22 May 2003
EuroTrash Eats France!
I had a long-postponed vacation from the end of February to mid-March 2003, most of it spent travelling around the perimeter of France. Here’s a summary of the trip.
This trip was Ian’s fault. He was going to Paris in mid-February to spend a couple of weeks with his boyfriend, and he knew I was stressed out of my gourd in Seattle and long overdue for a vacation. So he said “meet me in Paris in late February!” I couldn’t resist, somehow.
But I don’t vacation well…it’s difficult for me to unclench, to drop out of my day-to-day routines (work as well as home) and forget myself enough to even come close to relaxation and enjoy the scenery and experiences I encounter. So rather than schedule an itinerary in advance for a trip I couldn’t picture happening in the first place, I simply booked the flights to and from Charles de Gaulle airport (and, after some squirming, a 6-day Eurail pass for a three-country region) and agreed to leave the rest of the travelling to chance and impulse.
There was a definite need for me to take this trip: except for a quick evening in Tacoma, I hadn’t been outside of Seattle in 13 months, I hadn’t had a vacation in 2 years, and I hadn’t seen Paris in just over 4 years. And work and home stresses, as well as general what-am-I-doing-with-my-life frustrations, were really overwhelming me. So off I went.
(a small caveat: I want to put this tale online without further delay, having worked on it for over a month, but as time permits I know I will be adding details here and there to the narrative or clarifying address/contact information for the restaurants, for example; all I can promise is that the date above will reflect that of the most recent update, and I’ll try to flag updates within the text so repeat visitors can check out the new stuff)
Text © 2003 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted