Erin's Trip Report

Ok, try 2

I don't think I was made for international travel.  How many people arrive
in london and realize that they have lost all their tickets for the rest of
the trip?  Or arrive in France and realize that somewhere in heathrow are
all of their favorite cds?

yea.
My flight from boston to london was uneventful until i started wondering
where my tickets were.  I knew i had a 12 hour layover so i decided not to
worrry about it until i was in merry old england.
After arriving in Heathrow and searching desperately for my tickets only to
come up empty i forked over 25 pounds for new tickets.  The ticket lady also
told me to be more careful. I said i would try.

I slept pretty well in heathrow except for the automatic door that kept
opening and closing for NO REASON.  ssssssssshhhhh, WHUMP.
sssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh WHUMP.  all night long.
sssssssssssshhhhhhhh, WHUMP. And the lady who kept asking to see my
passport.  sssssssssshhhh WHUMP. And the creepy man who was sleeping next to
me.  ssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhh WHUMP. And the dancing giraffes.

Fast forward to france.  Arriving in france, hyped up on british chocolate I
make the sad realization that they (British Airways) lost my luggage. I was
forewarned by a friend that BA loses 50% of the luggage that goes through
heathrow. But they lost 100% of my 3 bags.  They did have 12 hours to do it.
I figured this would a great time to get my 25 pounds back, fair is fair, we
both lost some stuff. let bygones be bygones etc.  No dice.  The BA lady did
give me a lost luggage kit containing a t-shirt/mumu, toiletries, and a pair
of underwear that would have fit an elephant.

ok so that is all fine. the next day they will drop off my luggage. I have 4
hours to burn in Grenoble until hector picks me up since he is busy
"learning french".  I decide to hang out in a book store. No. You can't do
that during lunch because EVERYTHING IS CLOSED!! There are also no book
stores.  Only perfumeries and pharmacies. Did i mention it was raining? I
run into "Le China Town" for lunch. need i say more?

At 1600 Hector picked me up and decided to show me how scary french cars,
drivers, and roads are.  We drove up 3000ft to this old fort up these very
windy windy roads to have some nice hot cocoa.  yum. we also got the most
awesome view of grenoble.  we drove back to grenoble and Hector cooked me  a
nice french dinner.  which was delicious.

I forgot to mention that hector had recently replaced his radio in his car.
What this meant was that his lights inside the car weren't working ie he
couldnt' see how fast he was driving.  I also beilive that some of the
headlights or tailights weren't working.  So we work on that while we are
waiting fo rthe airline man to drop off my luggage.  This french person
manages to get lost in a country where every road tells you where you are
and whre you are heading.

After lost-airline man finds hector we leave to go to dent du crolles and
climb.  What we actually did was join about 30 other crazy french people
climbing up an icy, steep, narrow road.  We were teh only ones with rock
climbing gear. Why? because the climbs were sopping wet and freezing!
However, we (hector) show our strength and climb anyway.  Afterwards we head
to Marseilles, where I think it will be warm (how wrong i was..).  There was
a beautiful sunset on the way down.

Driving in france is very very scary.  People are killed at a remarkable
rate when they crash their little jellybean cars into other cars, posts, and
off cliffs.  The french highway authority seems to think that it is their
duty to inform you exactly HOW dangerous it is to drive by putting up
flashing signs all along the highway telling you statistics and other fun
facts about how you will die on the french highways.

Now here is a little conversation that i had when i got back to boston
"where did you stay in france erin?"  "ooooh lets see... the side of a road,
a truck stop, and the only campground open in Cham".  "A truck stop?" " Yes,
a truck stop"

So we arrive in Marseilles and sleep off the side of a back-country road.
Very nice, actually. I was highly skeptical at first but now i'm a convert.
We go to Calaques after a windy breakfast and wander in circles because teh
french guidebook authors don't believe in map scale.  Which is fine.  We
find a lovely 5.10ishy thing that i wail and curse (in 2 languages now!) up.
Hector, it was a lovely lead. The mediterranian is very very nice. There
were also lots of nice little fossils in the limestone.

Off we go after storming Calanques to italy (with a brief stopovre in
monaco).  We sleep at a truck stop. I wake up at 3am to a  truck driver
leering at me. i desperately had to pee so i wait until he leaves, dash out
to a bush and tell my bladder to run like the wind before i get killed.  we
wake up and need a jump because the battery is dead.  no italians will help
us but a nice french truck driver did. vive la france!

 drive drive drive to coermayeur where we find that "no, now is not a good
time to climb the crevasses are deep and plentiful and covered with snow."
ok.  so thru the mont blanc tunnel (with radio all the way). hoping for
better conditions on the other side (ha!!). we spend  2 lovely days in cham
1 long hike up to switzerland (rather cold and empty this time of year).
What a beautiful amazing place though.  Makes you want to just go up and
climb a mountain or something.  i cannot wait to go back to the alps.

We finished it out by having fondue back in grenoble with hector's cousin,
her friend, and a nice british girl.  I can't remember any of their names
but they were all very funny and it was great.  My one regret is that i
didn't buy the giant (I'm talking bigger-than-my-head) jar of nutella.  i
had a great trip courtesy of Briceno Tours- you should book yours today!

erin