I flew to Goa Saturday, and took a taxi for the hour drive to Palolem beach where I was staying. It was late in the day, but judging by the dirty and crowded areas we drove through I was glad I had chosen an area a little further away from the craziness. By the time I got to Palolem it was dark, so I checked into my guest house and visited with the owner for a little while before calling it a night. I woke up early the next morning and walked down to the beach in search of breakfast. It was hot, humid and grey as I walked the two main streets full of slightly grungy touristy shops and restaurants down to the beach. The beach was a pretty long sandy stretch, and there were small restaurants and hotels down most of it. It was the start of the season, so they were still in the process of building the guest huts that would stay through the peak months of November-April. I settled in at the nicest looking restaurant on the beach, and relaxed for a while. I was hoping to meet people to hang out and get travel advice from, so I tried my best to “look available” without “looking available” in the wrong kind of way. There were plenty of other tourists around, but as far as friend candidates go the pickings were slim. It seemed as though most of the people were either couples, families, or groups of Indian guys. Feeling underwhelmed and a little discouraged, I walked the beach a bit a little more. Just like everywhere else in India, the cows went wherever they wanted. Do you know what’s not nice about cows on the beach? Cow shit on the beach. I guess the tide must wash it away, because there was less than there probably should have been. After a while I headed back to my room to use the internet. But oh wait…. the power was out in the whole town, and wasn’t coming back on until 5 that evening. I decided to do some writing instead. (Side note – the power would go off for a half hour or so every day after that.)

The owner of the guest house called to check in on me, and offered a ride to the neighboring beach (Agonda) so I could check it out. The beach was nice, and the guest huts were still being built, so no tourists were there yet. The owner (let’s call him X) was very friendly, but a little too attentive calling, texting, inviting me to dinner or drinks constantly. Even though Goa is “India light” as far as culture goes due to all the tourism, it is still India. Indian culture is very male dominated, and women are sheltered in a way. The women cover their arms and legs (although strangely not their bellies entirely), and definitely do not mix unchaperoned with young single men they’ve just met. Add to that the fact that I’ve consistently heard throughout my trip that western women (particularly Americans) are viewed as “easy”. Thanks a lot Sex in the City!! X may have just been trying to be friendly, but as a woman traveling alone it felt excessive, and was beginning to creep me out.

That night I went for dinner at one of the restaurants, and tried again to look approachable. I got nothing. I went to bed that night feeling bored and lonely, and it completely took me by surprise. Here I was in this beach town that was practically legendary, with no schedule and no friends. I have always considered myself independent. Being alone on an isolated beach somewhere was always my idea of heaven. This place wasn’t even isolated….. what the hell was going on?! Maybe it was because I came here with the hopes of making friends. Maybe it was because that dream scenario was always fantasized about in the context of city life, work, busy schedules, etc. Maybe it was the wrong setting. Maybe I was just having a moment….

The next morning I resolved to make a fresh start, and went in search of breakfast and friends. Looking approachable was getting me nowhere. I decided to change tactics and do the approaching. But there wasn’t anyone else alone to approach! It was still hot and grey out, I was bored and Goa wasn’t doing it for me. Time to move on. I had planned to spend a week in Goa, but at this point had only committed to my guest house for 4 nights. I could check out Gokarna a couple of hours south, or head down to Kerala a little earlier than I’d planned. I decided to give myself the extra time in Kerala, and spent the afternoon researching where to go, and weighing whether to fly (6 hours with a connecting flight for $150) or take the train (15+ hours for $17). (I’ve since heard great things about Gokarna! Ah well….)

