Cutting lavender... never thought I would be cutting lavender in France. The real pecularity is that we are cutting lavender in northern France. Apparently lavender is commonly grown in the south, so this farm we are working on is a real novelty. People come everyday and walk around the grounds, some have called ahead to request a picnic and they share these picnics underneath a willow tree in the middle of the lavender patches, some people wander up to the cafe and share drinks or snacks and consider purchasing lavender oil, homemade chilli jams or little scented stalks of lavender. The pace of this place is very comfortable, perhaps this is because lavender is supposed to relax you. Some days I'm so relaxed working in the patches that I nearly fall to sleep. We work 5-6 hours a day in return for a fantastic cottage to sleep in and relax. We also have all of our meals included, and we're not talking peanut butter and jelly. We've been treated to French cuisine, english cuisine, Dutch cuisine tons of different and yummy drinks all the while sharing laughs and stories. The owners are bob, originally from England, and corey, originally from holland. Easilycspoken I believe for both maria and I, this has truly been one of the finest highlights of our trip. It's sort of been like a holiday from our holiday. It's been so nice to wake up knowing somebodies going to tell us what to do, instead of making an itenerary, which starts to become exhausting after two straight months... strange thought isn't it? Working for ten days while on vacation because you feel like you need a break from vacationing. So far we have spent three separate days cutting lavender. One days cutting renders 60kilos of the purple stuff which is the amount required for one distillation. The day following a cutting is the day for distillation. It smells more fantastic than I could describe, it smells like......lavender I guess.
So, so far maria and I have cut 180kilos for a total of 3 distillations. The work is so satisfying. The lavender patches are alive with the constant buzzing of bees. I can't believe we haven't been stung. Maria has a constant conversation with the bees, "mr bee, I asked you nicely to move, shew,shew." then she runs from the patch briefly swatting and squeeling at insubordinate bees. We saw a humming bird hawks moth. An insect so brilliant it demanded three names. It's eradic and beautiful as it draws oil from the lavender buds. Other flightful insects encountered daily are: moths, various butterflies, and the one I named, "the giant I hope it doesn't sting me because it's as big as a 747 red and black meanest son of a gun on the block some sort of monster bee." this is a long title, but it's completely appropriate. We weave back and forth through the rows performing our various jobs, wondering if we haven't just stumbled across a piece of paradise. I now sit relaxed atop the cafe porch watching the subtle dances of the working flights of various pollen and oil collectors. I take as many mental pictures as possible. Our days are slowly coming to a close here in Normandy and I regret that we must leave, but I'm so satisfied that we came, and planted, and cut, and weeded and perpetuated a lifestyle for corey and bob that both maria and I can definately relate to. Next blog will be from st. Tropez.

one blog in four days isn't that bad... Right?

well!
A few things we haven't covered. I will try to list them and the highlights from each in a couple of smaller blogs. We are hoping to be able to add pictures very soon (not possible from the iPod. If anyone knows how to do this, let me know). We have some great ones that we would love for you to see.
So.

Paris:
Super super long walking in Paris. Lovely walking but tons of it. One of the most, if not the most, beautiful city we have seen so far. It could have something to do with the warm (read: hot) weather and bread. Oh my, the bread. Lovely soft elastic, airy, holey inside and chewy, crispy, flavorful outside...yummmmmm. And the cheese! Oh my. When you are living off very little and trying to cook every meal you get very excited about cheap food but you get especially excited about cheap good food. For instance, a large wheel of good Brie for 2 or 3 euro, fabulous European yogurt for 50 cents and very fresh, very good fruit for pennies. Amazing! We are once again in the land of grocery store and market heaven. (note: in France, wine is cheaper than water).
Paris has been a city of sandwiches of cheese and bread for us. No problemo. It has also been the city of amazingly massive iron towers, beautiful people, a language we don't understand, incredible artwork, beautiful churches and relaxing gardens full of parisans writing, reading and napping. I don't think anyone in Paris works. Some notes about the city of light (and love): on Wednesdays, the Louvre (yes, the one with that painting) is only 6euro after 6:00 and is open until 9:30. Score! There are a few scams that you will surely see over and over. The first is the gypsy looking gal holding a piece of paper. She asks 'excuse me? You speak English?' then hands you the note to read. They all have the same note. They are all: Bosnian refugees with a sick mother at home, a brother in the army, and a bun in the oven. Well... Fool me once...you know the rest. We got to the point of saying 'no' when they asked if we spoke English. I would laugh and shake my head- trying to send the message that we knew what they were doing. The other was a little sneakier. A man would "find" a ring in the dirt in front of you. A gold ring. Oh la la...Is it yours, sir?... Let me try it on your finger. (and swap your real ring for this faker.) we saw it twice. The poor second guy had a ways to go with his 'oh! Look at this ring I found' act.
Paris is lovely though. The eiffel tower at night is spectacular, the Mona Lisa is a bit small and over rated, notre dame is huge (and a bit over rated), the best tower to climb is the bell tower of ND, and as we found, the best things are free in this city of history and art. We were charmed. The only thing better would have been bikes (which you can borrow for free for 30min at a time) and more time. (and maybe more cheese)

