Romance Tokyoïte

Arashiyama.

2016-03-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

Japan is a beautiful country. That isn't breaking news. I don't think I'm wrong when I assume that the country is on most people's wishlists. It's not hard to see why. The culture is rich, complex and everywhere. Nature is wild, pure and easy to access, even in big cities like Osaka or Tokyo. There's always something to learn about, or discover be it modern or ancient. People are wonderful. Everywhere you look is worth taking a picture. Had I not been in love already, Japan would have stolen my heart when I first visited 4 years ago.

Whenever people ask me what my favourite place in Japan is, or what was the most beautiful city I have been to I cannot choose. I want to pick Kyoto over Tokyo for its amazing architecture and peacefulness, yet Tokyo is intriguing, charming and addictive. I cannot get over Kamakura, nor ignore the beauty and history of Hiroshima.

Even in Kyoto alone, you could choose different areas, prefer temples to museums, Gion to the more modern streets and little shops... And you could even take the train for a few minutes, and arrive in Arashiyama. Your choice would be then made even more difficult.

The day was hot and extremely sunny. Way too hot for an April day. With no map or plan in hand, we just walked around the city making our way through the rather impressive crowd of tourists. As we were heading towards the river, I noticed a man about to take a selfie with his mobile phone and moved aside to avoid photobombing him. Just when I walked past him he moved closer, took my arm, smiled at me and took a picture. He left as quickly as it all happened.

That isn't rare in Japan, my pale skin combined with my green/blue eyes and hair apparently make a very picture worthy combination. But usually people ask politely, with a big smile and a few giggles. This took me by surprise but it was quickly forgotten when the emerald blue ribbon appeared in front of us. The hills surrounding the river were a myriad of greens, some teenagers and couples were laughing in blue barks, families were walking in the shade.

A few kms away, the bamboo forest was a wonderful picture of lines and shades, rays of light in which parcels of dust were dancing.

That's one of the many charms of Japan; every leaf, every drop, every cloud and every stone whisper a poem of beauty and delicateness.

In one deep breath, in one glance, one can hear it, being hummed, oh so gently.

When travelling isn't that great.

2016-03-20T05:07:00.000-07:00

Travelling is a wonderful thing. The experiences you get on the road, the people you meet far away from home, the sceneries, the food, the knowledge, the historical legacy and a lot more ... are wonderful. They change you and never really leave you.

That being said, travelling can sometimes turn out to be ... not so nice.

The #1 thing that can momentarily (or for good) a trip is sickness. Getting sick while you're travelling is ... really a challenge. A challenge for your organization, dignity at times, and mind. I tend to get slightly panicky, quite scared, usually resulting in a worst state. I have been various sorts of sick while traveling, i've had conjunctivitis, really bad colds (when I was in Japan in 2012 I was coughing every night because of a badly irritated throat that lasted for about 2months, imagine coughing for 2months....), very painful period cramps, and i've also had the typical traveller sickness: the upset stomach and the diarrhea. When I first strated travelling I never bothered with taking medicine at all. But how I wish, I had! I could have used some in Russia in 2011, after faiting twice and spending half of the day in the toilets.

I was so sick and scared that I didn't see anything of Moscow but the underground, the hotel I was staying at, the supermarket which toilets I used and the venue in which the concert I was attended took place. Such a shame! My stay could have been pretty different if I didn't feel like I was dying every ten minutes.

A shitty mood can also impact your trip in a rather consequent way. Just like back home, when you're abroad things happen. You might argue with your travel partner, you might have a bad encounter with a few locals, dislike the food or for no particular reason be moody. Those things are out of your control. What you can control though, is how you respond to those things. It may be difficult depending on where you are, how long you've been traveling for and other circumstances, but you might want to remind yourself that this is a special time. You might never come back to that place, you spent some money to get there and you should probably try to enjoy the experience to the fullest.

During the same trip than the one that led me to Russia, I visited Stockholm. Most people who visited the city will tell you that they had a great experience! That it was a pretty city, that it was clean and edgy and that they would like to go back!

I had the worst time there, and I wasn't even really sick. For some reason nothing worked out. The staff at the hotel, the people that we met throughout the trip, the weather, the food... and the city, that I wasn't very fond of to start with, ended up losing all interest to me.

I am pretty sure I could have enjoyed the city at least a little bit more, had I been more mature and more experienced, because after all there's always something to be seen and discovered wherever you are!

in the line for the show, numbers for each person that slept outside in the cold....

Last but not least, a serious lack of organization or experience can make travelling a lot more difficult than it should be. When I landed in Moscow, for my first travel experience, I took a cab from the airport to the hotel I was staying at and was charged 130 euros... I also didn't bring any map of the city, or guidebook or had any knowledge of russian so that made every little thing very complicated and expensive too. I also had not checked with my bank what my authorized overdraft was (I ended up exceeding by a lot), I also hadn't printed out some important reservations ...

When I went to Japan for the first time, I hadn't packed accordingly, I had taken utterly unnecessary stuff and not only was my bag therefore very heavy, but I had to pay an extra fee on my flight back to Paris ( a big one). Out of few bad experiences I have had travelling, those are the ones I mind the least, but when money is involved it can have serious consequences on the rest of your trip.

That's why you want to plan things before flying off to a foreing country where wifi might not available, or information as easy to have access to.

If you want to hear more about my worst travel experiences (in details) head over to my youtube channel, where I have uploaded a video sharing some of them.

& let me know what yours are! There's at least one comforting thing about bad travel experiences : we've all experienced some!

Cabo da Roca

2016-03-09T10:59:00.004-08:00

This is probably not a surprise or news for most of you but I wasn't born in Paris. I was born in the very south of France, and lived about 15minutes away from the seaside by car until I was 18. Then I decided it was time to go to Paris and study. Well, it wasn't that easy and that simple, but ... let's stick to this. Growing up, I never really realised how lucky I was to live in a rather quiet town, in such a beautiful scenery. Now, I sometimes catch myself missing the sea, missing the beach and the overall atmosphere you only find where you can hear the waves and smell the salty air.