After dodging X for the day, I sat down to a candle lit dinner on the beach (no power). While I was sitting there the power came back up, and I saw another woman around my age sitting alone, eating and reading a book. Aha!! I gave her some time to finish her meal, and just as I was about to approach her some local guy went up and started talking to her. I couldn’t believe it had come to this! I was competing with men for the attention of single women!! Finally he left, and I walked up to introduce myself. She was friendly and invited me to sit down for a drink. I found out she was British, but was living in Delhi. She had come to Goa originally for 5 weeks, and ended up spending the last 12 years back and forth between England and India. Along the way somewhere she designed and had some ankle bracelets made, sold them at a friend’s salon in Spain, and eventually turned it into a small jewelry business to support herself. No master plan, no jewelry background, just one thing that led to another. We talked about the finer points of long term travel like living out of a backpack, culture shock, staying in dodgy places etc. At some point I mentioned that I may have, possibly, been feeling a little lonely. She laughed a bit, and promised me that it was just part of the experience, and everyone goes through it even if they don’t talk about it. I went home that night feeling happy to have made a friend, and relieved that I wasn’t going through some kind of identity crisis.

The next day I met Allison for breakfast, and then booked my flight to Kerala. The weather must have cleared up without my noticing, because when I went to go for a swim that afternoon it was sunny and gorgeous! The water was literally like bathwater (84 degrees to be exact), and all of a sudden the beach was more vibrant and cheerful. I had dinner that night with Allison, and some other British guys she had met. Everything looked rosy just as I was getting ready to leave! I guess Goa didn’t want me to leave with a bad taste in my mouth.

On to the next….. I woke up at 4 am for my flight to Trivandrum almost at the very south of India, and then an hour drive to Varkala (another beach town).

What a difference some sun makes!

Cows at dusk. See what I mean?:

The next week and a half went by quickly, spending one or two days in a place before getting back on the bikes/bus and moving on. I guess I should rewind and explain the set-up. As I mentioned there are 6 people in my group which was perfect! We were a small enough group that we could go into a place, walk around and not feel like a swarm of tourists attacking. Cycling we could stay together relatively easily when we needed to, and when we had the space we could go at our own pace, but not be spread apart for miles on the roads. Our bus (later to be dubbed the disco bus) had 6 rows of seats, with the seats removed from one side to stow our bikes. The support team consisted of our group leader Pramod, a bus driver (who’s name I can’t remember, but was an excellent dancer), a bike mechanic Kishor, and another guy Rahul who helped with just about everything. They were all really friendly, patient, and jokesters in their own way.

Our group was Graham (with the Jodphur haircut), Sian (super athlete), Lucy (super hysterical), Tony (super easy going), and Ian (super chocoholic going through withdrawals). We were all pretty different (careers, lifestyles, interests etc), but everyone was out to have a good time so it worked out great. With something like this the dynamics of the group could either make or break the experience – and we definitely lucked out!

I left off in my last post the night we arrived in Udaipur. The next morning we woke up and got on our bikes for some sight seeing around the city. Udaipur is supposed to be the most romantic city in India. At the risk of sounding unromantic – I’m not entirely sure why it has that reputation. To me it was a busy smaller city with some man made lakes. What was particularly unromantic was the sense of pure fear I experienced at a couple points while cycling through traffic. I nudged a few cars with my bike in the chaos, got caught up in a game of chicken with a motorcycle, got cut off by a car…. I could go on. By the end of that ride I was wide eyed, every muscle was tensed, and every nerve ending was on high alert. If I hadn’t been so absorbed in avoiding the next vehicular onslaught I would have ditched my bike, and gotten in the damn bus. When we got back to the hotel everyone was laughing, and charged up on adrenaline. I was quiet. Thankfully that was to be the last of our riding in city traffic!

We visited the City Palace, and also the Jagdish Temple. I am always curious about different religions, so I loved hearing more about the Hindu religion at the temple. I knew there were several deities, but had no idea just how many there were! I’m still not really sure how many – I think our city guide said over 6,000, but I think there’s more than that even! While we were at the temple some people were decorating a statue, and our city guide explained that statues are cared for as if they were people. I don’t want to butcher the practice with an inaccurate explanation since I don’t fully understand – but basically they do everything for the statue that you would do for a person. Offer food, dress, put on make-up, etc at the appropriate time during the day, and then undo it all for night time. There was also a basil plant there, and the guide explained that basil is a holy plant in the Hindu religion. (Throughout our trip a lot of the palaces had built up pedestal planters for a basil plant.)