quick note from pari

We arrived in Paris a few days ago from Ireland. It was a good flight, and we immediately had to take a bus to Paris. Ryanair tells you they will take you to Paris for half the price, but they only take you half the distance. So after an hour bus ride, we were dropped in the middle of Paris, 5 miles from our hotel. We decided to walk the 5 miles to have a nice walking tour of the city, and to save money on the subway expenses. It was a brilliant walk... we saw the Arc de Triomph, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame in the distance. Amazing. We are now staying on the outskirts of Paris with some very kind people we met on the couch surfing website, Jerome and Annick. While in Paris, we hit it hard, in one day, we saw and/or toured Notre Dame, Luxembourgh Palace, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower. It was the perfect day, and in all, we walked 13 miles, our feet were sore, and we rested well that night. Now we are recovering from two very intense/romantic/perfect days in Paris. Annick and Jerome live in a very beautiful city outside of Paris called Melun. We leave tomorrow for Normandy to work on the Lavender farm for one week. It should be fun, different, and interesting. We will write more later when we have more time. Today we will travel a few miles up the road to see the castle used in Leonardo Dicaprio movie The Man in the Iron Mask, pretty neat.

we came on vacation to work!

So! Quickly here, because today Russell and I are going to try and hitch hike to see the Cliffs of Moher. Hopefully it will work out! If it does, this is what we will see

Pretty amazing huh? Solid rock rising over 200 meters (not feet) straight out of the ocean. Wow.

But! Good news quickly. Russell and I have applied to this program called workaway (similar to wwoff (I think that is how it is spelled)) that provides volunteer jobs to visitors abroad (and at home, I guess) on farms. We have scored a week on a lavender farm in Normandy. We think that it will be an amazing week, and I believe that we'll be right. We're looking forward to it! And hoping that they will give us some hats like this




We'll write more soon!
Sending much love from across the pond on this, our last day in Ireland.
Maria

Diamond Hill, Crazy bus drivers, and Ennis

We had some wretched weather in Letterfrack on our first full day. It was a little difficult to sit around and watch it rain knowing that we were trapped in the confines of our peculiar hostel. The owner of our hostel would walk around asking people each day if they liked Frank Sinatra. No matter what people would answer, he would play the same "Old Blue Eyes" songs everyday. He would also walk around making boasts like, "I'm sober today!", or "Someone set the ashtray on fire again." These might not be the most bizarre comments ever, but the fact that he kept all guests updated on his sobriety and the condition of the hostel's ashtrays was a little strange, all to the soundtrack of Sinatra. Anyway, we decided to get out a little and walk the roads to a local furniture school, and then to a handweavers store. The roads were so outrageously narrow and curvy though, that we were too nervous to continue our walk, so.....drum role please......we hitchhiked. It wasn't the biggest deal in the world, but it was a only a second for Maria and me. My first experience hitchhiking was with a guy in the mountains of North Carolina. He picked Scott and I up at a trailhead to take us into town. As he was getting in the truck, he declared, "If you guys smell something in a minute, it's me. I just farted in my fishing waders, and it takes a few minutes for it to air out." He was a real character and I'll never forget my first experience hitching. This experience was memorable, but not as smelly. Success!
Our next day carried us up 1700 feet to the top of Diamond Hill. It was a very touristy walk, but it was incredible. The whole trail lead us through a protected bog area. The ground was so soft that it resembled walking on a trampouline. It was a strange sensation to bounce while hiking. Anyway, the view from the top offered us incredible views of the Connemara National Park, twelve peaks known as the Twelve Pins, the Atlantic Ocean, and tons and tons of lakes and ponds. What a walk and what a way to finish out our time in Letterfrack, Ireland!
We took the bus back to Galway to stay with our flatmate friends for two more nights. Luckily Maria medicated again, as the ride back proved to be even more violent than the ride in. The bus driver was running over an hour behind and he was driving like his life depended on it. He would hit these little hills so fast that the bus would nearly jump it felt like, then on the back side of the little hills, the bus would come down so hard that it would bottom out on the road, scrape, make pounding sounds, and then smell of hot metal and leaking fluids. People looked positively terrified. Aside from feeling like we were riding in a charter bus European version of the General Lee from the Dukes of Ireland (the General Lee is a car from the television show Dukes of Hazard), the ride was beautiful. I was nearly overcome by the urge to yell "yeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaw" everytime our bus "jumped" a little mini-hill.
So, we had a few lazy days in Galway, trying to plan for our next country, France. Last night, we shared in an incredible meal of duck and potatoes that flatmate Mike cooked for us, had some fun conversation, traveled to their friend Jon's flat for some music and further conversation. And today, we are in Ennis, Ireland. Bernie, another one of the flatmates very kindly, very very very kindly, brought us here by car on her way to Cary to see her family. Neither Maria, nor I have been in a car since Edinburgh. Thank God for the kindness of new friends, I don't think Maria or I could have survived another Irish bus driver:) This will be our home for the next few nights and we fly out for France on the 18th. We hope to see the Cliffs of Moher while we are here in Ennis. It is a short bus ride, but as aforementioned, they can be unsettling and exciting! So we'll see. Otherwise, our current hostel overlooks the ruins of an old church, and Ennis looks like a grand place to get to know over the next few days.

Galway to Letterfack

Our travels have now brought us to the western reaches of Europe. To look on a map Is wild. We are on the west coast of Ireland in Galway and the closest country to our west is Canada. We have been luck enough to be aquainted with four flatmates (Bernie, Cairon, Anne, and Mike) who have graciously taken us in on their spare bed and allowed us to call Galway our base for a while. Galway is a plesant city experiencing the height of its tourist season. The streets are narrow and can hardly accomodate the ocean of people that flows through. That doesn't mean that people don't try. I'm not an aggressive walker but I feel like it is a dramatic scene in a movie when we walk down them. Maria being pulled further and further from my grasp. Unlike the movie, however, we are always reunited after a few steps. Anyway, Shop Street is the main street for busking. If you didn't know (and I didn't until I got to Europe) busking is performing on the street for money. I plan on singing and playing the guitar for a few days while we're here but if that doesn't work, maria and I have come up with some other ideas. For instance, me creating sounded effects while she mimes working in the kitchen. Maybe people would give us money just out of embarrassment for us. Since being in Galway we have toured old churches, walked the coastline, strolled up and down shop street watching and listening to the buskers, and participated in a traditional music session at an old Irish pub. Bernie found a guitar for me (she plays the squeeze box). The session consist mostly of traditional Irish tunes that are fairly easy to get the hang of, which was nice. They invited me to play two traditional American songs so I chose I'll Fly Away and Michael Row Your Boat. Being the nervous wreck I am, I forgot half of the eight words of the second verse to I'll Fly Away, but everyone was nice about it and joined in singing on the choruses. It was an awesome night. Last night we attended another of the flatmate's gigs. Cairon plays all sorts of piped instruments and his band is incredible. It was fast paced and full of energy. The room was packed, and the energy was so high that people were dancing with no concern for the fact that they could or couldn't dance. Now we are lying in bed in letterfrack. It is about 60 miles of a long, hard bus ride to get here. Maria took Dramamine this time and fared much better (slept). The samecant be said for a small boy on the bus...anyway, Letterfrack is spectacularly rugged. We watched the sun set over a lake this evening and will climb up Diamond Hill tomorrow. Hope all is well and we will try to post pictures soon. Night night