The sea and the ocean are pretty different, and I love them both. The first time I saw the ocean was in Japan, in Kamakura. Well, we now count a second time, and a rather impressive one.

Thanks to one of Yolaine's friends, we heard of Cabo da Roca and decided at our arrival in Sintra to take the bus to what was described to us as "an amazingly beautiful place". or something along those lines.

And it was worth the rather ... sinuous and long drive.

It felt almost too good to be true. The sun, how unexpected visiting this place was, the rolling waves and beautiful cliffs. This was such a great experience, one of the highlights of my trip to Portugal. And seriously, there was way too much blue for me to not be in awe!

Big Buddha and big luck.

2016-03-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

Let's start this post with saying that this picture is pretty cool. Because I am standing next to the 2nd biggest statue in the world. Yes. 100 meters high plus a 20meters base. A total of 120 meters, and a very very impressive statue. A Buddha that makes the one in Kamakura, no matter how much I love it, look really really small. The pictures don't pay it justice at all.

Back in April of last year, my sister and I travelled through Japan, and after visiting Kyoto, Nara, Akameguchi and Takao san, coming back to Tokyo and its skyscrapers felt a little bit too much like the end of this wonderful trip.

My sister and I spent the evening looking online for a daytrip from Tokyo, a last but not least adventure in Japan. Hiking spots and trails were many but we were both way too tired (don't underestimate how much you'll walk in Japan), so we decided to look up our other main interest : religious buildings. And we saw that less than two hours away from Tokyo you could see the 2nd biggest statue in the world, an amazing Daibutsu that you could even enter... our choice was made!

One of the things I love about Japan is how easy it is to navigate between cities, villages and sightseeings. Yes, knowing japanese does help but the buses, metro, trains are so efficient, the people so helpful that it's never a real issue. And if you remain in the most known and urban areas, most signs are in english anyway.

Finding the daibutsu wasn't very difficult thanks to the lovely lady who asked for us (twice) to the bus driver whether he was driving there or not. With us in the bus, two chinese tourists and other japanese people. We were the only non asian tourists, and even when we reached the park in which stands the Daibutsu, there weren't that many visitors. A surprise, given how affordable it is and most importantly, how beautiful both the statue and the surroundings are!

so many little buddhas in the big one

While we were sitting a few meters away from the Buddha, next to a pound an old japanese man came to us and we started chatting, in my rather meagre japanese. He had just gone through a surgery on his leg, and was talking weekly walks in the park, enjoying the nature and lack of crowds or cars. I had to agree with him, it was a wonderful place. Peaceful, beautiful, interesting and out of time. Out of the city.

I felt very lucky. I felt so lucky. To be there, to see those monuments, to meet those people, to share those moments with my sister. I can't even count how often I felt this way : lucky, while on the road. In Italy, in Ukraine, in Japan, in Portugal ... Lately I have been reading a few posts about how privileges and luck are important in travelling. Why it matters, and why no, a desire to see the world and savings don't necessarily make it possible to travel. Because there are many factors in my life that made it possible for me to enjoy a bento box in Ushiku, other than me working and saving money.

Here is a wonderful post by the brilliant Brenna, and another one by the blogger Oneika.

I will perhaps write a bit more about it, in a next post, because just like anyone who travels a bit, I get the question very frequently "but how do you afford to travel?", and the answer is much more complex than I'm saving and have a part-time job.

Lisboa

2016-02-27T04:45:00.003-08:00

I have been lucky enough to travel quite a bit within Europe. I have been in the north, the east, the west and the south of the old continent, yet there was a little piece of land that I had never set a foot on. I had never been to Portugal nor Spain. Not that I had no interest, I had actually been wanting to visit Portugal for a while, but ... it just never happened. There would always be a better deal on Germany, or another amazing eastern european country to discover, or... well, Budapest.

I am one of those travellers that is always torn between discovering a new country and visiting a good old lover. So this time, when my friend and I were planning this trip I naturally found myself in that position again. Venice or Lisbon?
To be honest, I really wanted to visit Venice again, despite having already been there twice. We eventually ended up booking flights for Lisbon, and I am SO glad we did.
Don't get me wrong, I would have loved walking in Burano again, and hearing italian all around me, but Lisbon exceeded my expectations. I knew the city would be lovely, what I didn't know was how much I'd love it. Almost as much as Budapest, which, if you know me, says a lot.

There are a few things that make me think " I'm going to live it here". Among those, architecture, people and the vibes of the city. I have a thing for slightly hectic, old, messy architecture. When different kinds of buildings, eras, styles and colours are all blended together in a street, I feel happy. When I get to experience multiculturalism, I'm happy too. I perhaps strangely, feel at home when I see asian supermarkets, indian restaurants and hear several languages in the same metro wagon. I also love narrow streets, little shops and restaurants, laundry hanging from windows and colorful walls.

People were also very lovely. I felt safe, comfortable, the metro was efficient and clean, the metro stations really impressive and artsy ... To make it brief, I loved Lisbon. As soon as I stepped oustide the plane, felt the sun on my face I knew it would be a good trip. Later, when we met the fruits&vegetables sellers down the road where we were staying, and we started chatting and ended up leaving with free oranges, I knew it would be a really good trip.

And when I saw all the blue walls, blue azulejos, the blue sky, I knew it would be a wonderful trip.

I still have loads of pictures from Lisbon, including some of the most beautiful religious monuments I have seen and many pictures of the amazing Sintra. So I shall see you very very soon, to share all that beauty with you!

Piran.

2015-11-23T09:36:00.000-08:00

While in Slovenia, my sister and I went to Piran. A wonderful and charming city in the south of the city, that is very blue. Blue the sky, blue the sea, blue the sheets at the window, blue the shutters... There's not much I want to write about Pyran, pictures speak a thousand words in that case, and yet... they don't really pay justice to this peaceful, sunny day we spent in... October ! I can hardly believe it was merely a month ago! Definitely a highlight of the trip, where the sea is you can hardly go wrong, that's for sure.