The next day we left Udaipur and headed towards Kumbhalgarh with 75 kilometers of cycling “undulating hills” in between. My understanding of undulating hills has been completely redefined. I now understand it to mean “a lot of big hills”. For the record – I cycled the whole thing. I finished way behind everyone else, but at least I finished. After being on a bike for hours on end I felt many new sensations. The one that has stayed with me for the last week and a half is a permanently numb left pinky finger.

We checked into our hotel, ate lunch and then got back onto our bikes for a short ride to Kumbhalgarh Fort. I loved visiting this fort because unlike a lot of the other sites we visited it was in a comparatively remote area so there were almost no other tourists to compete with, and the views were incredible. The fort was surrounded by a 36 kilometer wall. The wall is supposed to be the second longest continuous wall in the world (second to the Great Wall of China of course).

The next couple of days we visited Pushkar, and Jaipur but by this point the forts, palaces and temples were all starting to blend together. The best part of our days for me became the cycling. I can’t begin to describe how incredible cycling through the countryside is. It was peaceful watching Rajasthan flying by – no car windows or doors to separate you, sun, breeze. It can be hot and dusty, and the roads can be bumpy, but that goes with the territory. We had the longest ride of the trip (94 kilometers) as we headed towards Jaipur, and I actually enjoyed it. We took our time, stopping along the way for chai and snacks.

A week and a half into the trip we cycled to Sariska National Park/Tiger Reserve. The hotel we were staying at was off a rural road, right on the edge of the forest, with nothing other than a few local houses nearby. It was well appointed given the surroundings – a pool, outdoor seating areas, and open air restaurant. Both nights we were there they served us dinner around a bonfire. We were the only people staying at the hotel, so we pretty much had the full attention of the staff. It was great! Along with all of those wonderful things came a few perks of being in the country like: intermittent power, bugs and periodic cold showers.

Our original itinerary included a game drive, but the park had been closed temporarily by the government due to court proceedings. With tigers being so endangered the government was trying to put regulations in place to protect them, and had closed all parks with tigers to tourism in the meantime. Never one to waste a day, Pramod kept us busy with an early morning bike ride, set up a game of cricket with the staff, took us on a nature walk, and arranged for us to make dinner with the chef. Cricket may be the most popular sport in India, but it was my first time playing – and I was out at my first bat. I need a little practice….

News came that day that the park would reopen in the morning – just when we were scheduled to leave! Pramod made a few calls and was able to arrange an early morning game drive before we left. We were the first visitors since the park reopened so we were greeted by the park officials when we got there at the crack of dawn. Sadly no tiger spottings, just deer and antelope.

That day we cycled/bused to Bharatpur and visited the bird sanctuary. We were getting closer to the tourist track again, and you could see it at the rest stops. Giant tourist buses and big groups of 20-30+ people. We all cringed at the sight, which is kind of ironic since we are a tourist group as well – no matter how cool we may consider ourselves to be.

The following day was the final cycle of our trip, and also my birthday. I walked out to my bike which Lucy and Sian had decorated with marigold garland and little elephants with bells, making for a festive and noisy ride! I really liked riding my birthday bike. I felt as though I could fit in with the goods carrier trucks. I even got a raucous cheer while riding through a big group of school kids.

The afternoon we visited Fatehpur Sikri, and then the best Indian tourist destination of all – the Taj Mahal. Everything they say about how beautiful the Taj is is true. I was so in awe that the swarms of people didn’t bother me. It’s a good thing it was at the end of the trip. If we had seen it at the beginning the bar would have been set too high, and everything else would have been a let down.

That evening we went for dinner in Agra, and Pramod and the bus crew fully decked the inside of the bus out for my birthday. We had some Indian rum and coke on the way, they arranged for a birthday cake after dinner, and by the time we headed home the bus had officially turned into the disco bus with music and dancing! Here I am traveling alone on the other side of the world from home, and yet I lucked out spending my birthday with a fun group of people who went out of their way to help me celebrate my day. This birthday was definitely a memorable one!!

The last couple of days of our trip we visited the Agra Fort, then back to Delhi for our final evening. We said our goodbyes to the bus crew, and then goodbye to each other in the morning. I will be flying on to Goa alone. After two weeks with the group, it feels strange to be staying on in India without them. Strange and a little lonely. I only have my first two nights accommodations in Goa booked, and a flight out of Kerala scheduled for two weeks down the road. The next two weeks will be decidedly lower budget than the previous two. I plan to make my way down the coast, hopefully meet people along the way, and figure it all out as I go!

