Is it possible to write about France and not talk about the food? Much more plastic conscious than ever before, I didn’t buy any of the little cups of fruit yoghurt, or the chocolate mousse at the supermarkets, or anything that stood there on the stands in single-use plastic. But staying in a French family […]
Chartres
I visited Chartres last about ten years ago. When I told my French family that, they were concerned. Would I like to go to the same place again? Should we try to do something else instead? Was there something else I had in mind? I shook my head. I remembered how struck I was by […]
Paris
I have so many stories about Paris by night. During the exchange programme, we were sorely disappointed because Paris by night turned out to be just Paris by evening because we went in May and were told we couldn’t stay too late. As a result, as soon as the lights of Paris started coming on, […]
Travelling to France during the Strikes
Only yesterday I read about Paris transport being set to return to normal after a 45-day strike. 45 days. It’s a long time. For part of this time, we were in France too, and there, we learned about why these strikes are important to so many people. Despite my faltering, rusty French, we spoke about […]
My Year in Travel
I’ve seen and experienced so much this year! I brought 2019 in in beautiful Pench, shivering in the cold and rejoicing in the sight of a jackal and a leopard amongst so many other wonderful wild animals. Later the same month, we travelled to Sikkim and Kolkata, a city I love. I also wrote a […]
Chambery to Torino
From Lyon, I went to Chambéry to meet my correspondent from the French exchange programme and her family. It was a lovely stay, though short. My ‘Maman’ in Chambéry is a boat-driver, and, as I was there in summer, she had long hours of work, so I did not want to impose on them for […]
Lyon
On the 15th of June 2006, I validated my second Eurail pass, officially valid for fifteen days. Maybe the official at the station was being nice; maybe he could not count. He marked the end date as the 30th of June, giving me 16 days of free travel. Building up to my departure from Grenoble, we […]
Paid Artists
I have been learning dance for 22 years. Yes, that is a lot. Often, people ask us whether this means that we have our own dance classes. No. That is not the only reason to learn dance. “How much would you charge for a performance?” is the next question. “It depends on what sort of performance […]
Cet espace …
“Yuk, what is that disgusting smell?” I asked. My sister chuckled and pointed to a board – “Ici, je fais ce que je veux” – “Here, I do what I want”, accompanied by the picture of a dog. I found that lovely. Not only were there designated zones where dogs could do “whatever they want”, there […]
Musée Dauphinois
“My parents loved the Musée Dauphinois,” a friend told me. “It was the best one of all.” Intrigued, I decided to go. As usual, I had nothing to lose – the museum was free for those under 25. It was farther than I expected, not being a fan of climbing the Bastille alone, but I […]
Isère
The river Isère gives a region around the Rhône-Alpes its name. Left to my own devices for a long time, I wandered around, exploring Grenoble and the region around it. Grenoble’s Bastille was deliciously confusing. I had wonderful, detailed ideas about the history of the Bastille and the storming of the Bastille and all of that, […]
Seshan/XB
Nisha had a ‘Carte 12-25’, which entitled her to ridiculously cheap tickets on trains in France. When she went to buy tickets from Paris to Grenoble, she produced her card and booked a ticket for her sister and herself. Instead of asking for my name (bound to be a complicated Indian name, of course), the gentleman decided […]
Straight to the Louvre
The conversation I overheard while I was at CDG airport convinced me that I simply had to make the most of my youth and of being young in France. I landed in Paris on the 4th of June, 2006, a Sunday. It was the first Sunday of the month, and I was in Paris. That meant […]
Flying Alone
“Window or aisle?” “Aisle, please.” I took my boarding pass and boarded the flight. No sister with me this time. No one to hold my hand. No one to exchange sparkling glances of excitement with. Sure, I was going to meet her, but on this journey in 2006, I was alone. The journey to Milan […]
Backpacking through Europe
That year, we went from Salzburg to Munich. We spent a few hours at Munich and then went to Berlin. And from Berlin, northward to Amsterdam. Our night in Amsterdam was another night out, but after so many journeys and so many crazy backpacking experiences, we’d figured out a few things. We had Eurail passes that […]
Indians in France
(Part IV of The Crazy Travelogue) My sister, our French correspondent and I were sitting on a bench outside a bookshop, when two young men walked past. After a few moments, they turned around and walked back. Ignoring our French companion, they turned to the two of us brown-skinned people. “Excuse me,” asked one in […]
The Crazy Travelogue: All About Food
This is part three of the crazy travelogue about the French exchange programme. Much of our day, especially in the beginning, seems to have revolved around food, if my diary is anything to go by. On the 22nd of May, 2004, I’ve written about melon (not exactly a unique experience) and a tart (‘not sweet’) with […]
The Crazy Travelogue: French Exchange Programme – II
‘I don’t think anyone cried,‘ I’ve noted in my diary. What? I read it again. I don’t think anyone cried. I frown as I read it. It is a singularly strange thing to have noted down. We were going on the French exchange programme – a four-week programme. I have no idea why seventeen-year-old me wanted someone […]
The Crazy Travelogue: French Exchange Programme – I
When you are seventeen and off on Fergusson College’s famous French exchange programme, everything seems special. There is nothing that is not worth noting down. Now, I chuckle in delight. There is so much to remember. We begin with what I call the ‘cycling-shorts drama’ in my excited record of each detail. We had been […]
Not the Mona Lisa
Entry to the Louvre is free on the first Sunday of each month, and I landed in Paris on the first Sunday of June. Jet lag is a luxury that people who have time and money to spend in a foreign country can afford. I couldn’t. Whatever debate may surround the aesthetics of the pyramid […]