Slovenia 1 - Ljubljana & Bled

2015-11-13T01:44:00.002-08:00

Slovenia was breathtakingly beautiful. Even from the plane. It was fresh air and crazy gorges, with amazing lakes and dreamy sceneries. Nature everywhere, everywhere you looked. And a sense of being so small in comparison to the magnificient beauty of Nature. There's definitely nothing like walking in the forest, guided by the sound of running water and sensing how your body breathes in and out air, how it feels the touch of leaves and the temperature go down the deeper you go into the forest. ( just to make sure you realise how amazing it was, there's no edit at all on those pictures. ZERO). Now you can all save up and book a ticket for Slovenia and head off to Bled. do it!

Kamakura.

2015-10-11T05:11:00.003-07:00

It's been so long since I last blogged. I can't really explain why. Well I guess I somehow could. After coming back to Paris from the south of France, I hosted a friend of mine for about 3 weeks, during which I helped her write her final dissertation. Then I hosted a german traveler, and then an australian guy, and then a british friend of mine. After that I filmed a couple of videos with a lovely vegan couple (check them out here, they're talented!). And then university started again. If you add to that finishing my first novella, reading, making videos and finishing my vegan ebook that you can buy here, that leaves little time for blogging.
And it's a pity. One of my next new year's resolutions is probably going to be to write on here more frequently. And more regularly as well. It's probably going to be slighly difficult given that I'll be soon starting my second master degree. I'm taking linguistics as well, online in addition to literature. We'll see how that goes.

ANYWAY.
This post is not supposed to be about my how so hectic life. It's about one of my favourite places in the whole world, one of my absolute favourite spots in Japan : Kamakura. I have already mentioned that on here, and in a few videos too. But that's still accurate and valid, three years later. This time around we got to explore Kamakura a little bit more with my sister's friend, and we spent a very lovely day in the city, between the beach and beautiful temples. I'd go back in an hearbeat. I'd greatly and without a single doubt, trade Paris for Kamakura today. For the fresh air of the shore, the peace of the temples and the whole atmosphere of Japan. This little something that is impossible to describe or put into words.

Le Sud.

2015-07-27T11:47:00.001-07:00

The south of France... I spent all of my childhood there, and never quite realised what a paradise it can be. I actually had not gone back in three years for summer vacations. Even more surprising, it had been six years since I went to the beach. And I love the sea, the blue blue sea!
There's not much I can say but that it was a great, great time. I was definitely not expecting it to be such a pleasant and relaxing time but it was.
I even miss it a little bit... I'm glad it didn't take longer for me to realise how happy I can be there, and how peaceful spending time with family and friends, under the sun and listening to the melody of waves.

Nara.

2015-06-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Nara left us both with mixed feelings. While we loved Todai-ji, the deers, the house we were staying at and the weather, we found the atmosphere a bit ... particular and not as enjoyable as other cities in Japan. I have visited quite a few, from Hiroshima to Fukuoka and Kamakura, and they were all so different yet lively. Which is precisely what I felt like Nara was missing: life. It sure was pretty, and I liked it, but I missed the spirit, the life, the characteristic vibe that each city has and makes it so unique. You know how there are cities that you can never really picture in your head, which map you can not draw mentally? That's also what happend with Nara. It was also really difficult to find places to eat, as a vegan, which wasn't the case in Tokyo or Kyoto, and therefore, made our stay a bit of a struggle at times. But hey, it was Japan, and it was amazing nonetheless!

(a video will be on my channel, if you're interested in discovering more of Nara!)

Akameguchi or hiking in Japan.

2015-05-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

Exams are over! The year is over! My bachelor degree is over!
But it doesn't really feel like anything is over though, the only thing that's different now is time. I have time to blog, vlog, write, read and study(japanese that is). I have time to eat well, sleep well, go out and exercise. I have TIME, basically. And one of the first things I'm going to do with that wonderful time is write about a wonderful place I went to, during my wonderful trip to wonderful Japan.

My sister and I both love Nature. And I've recently discovered a passion I've yet to get used to, and which has to do with walking, walking,walking, sweating, being tired and waking up a bit sore the following day, yes, hiking. Now, I haven't done any serious hike.yet. I really want to, and I could use some suggestion or help, but I'm really thinking of making it one of my new priorities when finding where to travel.

Anyway, while we were in Nara( a post about that will come soon), we went to Akameguchi. Which is apparently, not well know, even from japanese people. Well, let me tell you. It SHOULD be!
The place is beautiful, peaceful, silent, no crowds, no tourists and lots of waterfalls!
There will be a vlog about Akameguchi on my channel, so if you want to see videos of our trip to Japan&not only pictures, head over to my YouTube Channel !

Japan// Prologue;

2015-05-05T13:17:00.001-07:00

I was in Japan. Finally. Finally I was in Japan again. And it was marvellous. It was the perfect trip, with all its flaws and missed rendez-vous, or last minute changes of plan. It was more than I expected, and also resulted in more pictures than I thought. So, before I manage to sort out memories, organise feelings, decide how to write about all those beautiful experiences, here are some of my favourite pictures of the first 3days of the trip. They all are images of Tokyo, a city that definitely echoes strongly in me. I need to write about what happened there and how I felt and feel now, I will. I just need a bit of time, and I'm impatient to share all of that with you guys, because it's positive and light. It's just good. Simply good, and sometimes, actually pretty often, this pure&simple good is hard to find. I hope you enjoy the pictures, and if you feel like it, there's a video on my youtube channel.

Here!

Le Louvre.

2015-02-14T02:21:00.001-08:00

I think it's safe to assume that the n°1 museum people think of, when they hear about Paris is le Louvre. However, this isn't my favourite museum in Paris, not even one I think of visiting often. Don't get me wrong, I love that place. It's magnificient. It's impressive. It makes you feel so small. It's such a strange feeling to be surrounded by beautiful art pices in such a beautiful setting. It's one of the rare cases when the diamond lies in a box that is equally as beautiful. To think Louis XIV used to live there before moving to Versailles...

But, as the most visited museum in the world, it's ALWAYS crowded. Always. It's also so big, that you end up spending the whole day in there. In short, it's a commitment. Which I'm not often ready to take. But when I do, oh Lord am I happy.

Back in the south.

2015-01-10T03:47:00.005-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!
I hope you started this year well, and are doing amazing.
I, on the other hand, have been very affected by the recent traumatic events that happened in Paris and cannot really picture 2015 as a positive year to be for the moment. I have been extremely shocked and feel deeply sad, added to the exhaustion caused by exams, the absolute shitty weather that we have and my birthday coming... I'm not in the greatest moods.
There's so much I'd like to say about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, about the politcs, about my beautiful country and about the fears I have, but also the hope and faith I feel, but I don't feel like I can share all of that online for now, and I'm not sure I'll ever be ready to do it.

So this post will try to be as light and joyful as possible. I'll try!
Most of you will know that I spent this Christmas season in my hometown city, in the south of France. Some of you will know, that I usually dislike Christmas and the New Year, and that I want nothing but for this time of the year to be over and go back to my beloved Paris. If I missed Paris this time as well, I felt something different while sitting on the train and watching the scenery passing by. At first I thought I was tired, or hungry, or thirsty or maybe all three at the same time. But even after drinking half of the bottle I had with me, I realised my stomach wasn't in cause. It was higher. In my chest. A twinge. I was sad to leave. I was so used to protect myself from any sort of negativity that I had not authorized myself to notice it, but I had actually spent some rather good times there. With friends and family, at the beach or cooking with my dad, walking the dog with my mom... For the first time in years I wasn't relieved to go back to Paris. I was happy, sure, I was happy to meet my love again, but I was already missing people. I didn't feel like fleeing from them that time.
I got up and headed towards the platform between two wagons, where my friend was waiting for me. He was also going back to Paris, same train but different wagons.
-Did you find your seat?
-Yes, no problem. What a gloomy sky...
He looked through the window. The sun that would greet us most days in our hometown had already disappeared. He nodded and added :
- I kind of wish I had stayed longer.
And I found myself replying that I had wished the same too.

2014.

2014-12-31T09:58:00.002-08:00

I know I haven't been writing on here for a while, and that upsets me. Probably much more than it upsets you. The year is almost over, and I thought it would only be appropriate to finish it with a post, similar to the one I wrote last year. Dedicated to 2014, to this year that was so quick and so full of emotions.

So here we go!

2014 started well. It's quite unusual for me, and seems to be for many, but this year started with many positive changes. I dyed my hair blue, a color I've always loved and had had twice already when I was younger. It felt like reconnecting with myself, on more deeper level than just hair. I started eating raw till 4, and it's been almost a year now. I cannot even tell you how GOOD this lifestyle makes me feel. It's amazing. January was basically a month of fruits&vegetables, with new hair and on top of that, many runs in Paris. Not too bad if you ask me, not too bad.

February was pretty similar to that as well. I increased my running, I started doing yoga and by doing yoga, I mean practising seriously. And upside down too! February is usually a bit of a boring month, not much happens and though this year was no exception, it felt good. Simply good.

March was a bit of an heavy month, emotionally speaking. I met with a person that I had never met previously, on a very quick yet teary date (friendly one that is). The past came back to me with much strengh, and this had me down for a while but thanks to the positive lifestyle I was living, and to some extra moments like my friend visiting me, or attending one of my favourite artist's show, I dealth with that without many damages. I also met MrHerbs, for those of you following me on Youtube or twitter, or for those who don't, a guy that I immediatly felt attracted to. He was nice, had a huge smile and a deep voice that left me speechless and looking pretty silly whenever he talked to me.

April. April, my favourite time of the year.More yoga, more food and travels! My sister and I visited Germany, Austria and Hungary. I had the joy to be in Budapest for the third time, visit Munich&Salburg, cities that I hadn't had a chance to go back to in years. I visited a bit more of Hungary, and added a city to my travel journal. April was one of the best months of the year, once again.

In May I hit 20 000 subscribers on Youtuber, which was such a great and humbling moment. I also discovered the best cookies recipe ever, tried a lot of different new foods and did a lot of headstands. I kept on seeing regularly MrHerbs, and grew more&more fond of him. Oh and I bought my first 10kgs of bananas.

June was amazing. Despite no travel this summer, I had a blast. I made a new friend, such a sweet guy down to earth and very talented! My friend who left for London visited me, I met a subscriber in the streets of Paris, Paris which was more beautiful than ever, I visited a lot of exhibitions with my sister and was at my best, running&yoga wise. MrHerbs&I exchanged numbers and had a proper date. Just great.

July. In July I hosted a friend of mine for a week or so, and thus did a lot of sightseeings. I also visited my aunt&uncle in the countryside, ran a lot, and baked a lot. Oh dear, a lot. I was just basically having quite a good time, seeing MrHerbs about everyday at his shop, eating fruits, doing early yoga sessions in the park I also received a package from a very very very important&special person for me, my first love, whom I am still in touch with and have the best relationships with.

August. ah August. The month that was the highest point of all this year, both in the great and the bad. It basically changed my whole year and gave it a completely different color. August was an awful month. MrHerbs came over at my place, and we spent a wonderful time. I was so extatic of having him over, but the whole story had such an unexpected and sad outcome. I was devastated and couldn't sleep nor eat for weeks. August ended with a lot of pain, and so did start the following months.

In September&October I tried my best to keep me positive and happy. I visited my friend for a few days in Belgium, and we also had a short trip to the Netherlands. My friend spent a bit more time with me in Paris, my sister and I took a few days off in Germany, saw beautiful castles and ate lots of vegan meals. But my heart and mind were still missing MrHerbs.

November&December were very busy months. I basically spent all of my time in essays&books.I found the time to jump into a train heading to Belgium, again, to wish my friend a very happy birthday. That was a surprise we had planned with a few other very very good friends, and it felt so good to be together again. I needed it. And now I'm back in my hometown for the Christmas holidays, spending time with my family&friends. I am pretty impressed with this year, that could have been almost perfect without this terrible heartache. I'm still dealing with it, but I'm doing better. I'm eating&sleeping&laughing, it cannot be that bad!

I did well at uni, I did well in my relationships with people, I grew more independant, tolerant and compassionate. I did well with myself, did my body&mind good. I wrote a lot, ran 16kms, got the splits, made new friends, and reached 40 000 susbscribers on Youtube. I'm excited for 2015, I think it's going to be an amazing year. I cannot wait to see what it will bring, hopefully some travels, a diploma, meeting again with very precious people and more improvements in yoga&running. Bring it on 2015, I'm ready!

Hohenzollern.

2014-11-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

One of the (many)reasons why I love Germany is the amazing sceneries including castles you can find dispatched through the whole country. It's become quite an habit for me to check which castle I could visit while I'm staying in a city, and this time around we decided Hohenzollern would be the perfect spot to discover while staying in Heidelberg.

Usually castles we visit are really easy to reach, even EltzBurg was easy to find, you only need a bit of courage and a good pair of shoes. I thought this one would be easy to find as well, and the internet didn't give me anything to worry about, so that's quite confident that we left Heidelberg and jumped intro a train to Hechingen, the city from which we were supposed to easily and quickly reach the castle. But, as you might have already sensed, this was nothing of an easy and little walk.

First of all, there was no sign to be found. We took a picture of a map situated in front of the train station, and started making our way toward the castle. At that point I wasn't worried at all, I know well how to read maps and I have a good sense of direction. Soon enough we could see the castle in our field of vision. And that's when I started to worry. It seemed far. And that didn't seem to change despite us walking and walking. Eventually, to make it short we ended up walking for about two hours. In a very beautiful forest I'll agree, but a forest on a very stiff hillside.

When we reached the top of the hill and entered the castle, after some killer stairs, we were sweating like pigs and I was only wearing a tanktop. I could feel the drops of sweat running across my back. However we felt relieved, we had made it! " I don't care what or what not, I am NOT walking back to Hechingen, NO WAY!" I remember myself saying in a loud and exhausted voice.

If only I knew.

After the visit of the castle we walked back to a parking lot a few meters down the castle, and asked for the next bus.

"There's one every hour, one just left a bit early, the next one is at 6.30"answered the lady who sold postcards, chocolates and pint with the picture of the castle on them.

My sister turned to me with a look of despair.

"Our train is at 6.40".

I laughed. dementia. I thought we just had to walk down the hill and we'd find other buses there. I was so naive and hopeful. We decided to take the road this time and not the path in the forest(thanks lord for that idea) and as the sun started settling down we reached the end of the hill. But there was no bus. Only what seemed to be, and surely was, the highway. I remember having read somewhere about how dangerous it was to walk on the side of highways, and that is was forbidden in some places. In addition to that we had arrived on the other side of the hill and had no idea where to go. It was getting dark and I couldn't decide which of the three villages I could see afar was Hechingen. However we trusted our guts and kept walking, the cars were passing by in an astonishing windy sound. As we kept on putting a feet in front of the other, we finally saw signs that said Hechingen : 1KM. At that moment I thought that was it. 1km was nothing! merely a few steps in my mind, I even thought to myself 'ah we could do that running in 5minutes!" But by then, the night had really fallen, and it was pitch black. We entered Hechingen, not having a single clue where we were. Once again, there was no sign to indicate the train station of the city center. We walked through this residential area for a few minutes, starting to worry about being late for our train. We finally met a lady who looked really troubled when we told her we wanted to walk to the bahnhof.

- It's not difficult to find (LIE) but it's a bit far away. Turn on your left, then right and then straight.

We were going to be late. After 10more minutes, I started running and told my sister to do the same. We ran for 10 other minutes or so and asked another lady. Keep in mind all that was happening after an already long and tiring day, at night in a city completely foreign in which for some unknown reasons there was no street lights or signs. A few streets later, we were completely lost and I could feel a) my sister about to cry b) my own smell. That's when I decided to turn on the internet on my phone, had a look at the map and, animated by a desperate feeling told her not to worry, we would make it. And guess what? We did make it. A few meters away we walked on a bridge that looked familiar, and with the help of the map that I had mentally took a picture of( btw, my camera had no battery anymore, hence we didn't use it to find our way back with the picture of the map we used on our way to the castle), we almost ran to the train station, an extatic look on our faces when we recognized the streets and stores and burning tighs.

We arrived 2minutes early, and dropped our aching bodies onto the train seats. At this point, all we could think of was a hot shower and food. Food that consisted of two vegan samwiches we bought in a hurry at Stuttgart where we changed trains, and hot shower we took when we finally reached the hotel. That sure makes a great story to tell, but I think it has taught me one thing: double check the distance and itineraries on google maps, don't listen to only one website.

EVER.

Heidelberg1.

2014-11-05T06:02:00.001-08:00

I'm a sucker for Germany. I LOVE Germany. I could even deal with its cold weather and early nights. I've been to a few cities already, Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Köln, to a few amazing places Neuschwanstein, Königsee, Sans-Souci, Eltz... And you'd think I'd get bored but that's actually the opposite. Going back to France gets a bit more difficult each time now. I miss the quietness and nature yet the convenient transports, the various restaurants and shops, the amazing vegan options, the castles and the little villages, the smell of fried potatoes and leaving stores with a tschüss!

I miss hearing german! I love this language, I miss laughing at some of their funny words, or filling up my bag with food so much cheaper than in Paris!

A while ago I wrote a post for my friend Colleen's blog (here) in which I was asked where I could picture myself living. I replied Tokyo, which is true, but Germany... I'd move there in an heartbeat. Without any worries. It feels so familiar, and like the perfect place to live according to my lifestyle and personnality. We'll just have to do something about your winters Germany, because clearly, my italian side cannot handle them very well. Even with gloves.