PS I just got the final stats from Ian on our cycling. Total distance: 332 miles. Total time: 27 hours. Total calories burned: 16,500 (that’s “about 50 odd beers” by his count)

I had an overnight flight from London to Delhi, and slept for about 2 hours. I’ve learned from experience to get a SIM card for my phone right away, so I was able to call my hotel and find my airport transfer without a problem. I checked into my hotel, and stayed there sleeping on and off until the next day. I’ll just go ahead and put it out there – I was a little nervous about India on my own. Before I came I read a lot of stories online about how difficult it is to travel as a woman alone here ex: people staring and taking pictures, guys rubbing up against you on the train, being flashed and generally harassed. Between that and the news on the anti-American demonstrations…..I was seriously intimated. By the time I got up the courage to leave the hotel it was mid-afternoon. The only thing that finally got me out the door was the thought that I am here in this crazy, chaotic, exotic city, and if I didn’t do some exploring on my own I would be disappointed one day.

My hotel is about 2 blocks from the metro station in an area called Karol Bagh, so I decided to jump in and give public transportation a try. The metro ride is 15 rupies (29 cents)! Everything was signed in Hindi and English, and pretty easy to figure out. Once inside the station you have to go through security and a metal detector before you can get to the platform. While waiting I noticed the “ladies only” line for security which is MUCH shorter then the men’s line (probably because there are so many less ladies out and about). Once past security I followed the women, and found out there are also “ladies only” cars on the metros! They were – can I say relaxing? It wasn’t as crowded, had AC, and nobody really paid much attention to me. It’s true that as a foreign woman walking around alone everyone stares at you, BUT at least you get to go in the ladies only areas.

I took the train to the Chadni Chowk stop, and when I got off there were no street signs so I just walked around looking for the Red Fort. I walked around in complete sensory overload for a while. There were horns honking, lots of yelling, so many things to look at (people, street food, shops with gold, jewels and saris…..). I faked confidence and walked purposefully down the street as if I knew where I was going, and nobody really tried to stop me. I walked purposefully for a little too long, so after about 20 minutes I stopped for a soda. While I was standing there a man walked up and started talking to me. Oh no, here goes….! He asked me the usual questions “First time in Delhi?”, “How long are you here for?”. I responded with one word answers as I drank my soda. Then the question I was worried about – “Where are you from?”. I don’t know what was wrong with me, but I didn’t think quick enough, and responded with the truth – “The US”. Shit. I waited for him to start cursing me, or at least give me a nasty look. He responded with something along the lines of “Welcome”. That was it. I don’t know how I was expecting people to react when I said I was American – but “Welcome” was not it. Considering how well this was going I decided to ask him how to get to the Red Fort. And he told me! I said thanks and goodbye. No fuss, no wrong directions, no offers to be my tour guide.

The Red Fort: built in the mid 1600s, and got its name from the red sandstone used to make the walls surrounding the fort. Inside there are several different white marble buildings that were used as meeting halls, a mosque, a hammam and living quarters. From what I read it was once pretty spectacular with colorfully painted walls, gold and silver ceilings, intricate gardens and pools. The days when visitors would arrive on elephants was definitely over, so you have to use a little imagination.

By the time I finished at the Red Fort it was later than I expected, so I headed home before it got too dark. After my first day out on my own I decided that reading internet travel stories about India is kind of like self diagnosing a health problem on the internet. You convince yourself the worst will happen. I wouldn’t say my day in Delhi was a breeze, but it definitely wasn’t what I had prepared myself for. Thankfully.

The next day I checked out of my hotel, and went to meet up with my tour group. The group is small – only 6 people (split evenly between guys and girls), all British and I’m definitely the least experienced cycler in the group. We checked out our bikes, and then met up for dinner to get to know each other. Only two people knew each other before they came on this trip, so the rest of us were all meeting each other for the first time that day.

