InterRail - Part 1

Thanks to the desperate desire of a holiday and browsing through heaps of nostalgic photos, I decided to blog about my InterRail journey around  Europe in 2007. Though really the main reason for this post was the realisation that I was starting to forget little segments of the trip, something I really don't want to continue doing and despite planning to write about it shortly after returning, I only managed a couple weeks worth and now have no idea where that is! Anyway, it was the first extended absence from home but luckily I had the company of friends - Hannah, Katie, Rachael and Chris to be exact! Our first non UK destination was Cherbourg, France and to be honest I remember very little of it, except the sickness of my travel companions on the ferry from Portsmouth, and now all I think of is walking through the perpetual grey! There may well be more to Cherbourg than grey but seeing as the majority of my memory is drawn from the photo above, I doubt my opinion will change anytime soon. Instead of hanging around in Cherbourg, we journeyed straight to Paris and to our marvellous 'Hotel Lorraine' which, despite the less than luxurious interior and rickety lift, is conveniently located right next to Gare de L'Est and therefore made innercity travel very simple. Whilst booking, there was the promise of internet access and breakfast but in reality all that was on offer was a man who greeted us in nothing but a thong in our hallway! Of course we visited such places as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and Notre Dame as is the duty of a visitor in Paris, with the occasional barrier jumping on the Metro to get between the destinations! During the one day that there was sun, we ventured down to the river Seine and witnessed people dressed in Venetian masquerade mingle through the crowds. One of the most intriguing attractions of Paris was the Catacombs, it's interesting history, eerie atmosphere and walls of bones certainly made for a change of scenery from the usually impolite crowds on the surface. It was in Paris that I tried Horse meat for the first time, that I know of anyway, and I wasn't a huge fan of the taste but luckily I was only trying a bite of another's meal! Foolishly I'd only brought with me one memory card, I'm not quite sure what I was thinking but I was also photographing in Paris at the highest pixel quality, resulting in many deleted files to make room later in the trip! Due to that, I was left with mostly generic imagery but here is a handful anyway.

After our wet but enjoyable march around Paris and the sights, we headed to Dijon for the next few days with no real itinerary and to be honest not many plans at all, turning up without a hotel booked and fortunately it didn't take too long to locate one! Hotel Chateaubriand was suitable enough, the room Chris and I shared had been recently redecorated but what is highlighted in my mind when I think of Dijon is of course the mustard, which was as you can imagine plentiful! Mustard aside, Dijon also had statues of rather unusual subject matter, in particular giant Wellington Boots and a Polar bear. During our stay we  meandered through  the streets and came across an antiques fair but unlike in Paris, we spent a considerable amount of time relaxing and one occasion drinking some rather unpleasant cooking wine by mistake! Finally, who could forget the Owl Trail of Dijon!

Photos by K.L.V.