Pear&Almonds cake.

2014-10-27T14:13:00.001-07:00

I haven't foodblogged for a while, is that even a word? If not it should be!

It's not that I haven't been cooking and eating though, that's a daily thing you see. Last thing I do before sleeping is usually either checking instagram and/or reading about new recipes and products (vegan of course)! But I've just been busy with university (hello essay about gender) and since I only eat cooked foods for dinner and that it's already dark at 6:30pm, it makes it hard to take pictures good enough to share with you!

Buuuut I have a week off, and before leaving for Germany I am using my time wisely : aka baking. and eating. (also writing essays obviously).

I used to dislike pears. I thought of them as uninteresting apples. And I didn't think of apples as highly interesting anyway. Fortunately I have changed my mind and I now really enjoy the juiciness and tastiness of pears, which are, much more enjoyable in my opinion than apples. But we're not here to compare fruits, we're here to talk about this cake.

This fluffy, sweet and incredibly light pear cake. Not only does it look pretty it tastes amazing, yet is so simple to make! And cheap too, because let's be honest, not having to pay for crazy ingredients make things taste even better. Do I need to mention that it's completely vegan? and that no one would notice?

No fancy ingredients and a very easy&quick recipe, for a delicious result. Could you ask for more?

Ingredients:

-2 pears

- 2 eggs substitute( I use either 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds mixed with 3 tablespoons water, or a regular eggreplacer or you could also use half a cup of applesauce but the eggreplacer works the best)

- 1 tbs of canola oil

- 1/4 cup of sugar

- 1 tbs vinegar

- vanilla drops (as much as you want)

- 1 tbs of baking power & 1 tbs of baking soda

- 1/2 cup oat milk (or soy, almond,rice...)

- 11/2 cup of flour

- 1/2 cup of corn starch

- 1 tbs of cashew butter (optionnal)

- 1/4 cup of vegan butter

- some ground almonds

Preheat your oven as you would usually do, and then peel and slice the pears.All you have to do is mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, melt the butter and then mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl BUT the vinegar. Then combine the two and mix well. Now add the vinegar and mix (do not overmix). Pour into a baking pan, place the pears so that they're pretty and happy, add the almonds and then hop! in the oven for 25/30 minutes! (I like to place it on the lowest shelf of the oven, at least for the first 20minutes).

My sister and I ate it all. In a day. No, we don't regret it.

Autumnal walk.

2014-10-15T09:47:00.001-07:00

Oh fall how I love you. I love the way you let night slowly fall onto the city, putting the world into a misty state that doesn't belong to the night nor to daytime. I love the walks I take before dinner, when it gets cold enough to wear a scarf but not enough to make me want to go back home as soon as I put a feet on the pavement. I love the smell of the leaves and fresh air, the smell of the rain that's never too far. I love the soft light that turns grey skies into something strangely peaceful instead of gloomy. I love pretty much everything about you fall. I love how nostalgic you always are to me, yet so comforting and familiar. Really, fall, if I had to choose, I'd take you over summer! I'd choose the oversized sweater and the comfortable socks to the bikini and the tank top. But it's great we don't have to choose isn't it? That's how Nature does things ; perfectly.

the longest and most confusing and confused post ever.

2014-10-06T14:09:00.001-07:00

I often get comments and/or messages from people telling me about how strong, how positive I am and how much it inspires them. And that's amazing. That's far more than I even deserve, that's such a great and extraordinary thing to hear or read; someone telling you you inspired them, in some way or another. Because life isn't just about oneself, at least I don't think it is. In the small or the biggest details and possibilities, helping and bringing positivity to others is one of the top things we should aim at. And so, receiving such messages is always heartwarming, and it is both very humbling and very great. Great as in YES! we can share, we can exchange, words and feelings can have an impact through a screen and make a difference. It sorts of erases all the walls we think separate each and everyone of us from one another.

And seeing that, I sometimes feel guilty or uncomfortable when talking about less happy things, less positive stuff, or events and facts that aren't lesson worthy. When I talk about my social anxiety, which I don't even do that much, it always ends with a positive note. Because that's the truth, it got better for me, it can and will get better for you, if you do seek for help. With time, love and baby steps.

I came on the Internet with no intention or goal, but now I can safely say that I want to exchange with others by documenting my life. I want to show a normal, daily life and make it useful and helpful for others. For all of those who feel lonely, strange, left alone, misunderstood or rejected. Because I've felt this way when I was younger and I had no one to turn to. I had no one talking about asexuality when I was lost and didn't understand what was going on in my body and mind, I had no one talking about how you should focus on pleasing you and doing you before pleasing others, how you shouldn't worry if you don't fit into your group of friends, or how it's okay to follow a different pace, or how your worth is not only to be found in your physical appearance.

The Internet gives me the possibility to speak and be heard, by many, and I want to use this opportunity wisely. I want to comfort, reassure, inspire and empower people by sharing my personnal experiences, my doubts, fears, dreams, worries and convictions, loves. Lately I've been starting to express myself about asexuality, and how it had affected my life until now.
And recently, after I started to come at peace with that, and embracing it even, something happened. Now, me vlogging and being so open online, this particular thing was made very 'public'. I met this guy, that I was really interested in. I had a crush on someone, for once! I was excited about it, I was happy about it, I was happy to see him twice a week where he was working, I was content with that and I talked about it online, and when things went further, aka us talking, meeting and getting closer I also talked about it online. And then obviously, when things turned wrong I talked about it online as well. I was debating whether to do it or not, because I was 1/ ashamed of feeling that down 2/worried people would think of it as pitiful and pathetic or think I was looking for sympathy 3/scared of the image I'd give to those people that tell me how joyful, inspiring and happy I am, and how much it means to them.
I still did. Because I had decided to start sharing it and didn't see any reason to suddenly pretend it had never happened, and also because I needed to get that out of my chest. I needed comfort, I needed some love. And as much as I do get love from my friends and family, I'm, I've always been and will always be an Internet person. It just is natural for me to share my life online.
I just want to be real, and I want it to be true.
I am a positive person, I am an happy person, I am strong and stay true to myself, yes. But I'm not that strong. I'm resilient, but I do get hurt more often than not, and I dare to say, more often than many of the people I know. However this time was quite hard and I'm still not over it, I'm still dealing with it, and turning it inside my head for hours, wondering how I could make that a positive experience. Because there's really not much to be found positive in that. That was me before the incident.