The next morning was an early start – 6:30am. This may or may not come as news to you, but I am not a morning person. I faked my best attempt at cheerfulness, and joined the group. We were starting with a 25 kilometer bike ride around northern Delhi. It was early on a Sunday morning, so they claimed the traffic wasn’t bad. We stopped for Chai and some sort of fried potato sandwich along the way.

That afternoon we saw the Jama Masjid mosque, the President’s House (a humble 344 room home) with India Gate leading up to it, and Raj Ghat (a memorial to Mahatma Ghandi).

The accommodations for the evening would be the train from Delhi to Jodhpur. 2nd Class AC sleeper train. 2nd class was fine, but they say general admission is the real deal. People sit wherever, stand if they need to, or hold on partly hanging out of the car if that’s what it takes. I hear the train is a quintessential India experience, but I’m glad not to be doing it alone!
(Me with Pramod (our guide) and some random guy that walked into our picture)

The next morning after we checked into our new hotel and got some breakfast, we had a little free time. One of the guys in the group (Graham) and I decided to catch a bicycle rickshaw to the market area. Graham had mentioned wanting to get his hair cut short, so I pointed out the first barber shop I saw. He tried to explain what he wanted, but it got a little lost in translation. Instead of electric clippers the man pulled out some metal manual clipper things that looked like they could have been from the early 1900s. I was afraid for him. Finally the barber ending up borrowing the clippers from another shop next door. This was only a slight improvement since he didn’t actually know how to use them. After he was done I inspected, and had to make him go back over twice to clean it up.

Cycling that day was a little more intense. We were in heavier traffic this time, squished alongside and in between cars, trucks, bicycles, rickshaws. They have a slightly different idea about traffic lanes than we do, and generally if there are supposed to be 2 lanes of traffic, there will actually be 3 or more. And they are not really lanes. It’s like a giant game of Tetris with drivers sliding their vehicle of choice in wherever it fits, and they have the nerve to go. Sometimes you may find yourself going down a one way street, only to find a motorcycle or rickshaw headed right for you, going in the complete opposite direction of traffic. It will to be the honking that will drive me mad though. Beeping here is automatic, kind of like breathing. It’s constant, grating, comes from all sides, and sometimes is not for any reason other than to announce their presence. I feel seriously disadvantaged without a horn.

To keep things interesting, there are also cows roaming around. They seem to go wherever they want, but mostly they are alongside the road eating the garbage. When they are not doing that the rest of the time they are in the median, or maybe even in the middle of a lane of traffic forcing everyone to go around them.

When we first met our guide Pramod he gave a piece of advice about bicycling in India that came to mind that day. He said you have to be like a deer – “Look left, look right, and then just jump. In India we believe in reincarnation……”. I hadn’t fully considered/understood the traffic when I decided this bicycle tour in India was a good idea.

In Jodhpur we visited the Mehrangarh Fort with amazing views. Similar to Chefchaoen in Morocco, it is known as the blue city because so many of buildings are painted blue (it looks like the same shade as Morocco too).

The Mehrangarh Fort is one of the largest in India and was built in the 15th century, with major additions in the mid 1600s. Here’s a heartwarming story. In order to bring his new home good fortune the Maharaja who built the Fort/Palace had a man buried alive in the foundation. He had promised the man that in return his family would be looked after forever. Today there is a place within the fort where some descendants of the buried man still live.

While we walked around we heard about how things would have been. The Maharajas were incredibly wealthy, and had hundreds of servants to maintain their grounds. They also had as many wives and mistresses as they wanted. The women were mostly kept separate in their own quarters, and would watch proceedings from viewing points (often with the view obstructed so they could see out, but you couldn’t see in). Everything revolved around the Maharaja, and obviously the ladies would compete for his time.

Our nights on this trip end early considering that pretty much every morning is an early morning. Wake-up calls are anywhere between 6 and 7 am. Ugh. This night I was particularly good, since Tuesday was planned to be our first distance day! We were scheduled to ride 75k divided up between the morning and afternoon.

We started off riding out of Jodhpur and into the countryside. The morning ride was about 40k and pretty flat. Once we got out of city traffic it was so different!! You didn’t have someone up your ass all the time, it was quieter, and you could actually look around a bit. There were still quite a few cars on the road, and a lot more of these “goods trucks” that are hauling…. goods. Almost all the truck drivers have their trucks decked out in some way. Some have black tassels flying off the side mirrors, designs painted on the front grills, tin pieces affixed to the outside of the cab, etc. Wouldn’t want to miss a perfectly good opportunity to decorate something! I’m dying to get a picture of a good one, but this will at least give you the idea.

We broke the day up by visiting a Jain temple in Ranakpur. The Jain religion was formed out of Hindu, with a few major differences – a couple are that they don’t worship any gods, and don’t believe in killing ANY thing. Devout followers will wear masks around so they don’t accidentally swallow bugs, and sweep the ground before they walk on it so they don’t step on any either. Another difference is in the temples. Jain temples are primarily decorated on the inside, as they believe in inner beauty. Hindu temples are more decorated on the outside.

That afternoon we got back on our bikes in a much greener, hillier area. One of the best parts about going through the country is just watching the people go by, and away from major cities you see a lot more people in traditional clothing. Of the people we saw, most of the men wore western clothing, but maybe 1 in 4 wore more traditional style clothing including turbans (pagari) and dhoti (the cloth they wrap and tie to create pants). A lot more of the ladies wore traditional style clothes. They wear bright colors almost exclusively (turq, magenta, orange, gold), with cropped short sleeve tops, a scarf draped across their torso, and another sheer scarf fully covering their heads and faces. Pramod said the scarf covering the head came with the influence of the Mughal’s.

They are big fans of jewelry here. The men all wear earrings and rings, the ladies have nose rings (some with a large gold ornament). Even a baby brought out to say hello at an afternoon picture stop had earrings and ankle bracelets. Also used by men, women and children – eyeliner! Made out of burned mustard seed oil. They believe it is healthy for the eyes.

As we go by most people wave and shout. They think it’s crazy to see white people riding around on bikes for fun (not work). (There are some people who won’t acknowledge you, or look you in the face as they walk by. I think they are either annoyed, disgusted or confused, but there aren’t that many of them.) When we stop for water or a break people swarm around interested to get in on the action. As the crowd grows in number the people usually get bolder – eventually sometimes touching the bikes, or changing the gears. People will push your boundaries because it’s a novelty, and their curious to see how far they can go. You kind of just have to go with it, and feel out how to draw a line when you’re uncomfortable. The concept of personal space here is different than I have ever experienced before. There just IS no personal space. That extends to vehicles/motorcycles/bikes.

By the time we got to our hotel in Udaipur that night I was wishing my padded bike pants had more padding, and wondering if I would be able to move my legs at all the next day…..

I took the Eurostar underground train from Paris to London. So easy – about a 2 1/2 hour ride, no airport hassle! The only glitch was that after I got my ticket and saw there was no line for security, I ran to the bathroom real quick. I came back 5 minutes later and got stuck behind a giant tour group of seniors, and ended up missing my train! The trains run almost every hour though, so I just got on the next one.

Couple of pics on the way from the train. I like that they tell you which way to look for traffic, because I forget.

Once I got to London I grabbed a taxi to my friend Joyce’s apartment in Camden, and visited with her room mate for a while until she got home. Joyce had come to meet me in Barcelona for the weekend earlier in my trip, so this is the second time I’m getting to see her since I left the US. I’m trying to plant the seeds for her to make a SE Asia trip, but I think I may be out of luck.

The next couple of days were pretty mellow. We went out for dinners, I went running, booked some flights, and did more trip research. Joyce lives near right near Regents Park which was perfect because I need to back in shape – quick!! The tour I signed up for in India is a bicycle tour around Delhi and Rajasthan. We average 70 kilometers a day, with some days up to 85-90 kilometers. Not being able to exercise in some places I’ve traveled to has been tough, and I’m not really appreciating the extra weight I’ve put on as a result. A bike tour seemed like the perfect solution! But I’ve probably ridden a bike less than 10 times in the last 18 years. I’ll let you know how that works out….

