is a cool building!


Chris' birthday


cute!


Nottinghill Carnival fun


Hope you are all well, much love.
Janey fonda mad dog Rhonda.

SARDEGNA

Sardinia.

Time in the dusty old town area in Alghero on the North West coast of Sardinia seemed to crawl, in the most blissful of ways. However all of a sudden i find myself back at my adopted home in London reflecting on my first little adventure in Europe.

Part European adventure full of history and relics, part beach holiday, this is a place that i could easily lose several months to.







The beach.


There is lots of variety of beaches from the resort like Main Beach area in Alghero, situated near the old town and next to the Mariner, to little rocky nooks hidden beneath the wall of the old town, to the absolutely superbly-magnificently-beautiful (!) La Pelosa Beach.


As we travelled in August, which is the busiest holiday time in Europe, the one constant was people - people everywhere! I thought Bondi got packed, then i realised that the Europeans are used to being tightly packed. . . Being that i am a tourist, this didn't bother me one bit. In fact i kind of enjoyed this feeling of being in the middle of everything.

A little poem i jotted down when at one of the little rocky beaches:



A rocky beach,
in the mid day sun.

Waves lap against rocks
and water washes up on the pebbly shore.

A distant motor whirrs in the background
carrying a fisherman to his favourite spot.

Gentle wind brings snippets of lazy tongue
from bronzed Romans.

The rest of the town sleeps.



The food and eating culture

Well, we ate we ate we ate, and we drank drank drank. . . well to be fair, not Kari, she is 6 months pregnant!!

We were very restrained though - having most breakfasts and the majority of lunches at home. This then left the evening for splurging! And we certainly did.

A typical dinner consisted of :

Starters at home: cheese, prosciutto, olives and fresh bread with a glass or two of wine.

Seafood pasta - lobster spaghetti, gamberi(prawn) & chilli linguine, seafood marinara
Fresh seafood - whole fish, shellfish and king prawn
Pizza - wow! the pizza is amazing!

We would then take a walk along the wall of the old town, which overlooked the ocean,
and enjoy gelato - from melone and limone to the more devilish chiocolatto and baci - yum!

Finally our night might end up with a night-cap before getting home to find that our sleepy little square had been turned into a throbbing after hours bar.

An Ode to An Old Love
It's a lazy lover
living up to expectation
every time

And every morning
I curse my weakness,
then strengthen my resolve.
Determined, never to be
seduced
again.

A false expectation
greets me at each new destination
As if, somehow, here,
it will be different.

What i used to fear to be true
I now know is.

We are but false friends.

I will no longer burn the midnight oil
for you.
Nor will you swallow up
fresh faced mornings sparkling with promise

Old friend, red wine,
you voluptuous seductress
you corrupting nectar,
we had many a good time,

but from now,
our days
are numbered.



Spectacular Sunsets



I could not talk about Sardinia without mentioning the amazing sunsets.
Wow! Breathtaking.
Each night seemed to out-do the night before.
I don't know what more to say, an experience that never fails to amaze, and most always defies description.

______


All for now.

Next chapter will probably come in a week or two when i have figured out exactly what i think of this town called London.

All my love
x
Fonda.

The Beginning

In the beginning there were stars.
Well, for me at least, i have been so dizzy since i arrived.
And i mean literally not emotionally.
I put it down to no sleep and jet lag.

In this little online travel diary, i plan to put up little entries about where i am and what i am doing - including photos and video and hopefully some music if i write any.

So. . i am going to start of with a joke, taken from my first travel book ( Cathcart. T & Klein. D, Plato & and Platypus Walk Into A Bar . . . Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes )

Two cows are standing in the pasture. One turns to the other and says. "Although pi is usually abbreviated to five numbers, it actually goes on into infinity."

The second cow turns to the first and says, "Moo"

xx
Fonda