the perfect pour for 250 years

Russell and I were happy to be seeing a new place, but even happier to be changing currency to be on the Euro instead of the mighty British Sterling. We were looking forward to a little break in the expense this trip is costing us so far. WRONG. Ireland might be on a currency with a better exchange rate, but the prices are some of the most expensive we've seen so far. In fact, we were told when we arrived that Ireland is the second most expensive country in Europe. hmm who knew? So! Dublin began with rain (of course) and a long search for our hostel with no map. We stopped in a pup for some bone warming Irish Stew (it would be nearly impossible to be a vegetarian in the country) asked directions from a scrawny looking guy with a backpack who kind of knew where we were going, then some nearby locals (drinking Guinness, of course) jumped in on the conversation and tried to give directions...we set off again nearly more confused than when we begin. The rain had stopped though, which made the night quite nice to walk in. Dublin is a very large city, and has lots of streets..many which we walked on. Anyway, after quite a long time (and directions from two police officers, a girl who didn't speak a lot of English, and a hotel desk worker) we stumbled (quite literally) into our hostel. We checked in and found out we were rooming with two Finnish girls who spoke better english than we (well, almost anyway). They were the perfect roommates. We walked out the door to the pub across the street to have a pint (and a half) of the best Guinness either of us has ever had. Here we found out that everyone in Ireland drinks Guinness, that they are very particular about how it is poured, and that football (english football and american) are girl sports and the only real 'man' sport is hurling (which we plan to watch on the telly on sunday). We had a short evening, full of conversation with three very Irish men (who all played hurling) and went to sleep for our first night in Ireland. So! We woke up the next morning, had free breakfast (score!) and were off to see the Guinness Storehouse. This is one of the few touristy things we felt that we should absolutely visit. If you've ever taken a fun visit to the Coke Factory in Atlanta (worth a visit if you find a free day in Atlanta, by the way), you know what this is like. Five floors devoted to the love of beer. We watched virtual beer being virtually made, tried to take artsy pictures (some of which we plan to post soon!), watched lots of Guinness ads from the last century, took quizes, became 'master apprentices', and learned how to pour the perfect pint (then drank it). We saw some beautiful views of Dublin in the 'gravity bar' in the head of the beer. Here is what I mean by that The entire Guinness Storehouse is built in the old storehouse of the Guinness Factory (storehouse means it was where they added the yeast...) but the center of it has been remodeled to be the largest pint glass in the world (no, really, the Guinness book of world records says so...but maybe they're biased) if filled, this pint glass would hold 14.3 millions pints of the black stuff. Anyway, the gravity bar was at the very top, where the head would be. 360 degree views of the city. We left the museum to the beer that is 250 years old this year and headed out in the city. We saw incredible churches, including one that had parts built in the 8th century. We stumbled upon a free tour of another, not quite as old...only 12th century.wow. Then we touched the 'lucky stone' (we'll let you know if that's a hoax or not)
The end of our first full day was a late afternoon snack, dinner of pasta and peppers at the hostel, some internet time looking at couch surfing and lots of enjoyable talking with our roomates. It was around 2am when I asked "what time do you have to get up?" and they said "oh, around 5:00". Russell and I finally went to bed so they could get at least 3 hours of sleep.
The second day in Dublin was quite nice (and not expensive) we spent the day doing things for free, more churches, nice walks, park..we saw the birthplaces of (and monuments to) Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw and headed back to the hostel to pick up our bags and set off on our train to Galway. After a little misunderstanding about the train station we were to leave from, we found our seats, put on 'Wait, wait, Don't Tell Me' (podcasts are amazing) and hit the tracks.

So I'll leave it at that and let Russell fill you in about Galway so far later. I think that is plenty to digest today. But some things to think about...
Have any of you played hurling?
Did it feel manly?
What do you know about Couch Surfing?
Do you know how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness? (If not, we'll teach you! It really is an art)

Scotlands largest city and rainbows

To our friends who check for updates daily,we appologize. We only have internet every now and then, so we are limited.
Oh Glasgow! We came in on, once again, on one of the most beautiful train rides in the country (we know this because the consession lady on the train gave us a post card that said so!). Our first full day was spent touring a few different museums. We saw a great exhibition of edvard munch original prints. Included in these was the famous "scream". I'm ashamed to say that my most scholarly comment was "that looks a lot like mccully Culkin he applies aftershave in the movie "home alone". The end of the day marked our acceptance of the fact that our clothes smelled positively horrible, so we looked into a laundromat: 5 ponds per load, geeze, so we refused the laundromat and chose to hsndwash them ourselves in the sink of our room. We are still awaiting several items to dry before we pack for our flight. Yesterday we attended church at the Glasgow cathedral. Massive and unaffected by the reformation, so most of it dated to the 15th century. We then attended the Glasgow fair, where we witnessed this crazy german performing stunts atop a 185 foot sway pole, it was awesome (some of it was so unsettling and unnerving to watch that maria and I had to turn away several times for fear of the guy falling). We then watched the bay city rollers as they closed out the fair. It was an exciting day, and fun for the whole family. Now we are preparing for our flight to Belfast on easyjet. Wish us luck, and we'll talk to you anew from a new country.
Fact: Scotland gets tons of rain...tons. Even the locals will tell you to expect 4 seasons on one day. But with all that rain comes lots of rainbows. Lots of them. So right now, as we prepare to walk to the bus station loaded down with full packs ( and full bellies from our cereal and toast) and say goodbye to Scotland, it is pouring outside. So I'll think about all the rainbows that will happen because of it and we'll follow the rainbow to it's end in Ireland... And maybe they'll be a giant pot of hold at the end!! Gold or not, send good thoughts for a safe flight, if you don't mind. Now on to country three!