Friday I caught a train to visit my cousin Kelly in Leicester for the weekend. She and her husband had moved from the US in the winter, and just had a new baby in June. It was great to see them, and funny to hear about their adjustment to UK life. You’d think it wouldn’t be that different, but things you never think about like cell phone plans, laundry machines, coffee, power switches on electrical outlets – all different.

Another difference? We don’t have stores for these kinds of things in the US….

We had a nice long weekend visiting, and went to Foxton Locks to walk around. You can rent these house boats, and drive them around the canals and locks on your own.

That Tuesday I caught the train back to London. I had emailed my friend Michael that I met in South Africa, and we met up for dinner that night. Why can’t I ever remember to take pictures?!

The next day I met Joyce for coffee, walked around a little bit, and saw the outside of Buckingham Palace. Then the airport for my overnight flight to Delhi!

I left Friday morning and slept the whole train ride to Paris. My head kept dropping to the side and hovering just above the shoulder of the man sitting next to me. After 9 restful days in Biarritz I am still tired!! I am also having a little problem with brain function. My memory isn’t very good normally, but lately it’s pretty bad. I have a hard time remembering what day it is, doing basic math, or remembering names of people I know well. I’m also having trouble thinking of words in English sometimes. Between you and me – I’m sick of jumping around. I’m definitely not complaining, but it would be nice to stay in one place for a couple weeks. Talk to the same people, hear the same language, see the same streets. Planning that in for later in my trip.

Back to Friday! My friend Floriane met me in the train station, and we caught a taxi together to her parent’s house in St. Maur. Floriane had been interning in NYC for the summer, and within the last couple weeks came back to Paris, moved to Lyon, and started her semester. She came up to Paris for the weekend to see her friends and family, and was working me into the mix as well. To top it off, her parents generously offered to host me for my whole stay in Paris!!

We went to her house to drop off our bags, met her family, sat down to a nice glass of wine, and then her father drove us back into Paris to meet her friends for a graduation dinner at a Tapas place in Le Marais. We had a little time before her reservation so we walked to the Louve to see the outside lit up at night (gorgeous). You could have a great night there just sitting on the lawn with a bottle of wine!

Back at the restaurant I met her friends – who all spoke English. It always surprising how common it is for people to speak several languages. Her friends all studied English in school, but I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met along the way that have learned it from just watching movies! It was a nice night with them jumping back and forth from French to English. I shouldn’t admit this, but it’s kind of a relief not to speak the language sometimes. You feel no responsibility to follow a conversation or respond.

The next day we took the train back into the city, and spent the day running around Paris. We went to see the Eiffel Tower, and then took a boat trip around the Seine and watched the Musèe d’Orsee, Notre Dame etc. go by. As we went we passed by a couple of bridges covered with locks. Floriane explained that couples come to the bridge together and attach a lock as a symbol of their love. Two things they say about Paris that really are true – 1) It’s romantic. There’s people everywhere with their arms around each other, holding hands or kissing. 2) People do love their baguettes. It’s almost an extra accessory.

After the boat we happened to walk by the US embassy, and were confused by the TV station vans and military surrounding it. It was very strange, but we kept walking as we were late to meet up with her hairdresser for a visit and some champagne at his salon. We stayed there chatting for a while, and then met up with a friend of Floriane’s from New York for dinner. We laughed about how strange it was for the three of us to be connected by New York, but be sitting across the table from each other in Paris.

Sunday we slept in, and then went out to do some errands around St. Maur. I followed Floriane around as she stopped by the cheese shop, the patisserie, the wine shop etc. I loved how there were all these small shops that truly specialized in one thing or other. Then we went to the Sunday market and wandered through the stalls. They had everything including clothes, bags etc, but what I loved were the tables and tables of food! All the vegetables seemed more colorful and fun piled on top of each other. The olive stand was like an art installation. Floriane visited with the lady at the seafood section who asked about her father. All of our stops were to pick up things for dinner that day, but we ended up visiting with the different shopkeepers/stall owners along the way. There was such a sense of community, and it felt good to be walking around in the fresh air. It was so different from my version of shopping at the grocery store in New York. That afternoon Floriane’s mother made an incredible dinner of foie gras risotto. After 3 months of traveling and living out of a backpack, I can’t tell you how nice it was to sit down to a table and have a home cooked meal with family conversation! Floriane left that evening to go back to Lyon, so I lost my chic tour guide but she left me in the care of her equally chic and welcoming family.

