After a very long a quite costly flight (5okg overweight, i.e. $500 penalty), Tanya and I made it to France on Friday the 29th... It took quite a bit of effort to get from CDG airport to Gare Montparnasse given the enormous suitcases that we were carrying...
We spent the evening at my aunt's after a very long TGV ride from Paris to Orthez... I was able to see my cousin's daughter (my godchild) for the first time...
The next day, Tanya and I visited beautiful Orthez... I hadn't been in a while and it was great to walk around and rediscover the old castle tower, the old bridge...
We then went to enjoy some delicious "basque cake" and after an afternoon of further walking, we spent the evening and had supper with my cousin and her "little family"...
On the 31st, we took the TGV back to Paris to spend New Year's Eve with my aunt and uncle. The meal was amazing and we left quite late... so much so that we barely made it for the midnight lightning of the Eiffel tower and some nice champagne... We then walked a bit on the Champs Elysees and rapped up the evening in a club nearby where my cousin works: Le Milliardaire... thank God for Audrey (my cousin) because drinks were at 20 EUROS!!! Du vol!!!
On the 1st, everything was closed so we just walked around... We saw the Eiffel tower again, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre (next to which I had my yearly McDonald's!!!), City Town (next to which they skate outdoors!!!) and the Champs Elysees again (by night)...
On the 2nd we picked up my car in Compiegne - more train and suitcases :o( - and drove to a little town next to Charleroi (Belgium) to visit Tanya's cousins... Very nice people of which I had met a few... The big sandwich is called a "mitraillette"...
On the third I did some beer tasting (had to in Belgium), was the king at lunch, drove back to Compiegne to have supper with friends of the family: les Salins (unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures). We drove to Fontainebleau right after and made it around 2:30 am... Quite a long day!
On the 4th, we simply walked around Barbizon, a very nice little town nearby, birthplace of the impressionist movement (explains the expensive restaurants)... Check out the picture of my French ride!!!
On the 5th, we went to Paris for some serious shopping and came back to prepare the first little party at Shangri-La for Felipe's birthday (he is the one struggling with the champagne)... About 60 people came and we broke a minimum amount of stuff (just kidding)... All in all a lot of fun and a good kick-off to the party season...
On Saturday (the 6th) we visited the surroundings a bit further, drove to Chateau Fleury where a few (around 15) students live (impressive when you look at the pictures). I'll take some more pictures when I go for dinner... We also took a few pictures of the place (Shangri-La)... Finally on the 7th I drove Tanya to the airport... very, very :o(
Here are a few pictures of the top, us a the top... and the Mont Blanc!!! (tallest on the last picture, right mountain)...
Finally, a few pictures of the little breaks we took... First, at the top to have lunch... Then at the very bottom on Saturday evening to relax and recuperate... Finally, the last meal on Sunday around 1:30 PM just before heading back to Fontainebleau...
