Toussaint 3: Eclipse

Last part of my Toussaint trip. Sorry it took so long.

Thursday November 1st: After meeting up with Jessie, her, Camila and I took the subway to Buckingham palace. It was a really beautiful day out and there were loads of people as it just happened to be the changing of the guards time. We went to the National Museum afterward and saw (among others) the works of Manet, Monet, Van Gogh and Degas. After a hurried risotto lunch we ran to the the theatre to see Phantom of the Opera. Having never seen it, I was very excited. Verdict- Love the music, the set design was incredible (my jaw actually dropped), but I still think the story is kinda lame. We then went to a super fancy department store and walked around saddened by the fact that everything was WAY out of our price range. I then separated from my friends to go see the evening show of Les Miserables. Yes, I had already seen it in London with my family years ago, I have a weakness for these things.  It was AMAZING! To be fair, I didn't think the guy who played Javert was menacing or powerful enough, but nitpicking gets us nowhere. As god is my witness, perhaps in another couple of years I will see it again.

Friday the 2nd: Christmas drinks at Starbucks! Heaven's light shone down upon my delicious gingerbread latte. Camila, Jessie and I head of to Camden Market (which is a lot like the Kensington Market area of Toronto). It had a lot of cheap stuff and a lot of artsy cool people and their crafts. We then walked to King's Cross Station (Jessie is a big Harry Potter fan), then along Oxford street. So many expensive stores. We then walked along Baker street until we saw the Sherlock Holmes museum. Splitting up, Jessie and I went to Hamley's (the most awesome toy store in the world). Sorry Dad, I didn't continue to tradition of buying a remote controlled car. We then went to the Victoria and Albert museum. Leaving for Nice tomorrow, I said goodbye to Jessie, met up with Camila and we took a bus to Luton, England. Staying at a airport hotel for the night.

*Side note. Upon getting to the hotel, the woman behind the desk asked us if we wanted 2 singles or 1 double bed. Confused, I said the 2 singles...only to realise later the connotation of her asking.*

Saturday the 3rd: So nice to finally sleep in a real bed and have a nice shower! We woke up some ungodly hour for our flight. As per usual, I got the full body check (hand stuck down my pants and everything!) I don't know why I'm always searched, guess its my intimidating demeanour. So we arrived in Nice, and it was cloudy. Warmer than Great Britain, but cloudy. We walked along the main drag, ate lunch by the beach and climbed to the peak of the city. Lovely pictures were taken. May I say, the bus system in Nice is ridiculous. Its beyond confusing and the maps do not make sense. Somehow, we figured out how to take a bus to the Matisse museum. It was very interesting as I had never heard of Matisse before.

Nice

Church in Monaco

Sunday the 4th: SLEPT IN! Our hostel was lovely, by the way. We spent several hours in the Chagall museum (whose art I do really like). Lunch was zee oh so typical french Kebab. After getting lost a few times, we found the bus to take us to Monaco. Monaco would have been lovely, were it not pouring rain. We walked along the streets, through a carnival, by the palace and a fancy church. Once we finally got back to Nice we were actually soaked to the bone. Having no dinner, we took shelter from the storm back at the hostel.

Grasse

Monday the 5th: We rose early today so we would have the maximum amount of time in Grasse. Ha ha ha. Firstly, the bus station to catch the bus to take us to Grasse was recently demolished. Thanks for letting us know. Secondly, today was the day they officially moved all the bus stations to temporary ones due to construction. Two hours of walking later, we found that right bus. So we made our way to Grasse (the perfume capital of the world). Walking along sketchy streets (this place was the utmost picture of rural France imaginable), we found the Fragonard perfume factory. A tour was taken and much perfume bought. We then went to the museum of perfume, which was way better than expected. We could have spent hours in there. We accidentally got lost walking back to the bus station and ended up in a really dodgy area of the city. Once we got back to Nice we had gelato. I actually forgot to mention it was BEAUTIFUL out today. Sunny and warm, just in time to leave!

Sunny Nice

Monday the 5th (Once all hell broke loose): We almost miss our train home, thankfully we made it just in time. Once on the train an older angry french man sits in the same booth as us, he was a lot of fun. It took us a while to realise, but the train was moving at a snails pace. People on bikes were passing us. It was then when we realised we were to miss our connecting train in Marseille. Goody. Once we got on a later train in Marseille, we found out that we no longer had seats as this train was filled with a bunch of extra people. We sat in the noisy area between two cars for the 4 hour ride. Hourray! So what at this point our trip (which was supposed to take 6 hours) had already taken 8, and we had only just arrived to Lyon. Thinking that we had to stay in Lyon for the night, thankfully, we discovered that there was 1 bus left going back to Grenoble.  Once arriving in Grenoble, we were lucky enough to not have missed the very last tram! I arrived at my place, only to discover I forgot the key code to get in my building (it was sense memory). I started shouting obscenities into the night, and throwing rocks at the windows of my floor mates). This is after 2 am, mind you. Thinking that I cant stay outside in the cold and have nowhere else to go, I frantically call the guy who lives across from me, Andrew. He was awake and opened the door for me!!! He saved me from inevitable robbery, sketchiness and death. I am eternally grateful.

So that is my Toussaint break! Whew, glad all this typing is over with.

Random facts:

-I don't think I ever mentioned this, but they don't generally use toilet seats in France. I guess public buildings are too cheap. Its kinda gross.

- Getting a carte de sejour (visa) is a bitch. 

-I just booked a flight to Berlin to see fancy German Christmas markets.

- I went out clubbing last night and was greatly disappointed by the amount of watering down of the shots. 5 tequila shots and still sober? Straight alcohol my behind.

-Its freakishly warm in Grenoble. Yesterday it was 17 degrees and was still above ten degrees at 4 am.