The next day I braved the Paris train system on my own (no problem), and went to the tourist office to apply for my India visa. Online it looked like I could get it back in 3 days, but I found out it would be more like 6 so I would have to extend my stay in Paris for a couple of days. I wandered around the city for the rest of the afternoon, and then headed back to my “home” in St. Maur to have dinner with Floriane’s mother and brother.

That evening as I was doing trip research Floriane’s mother mentioned that there had been some protests, and I should check the news to make sure it wouldn’t impact my India trip. Weird – I wondered if that had something to do with the news and military we saw walking by the US embassy the other day? And that was how I learned about that movie that is causing all the chaos. It’s amazing (and sad) the kind of damage a nobody with some money and a camera can cause. Particularly when aided by people ready exploit just that type of thing to further an agenda.

I spent most of the next day working on trip research. I was planning to spend October in India, and had heard Northern India was rough for solo women travelers. After looking at the news and seeing they had closed the US embassy in Delhi for a couple of days due to protests I got a little nervous, and thought it might be best to join a tour for at least the beginning of my India trip, and then travel solo in Southern India. My approach to any sort of planning is to research and weigh all of my options before making a decision. One of the best things about the internet is the quantity and variety of information available. That is also one of the worst things about the internet…. There went the whole day (along with several days to come)!

The next week I went on a Paris sightseeing binge. I went to the Louvre with Floriane’s brother. We were there almost 4 hours, and only got through the paintings and breezed through the sculptures! We stopped at Pierre Herme, and ate the most insane macarons I have ever had.

Floriane’s mother drove me an hour to Veaux le Vicomte, and we spent the afternoon wandering. Veaux le Vicomte has a very interesting story actually. It was built in the mid 1600s by Nicolas Fouquet, the superintendent of finances for Louis XIV. Fouquet drew a little too much attention with his extravagance, and made a few enemies (including Louis the XIV). He was eventually accused of stealing public funds, and was jailed for the rest of his life. BUT the King was so impressed by the estate, he hired the same team to build a bigger, better version – Versailles.

Of course I had to see Versailles to compare. Too bad it was raining so I couldn’t see the gardens!
While I was there there was an exhibit by Joana Vasconcelos which was completely over the top (earning its place in Versailles), but was bizarre to see against the centuries old paintings and furniture.

Palais Garnier: Gorgeous! Took a tour, and heard about the role the opera played in the social lives of (wealthy) people in the late 1800s. But what was even more interesting was what was alluded to have gone on in those boxes!

Montmatre: I was disappointed by the Moulin Rouge, which looked random and fake.

Basilica Sacre-Coeur: I’ve had my fill of churches. I just looked at the outside, and checked out the view of the city.

Espace Dalí:

Les Puces de Saint-Ouen (flea market): Maybe I’m naive, but I was surprised to find a bunch of shops instead of an open air flea market with stalls.

Rodin Museum: I loved this place. Parts of the grounds were under construction, but you could still get a feel for how beautiful the gardens were. And the sculptures of course were stunning. They touched a little bit on his mistress/mentee Camille Claudel who was extremely talented, but who spent the last 30 years of her life in an insane asylum. Of course my curiosity is piqued, but I-books has no English books on her…

Family dinner! I forget the name of it, but it was tasty. You cook the meat on the hot plate, heat the cheese in little pie shaped dishes, and then put both on some potato.

Monday I went to pick up visa. It was ready early! I spent the rest of the day restocking clothes for my trip, and looking for new sneakers to replace my boots. I had decided my boots weren’t really practical. The “explorer group” comment in Biarritz may have also played a part in my decision to retire them. I was eventually sent to Citadium (a skate/street/fashion lifestyle store) with a great selection of sneakers. This place was a shoppers paradise for cool kids!! Fussball, a toy section, candy, great music….

India visa in hand, the next day I boarded the train for London!