And that was me after the incident. It doesn't even look like the same person. I changed my hair in a rather ridiculous attempt to be more mature, more 'normal'. I cried every day, I almost fainted in the street, I decided I'd go for everything this person wanted from me, no matter how uncomfortable or scared I was. I begged for him to see me and talk to me. I literally begged him. I brought him more food and never stopped smiling when I was hurting so much inside. I couldn't sleep and stopped eating. I'm not super skinny on the picture below, but I'm definitely much skinnier than I normally am. I slept on the side of the bed and on the pillow he used, and I kept the bottle of wine he drank.For more than a month I didn't eat nor sleep, nor laughed nor felt happy or at least, not aching and hurting. And during these days that I spent lying on my bed, doing nothing, listening to nothing, thinking of nothing but him, replaying the scene over and over in my head, accusing myself, blaming myself for not having done this or that I felt so ashamed of who I was. I felt so ashamed of my asexuality, ashamed of the way I talked, baheved, looked, dressed, laughed, of what made me laugh, of the things I had said. I felt violated, after I had let someone enter my house, look at my books, pictures, memories and cupboards, lay on my bed, touch me and promise me things, I was now alone, ignored and with no answer. And when finally the story ended, it got worse. I couldn't stay alone at all, I let the bathroom door opened so that I could hear my sister talk, I called my mom as soon as I had no one with me anymore, I feared metro rides when I had no signal and no one to talk to.

Even in videos, I look tired and older. I look exhausted. However I tried hard to control myself, to not let it show and while admitting my sadness I never really expressed it. Because I wanted to be strong and positive, because I didn't want to bother the internet with my pathetic heartbreak. But this is not only an heartbreak. It's rather difficult to put in words, and even more difficult to understand I suppose for people who aren't asexual, or have no issue with sexuality or intimacy. But to me, that's a turning point, something broke in me and I feel abnormal again. I look at people around me and it's as if someone were punching me in the face. I don't want to have sex with people, I don't really want to be in relationships either, but I can fall in love. I almost fell in love this time. And I cannot help but think of how sad that is. I've never heard anyone talk about that, I know very few asexual, I don't want to label myself, I don't want to enter a community, I don't want like some people suggested to try to find asexual people to date or hang out with. Because I've always been about mixing people, embracing differences and everyone's uniqueness. I don't want to be labelled and always have to be reminded about that part of me. But now I look at couples and people in love and it hurts. Because I know that if I fall in love, I won't get to live this love. I guess it's easy to understand how that's far more complex and painful than a regular heartbreak, those already being difficult to deal with.

So I might be slightly different, I might talk about it from time to time, I might cry online a few times, but I am not going to pretend that I'm fine or am just going on with my life easily. I'm not going to dwell into it either, but I needed to write that down. To be true to myself, and so that people know that if I don't forget about it or him easily, that is because of deep and very complicated reasons. And not only because a story ended. Which is anyway already a reason to be quite sad in itself.

If you've read all of that, thank you, that was quite long and I didn't really know where I was going with that. I'm not sure I expressed myself properly but really, I don't think I can on that topic. It's too confuse, confusing, painful and vast. But I hope I made a few things clearer, without destroying the image of the positive me, that is not only an image, but really me.

And to prove it, here's me now.

Maastricht.

2014-09-30T13:45:00.003-07:00

This summer was very very, almost unbelievably calm travel wise. I still managed to step my foot on two unknown countries, Belgium and The Netherlands. I've always wanted to visit Amsterdam but have always been discouraged by the prices of both transport and rooms. I still want to visit it badly, but at least the Netherlands aren't a completely foreign country!
From Liège where my friend lives, Maastricht is only a couple of hours away and a few euros too. You'd better believe I didn't hesitate a second before booking the train tickets!
And it's true, what they say. Everyone rides a bike there!

Forgiveness

2014-09-22T04:17:00.001-07:00

On Resilience and Forgiveness.

This morning I awoke from a dream that left me uneasy and a bit nostalgic. Unfortunately the human mind is made so, that you keep on missing people even if they hurt you. You can try to go against that inclination, you can waste a lot of time and huge amounts of energy to hate, resent and blame those who did bad to you, or even yourself. Or you can let go of those feelings and save yourself more pain than you already had to face.

For some of us it's easier said than done. I happen to be, or to have become with years, someone who doesn't hold grudges. Truth is, I very rarely feel like blaming or resenting people for what they might have done to me. I would tend to blame myself more. You should have done this, and not that, how you could you do that? how stupid of you to not have seen that! Either way, holding onto those negative feelings do more harm than good. If it does any.

Years have taught me to forgive. And even the word forgive wouldn't really describe perfectly the feeling I have, since I rarely resent in the first place. As cheesy as it sounds, I am, most of the time, sorry and sad for people who hurt me. Either because I know that they're not in a place that enables them to be good to others, or because they're simply too immature to realize what they're doing. When this guy that I like(d) a lot, cut me off, simply because I wasn't reacting and behaving like most girls he had met before, it sure hurt. It still hurts to be rejected for no good reason, but to have not conformed to the pattern that someone applies to everyone else, without taking each and every person's particularities in consideration.

But I am sad for him in the end, as much as I am for myself. It is sad that he cannot accept, love and embrace others differences and personalities, if they are not what he's expecting. It is sad, that he fears getting involved with someone on a deeper level than casual sex. To think of him as someone who has issues and insecurities as well, make it impossible for me to hate or dislike him even. I don't have harsh feelings at all, instead I feel sorry that I couldn't help him. I am sorry that he won't know how amazing it is, to take life as it is, and people as they are, with all they can teach us.

