Well, this is it. My last weekend on the road. In 3 days time I'll be boarding a plane and waving goodbye to France and the continent to return home to England. And tomorrow I turn 19; what a way to spend it in the boiling hot south of France. As with any good blog post at the end of an era (cos that's what the past 2 months feels like), I'm going to do my 'highlights', like a clip show they throw into a television series every now and again.
My Top Food:
3. Rabbit in Tours - This was the first time I had ever tried rabbit and it was cooked so beautifully, I did feel a little sorry for Thumper, but it was worth the sacrifice.
2. Pork Chop with pepper sauce in Lyon - Lyon, the home of French cuisine, served me up a stunning pork chop that melted in my mouth and made me so very happy to have taste buds.
1. Steak with mushroom sauce in Tours - Tours just wins outright in the food departmenrt, but the steak I had in a very posh restaurant which had a special lunch menu was delicious. I'm salivating just thinking about it.,...
My Top Night Experiences:
3. Watching fireworks from the Hotel de Ville of Lyon on Bastille Day and then going to watch a jam session at an Irish pub - classic!
2. Meeting a guy named Maria and a girl called Valerie in Bruges who were running an absinthe bar in a house which was formally a Freemasons residence.
1. Watching the World Cup Quarter Final and Final in Maastricht - although the latter didn't go to weel for the Dutch, the atmosphere was still electric and the people very excited.
My Top 3 weirdest/most bizarre experiences
3. Stumbling across a woman (middle aged and rather crazy) peeing in an archway in Brussels connecting the exit of the pub I was in and the main street - I had to wait for her to finish her business before I could cross the pee-strewn threshold!
2. Getting into a conversation with a man in a bar in Brussels who turned out to be the owner, who then took me out the back for a glass of champagne to explain the fascinating history of what he called a café where people came to think and philosophize on life.
1. Sharing a room with an insane Polish man in Brussels who snored like a monster, took two showers in the morning and demanded to use my internet despite there not being wifi in the hostel.
All in all, the past 2 months have given me some crazy adventures, allwoed me to experience Europe and now I feel I will turn 19 tomorrow with a bit more worldly knowledge. I will miss life on the road, and miss the company of the many friends I have made along the way - but I look forward to catching up on 2 months worth of sleep!