So I finally pulled myself away from it. Home, that is. No no, the other one. Paris. (oooh, I love being able to say a thing like "Paris feels like my 2nd home!") Of course, the reason it feels so much like home, the reason I stayed nearly two months instead of the previewed few weeks...well, that's a no-brainer. The people. My Paris friends. Regionally speaking, were it not for the unfortunate fact that Paris isn't a coastal city, I would damn never leave! It would all be too perfect. I swear I kept trying to pull myself away, but for example when my friend Julie calls up with free Disneyland Paris day passes, well...it's just not time to leave yet! haha. Night after night, weekend after weekend, low key, strung out, whatever it was...the young in Paris never stop! I loved living in Paris, enjoying the day to day life of it all, but then I had to keep reminding myself that I was travelling, otherwise I could truly 'get stuck' (in oh-so-pleasant a way) in Paris. I needed a new vista to feast my eyes upon. So I went to Holland. Again. I know.....But I reeeally like it there! And I missed my friends there too! But first I had to say goodbye to these friends....
For my unofficial last night in Paris, I invited my friends over for a nice sit-down dinner, a way to say thank-you et à plutard...see you later, rather than goodbye. And so I undertook the feat of cooking and baking a feast for 15 people. That's a lot of pumpkin pie! (ooooh no, don't get me started on the perils of hunting out canned pumpkin in this nearly-perfect city!)
Probably reviewing the goofy (NO pun intended!) 'Disneyland Paris' photos (Laurence, Julie and I)And it was, of course, the most beautiful sendoff I could've asked for...My eyes welled up with so many tears as I choked my way through a lil' thank-you toast to my friends. It was unbelievable. I couldn't have asked for a better emotion to come bubbling out of me when having to say goodbye to this wonderful bunch. One of my friends Laurence designs really funky-styley hats at markets around Paris, and I was fortunate enough to be presented that night with one of her handmade creations. So much...SO SO much that I will treasure about my time spent in Paris. My memories are absolutely incomplete without a single one of these people in it. What an amazing distinction friends make in my life. I truly could go on, I assure you....
Brought to tears as I give my friends a lil' thank you 'speech' in my new 'KiLiN' creation ;)And so, continuing my affair back to my other love, Holland. A different criteria of perfect....flat, green, oh-so-stylish, bikes. Not necessarily in that order. As I lucked out, I got to see all 3 of my girlfriends in Holland. This time I stayed with my friend Maren who has been busy this past year and a half picking up the Canadian twang in Whistler, and it was a treat getting to see her again on her home turf! Even Karlien, my former 'hostess with the mostess', came up for a visit from the deep south of Eindhoven! I rounded out the trip with another quick visit with Binnie in Amsterdam to dance dance dance...and I was spent. Time to peace out to the coast baby, for three weeks of ocean lovin', salt-air breathin', and wet coast chillin'....in Jersey! Yeah, Jersey. No no, the other one. Think, Jersey cream. Jersey potatoes? The original Isle of Jersey in the English Channel Islands. You'll find it, with a magnifying glass I'm sure, just off the coast of Normandie, France. It's there - and I'm here, lovin' it!
Grouville Bay, Jersey
Been dreamin' bout beach combing time!Once again I am proven that I am so fortunate to meet the people I do. I arrived in Jersey not quite sure of who I was about to meet, or what kind of place Jersey really was, but it has been a delightful exploration on both accounts. Sure that we could make no mistake in finding each other as I described over email what I looked like and what I would be wearing, I arrived looking for..... "Well those aren't blonde dreads" dad's old friend Sarge says to me as he greets me...well they aren't green! C'mon! I saw right away what made him dad's friend.
View from the window where I check the weather every morning :)We load my mammoth of a backpack into the back of his truck....note the Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia bumper sticker. And the Vancouver Aquarium ones. Oh, and the Bean Around the World paraphernalia....where am I again? Right. Back to that Canadian 'twang' talking beside me.
Dad's old partner in crime...And so the journey begins. Bienvenue chez Sarge and Edwina, with her son David and his girlfriend Tracey next door. I take a small sidestep back in time as over the next week I am regaled with stories of my dad and his friends when they lived in Horseshoe Bay back in their wild 20's. I got some good dirt on my dad, but I promised I would conceal the source when I sit dad down and have a lil', *heart to heart* with ol' pops in a few months time....indagate a little further to see if we can't fill in some of that lacunae he keeps so hidden from his kids!
Delivery day, all shapes and sizes of orange!We did the grand tour of the whole island in my first week, it was wonderful! Well, rather...in one day. Make that one afternoon. With breaks to get out along the way and walk about. A few hours really.
These are NOT the famous jersey cattle, don't let them fool you! 
Coincidence that it's located on the corner of BURRARD Street and something or other?!There is a little coffee shop that you Vancouver-ites might know and love over there, called Bean Around the World. Well did you know there is a Jersey version? Dave owns this wonderfully charismatic coffee shop in town, and it has been a great hang out for me to while away the rainy afternoons in town. They held a great Halloween pumpkin carving contest and for me it was absolutely wonderful to be a part of a tradition back home that I think I am beginning to love more as I grow older. I never realised that outside North America - it's really not a big deal! Well here, it was. I don't think I'd gutted a pumpkin and carved it since I was a wee little one, and I thoroughly relished in all the Halloween spirit of everyone. Not to mention the fact that the pumpkins donated for carving were grown by Sarge and Edwina - not bad!
Taken for the Jersey Evening Post...these islanders are crazy!
David's interview with BBC Radio Jersey
Dave and Tracey were quick to scoop me up and take me out for nights on the town, nights in, day trips out and about, meeting friends...I remember being almost taken aback when we went out our first night to the pub...little did I know we would end up at most of the nightspots in town that night, and looking around at all the girls in their ritzy glitzy mini dresses and high heels....hang on....I will admit I expected Jersey to be a tad more agrarian than this, but...well alright then, there goes that assumption getting stomped on all over that dance floor!
http://www.jerseyvip.co.uk/cgi-bin/ImageFolio42/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Clubbing/The_Drift/2008/October/31_October&image=DSC_0043.jpg&img=&tt=
and
haha sorrrrry but those are the only photos I have of the 3 of us together!! Dave, Trace....we reeeally ought to rectify that!
To be perfectly honest, I have nothing but positive, great memories and compliments to my hosts for the utmost warmth they have shown me, but I simply cannot concentrate beyond this pathetic attempt at late night writing, because...well, in less than a handful of sleeps, I will be in Morocco with another stopover in Paris to meet the oh-so-fantastical Bree, my friend who is flying over from Vancouver to meet me for this trip that....yup, pinch me, still feels like a dream. And I'm not even there yet! So forgive me if this is a much lesser attempt than usual, but my distraction is so heavy on me! Please just enjoy the photos of Jersey, and if you get the chance, come to Jersey one day...it is absolutely worth a look.
Much love....
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