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• SomeGuy

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Birthday
• 1983-08-05
Gender
• Male
Location
• Vancouver, BC
Member Since
• 2003-08-02
Occupation
• Writer; Part-Time Hero
Real Name
• James

Personal

Achievements
• Visiting eight different myO friends in person thus far
Anime Fan Since
• Winter 2001
Favorite Anime
• Neon Genesis Evangelion, .hack//SIGN, Naruto, Bleach, Beck, Peacemaker Kurogane, Ranma 1/2 (the guilty pleasure)
Goals
• Visit the myO friends I've missed thus far; complete a cosplay from 300
Hobbies
• Writing, Gaming, Kung Fu, Movies, Acting somewhat strange in general
Talents
• Can recognise most quotes from almost any movie/show on first listen; Can recite the entire 12 days of Christmas by memory




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Thursday, July 12, 2007

   Normandy, longhand version . . .
Today's vacation post'll be a bit different. I'll get to that in a second, though . . . first off:

  • Re: bringing baguettes home: Considering that after I left Normandy I didn't come home for another full month . . . no, I did not bring home any baguettes.
  • Re: French in general: French is not a good language for online translators. It gets really messy really fast.
  • Re: Comp': Seems okay so far. I think I'm okay . . . I think.
  • Re: Royale with Cheese: Indeed, that was the primary reason I wanted one in the first place; good ol' Pulp Fiction references . . . oh yeah, European coffee kicks ass. Just sayin'.
  • Re: Taste of Baguettes: Baguettes, also known over here as "french bread", is quite tasty. The design is that the crust is very crisp and sorta thick, while the inner bread is extremely soft. People tend to use baguettes to make garlic bread. Garlic buttered or just plain munching on it as you walk down the sidewalk, it's wonderful stuff.


Alright, so as I said, today is gonna be a little different from the other point-form references. While I was lost in Normandy, trying desparately to fill the days with things to do . . . I inevitably started writing more and more journal-type stuff. Not just the point-form things that got longer, I even wrote some full-page longhand stuff. So here are a couple of 'em - one from the very end of my Dieppe journey, and one from my first full day in Caen (which I still have yet to discuss in point-form). As always, I'm open to any questions or queries you may have about anything I write here. So here we go:


Solo-Trip: End of 1st Leg (May 31st):

So here I am in my cute little hotel room in Dieppe, France. It was scary as hell to get here (am I on the right train? Do I need to validate my ticket?), but I made it. Further, my credit card is working spectacularly, so my biggest fear is killed!

2nd biggest fear? Language . . . but we'll see. In Dieppe alone, there are a LOT of tourists from over the channel! But alas, the English over here just ain't what you're hoping for. Food seems to be working so far, though. I need to study my French more . . .

But now I'm off to Caen! All new adventures!

* * * * * * * * *

Meantimes, here I am in Le Gare, having a cup of café crème with 40 minutes to go before the train arrives. I'm glad the humble Canadian approach worked ("Excuze-moi, je ne parle pouvais pas beacoup Francais"), and I finally got confirmation that I DON'T need to validate my tickets! (The coffee is really good here!) I'm still hoping beyond all hope that Caen, as a wartime tourist attraction, shall have some decent English around. But we'll see . . . definitely so far so good . . .

So when I arrive, do I dare go to the youth hostel? Or do I just take the cheal hotel? Hmm . . . I feel as though today shall be an expensive taxi day . . . dang . . .

. . . . . suddenly I wish I learned more French . . . dang dang . . . . .


Solo Trip: Early in the 2nd Leg (June 1st):

I'm sitting in a little area with a giant (fake?) gold statue of Jeanne D'arc in front of me. It's still way too damn early for dinner, Caen doesn't seem to have souvenier shops, and I miss talking with people! I suppose I could hit up that internet café again . . . but I really don't wanna rely on that. Sidenote, my shoes are still gross from the mud earlier in the day . . . I was quite miffed by that. More miffed by the bottom of my jeans, though . . .
I should head down to the train station, see about getting to Bayeux on Monday. I'll hafta check out early, too . . . alright, trip to the train station! Heh, all for the sake of killing time.
I've learned something about myself: I'm frighteningly intruigued by looking out castle battlements! And what the hell, I thought people were smaller in the olden days! Blasted Normans . . . ah well.
So, the weather in Normandy is absolutely schizophrenic! Sunny first, then cloud cover, then ten minutes of hard rain, then stop, then peeking sun again. It's getting nuts!
Nevertheless, I am still having fun. I wish I could share this with someone else, but well . . . I guess I'll take what I can get . . .

Heh, Twisto . . . . .

* * * * * * * * *

. . . . . you DON'T go to France and drink beer! Why haven't you learned this yet?!?!
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