But when people hurt you, over and over, it is tempting to change. To withdraw into oneself, to build up a shell or an armor. To let others' mistakes, wounds and insecurities transform you. People often call me naive, and advise me to stop trusting others that much. I know it's taking the risk of being hurt, disappointed and even broken. With years I have even become afraid to be broken for real, to be hurt so much that I could not move on. But the biggest failure of all, in my opinion, would be to become a bitter person, a way too careful heart that wouldn't open to others beauty and light.

If anything, I'd rather be hurt but give people a chance than miss someone amazing in fear of ghosts from the past and "maybes" that I have no clue about. I also hope that those who may have hurt me, be it in little or big ways, would learn something from it. We often hear and read that people come in our lives for a reason, it's important to remember that we also come into theirs for a reason. And perhaps, am I, are we, here for people to learn, change and feel.

To embrace a life of love isn't always easy, but I find it way easier than to live a life of hate.

Liège&Bruges

2014-09-15T13:35:00.003-07:00

Sometimes life surprises you. In both ways. Belgium was a very good surprise. I had no expectation and wasn't in a very positive mindset, I was only wishing for some fresh air, new streets, unknown faces and sceneries. I'm glad I booked this 6hours bus ride to this charming country, that I ignored for too long and will definitely be visiting again. It's true what they say, to travel is to live. Travels heal. And friends are precious, the number one precious thing in my life. You don't need to travel to the other half of the world to discover great places and make beautiful memories. Sometimes all it takes is a few miles and a bus.

Some love and square pictures.

2014-08-31T13:22:00.002-07:00

Those are only a few pictures, easy and quick ones that I felt like sharing with you. I've been feeling better this past week, I've been going out, I've been connecting again with myself and focusing on the beautiful and joyful things ; friends, food, fresh air and Paris. I really hope you don't get bored of seeing Paris from every possible angle, I think I'll never get tired of stealing moments and looking at them again and again. I always speak of Paris in a very loving and poetrylike way, but to put it simply and maybe in a more down to earth way as well, it is so important to love where you are, where you live. I know not everyone's lucky enough to feel this way, and I know for sure, that living in my hometown would have me feel ... not as good as I feel here, despite the gloomy weather, the cold, the pollution, the crowded subway and the constant noise when you're on big avenues. I know I could see Paris as a busy, tiring and hostile place if I put myself into this mindset. But first of all, I'm in love with you Paris, and I know you're not a busy and crazy city. And secondly, I've come to learn to look at things differently, and this makes a huge difference. A rainy day used to be a wasted, depressing day, now it's a relaxing, fresh day during which it feels good to go out for a walk and listen to the drops falling on the leaves of the tree. A sunny day would be a bit too hot, but now it's amazing to sit in the grass or walk along the river. Having to be out early was annoying, now I breathe in clean air and enjoy the silence of the streets or the pinkish tone of the sky. I'm able to appreciate all the different faces of the city, the different neighbourhoods, the different atmospheers and I'm always looking for new places to fall in love with, new buildings to be amazed at, new streets to wander in, new parks to read in, new shops to enter, new cafes to try and new people to meet and talk to.

When I was feeling so down and broken, back into some old patterns of not enough sleep, no will to do anything, no energy to pick up the phone or bite into anything, when all I could do was sigh and cry and feel so tired that I couldn't even rest, there was however one thing that eased my pain and put my heart at peace for a while. And that was the beauty of Paris. Untouched, perfect and safe from any pain. It was calm and soft, delicate and light. I remember walking back home after a 10kms run, and the sun was shinning so gently through the leaves, creating some beauty marks on the haussman buildings, I could hear children scream in the square on my right, and on my left this metropolitain sign, a picture in motion. A gift, I couldn't help but think, a gift I'm grateful for. To be able to see the beauty of things, the beauty of a place to feel this beauty. And for a moment, as long as I waas out, into you Paris, I felt alright.

It's a two persons job, it's up to you being the beautiful always perfect city and me, opening my eyes and my heart a bit more everyday, learning to embrace life and that even when all I would like to do is shut down everything and everyone, close myself to everything.

The way you look at things and people doesn't only say a lot about you, it does have an impact on what happens to you, it does have an impact on how you feel and what your life is like. It's worth working on it, it's worth training your heart and brain to seek the light, the joy and the love in everything, at anytime.

Creamy vegetables soup.

2014-08-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't call myself a soup person. At least, I didn't use to be. I never really found them satisfying or that good that you would want another bowl. But growing up, a few things changed, and now, I won't say no to a good soup, or one refill. Or two.

This soup, had me eating the whole thing. And I mean it. The whole 'marmite'. It was so good, comforting, healthy and just the perfect texture in my opinion, not too liquidy yet you could still enjoy the stew. It was also very cheap, easy and quick to do. Which... well. is always a plus!

I guess letting it cook for an afternoon or so would make it taste even better, but I didn't have time for that, and the end result was nonetheless, pretty delicious!

I basically used the vegetables I had in my fridge, which means :
-2carrots
-2potatoes
-1 zucchini
-1/2 onion
-1 shallot
-2cloves of garlic
-1 little can of corn
-1 little can of flageolet (beans)
You'll also need :
-vegetable broth
-soy milk
- spices : nutmeg, cloves and black pepper.

First off, you'll want to add some oil into your pan and cook the onions, garlic and shallot for a little while. Then add in the carrots and some vegetable broth. I usually add the carrots before anything else, because they take a long time to cook! Then proceed to adding the potatoes, zucchini and let it cook for about 15minutes or so ( I brought it to a boil and then cooked it on medium).

Once the vegetables are tender, you want to add some soy milk to make the soup creamy! I also added spices at that point ( black pepper, nutmeg and a few cloves). I let that cook for a bit more, probably around 20-25minutes, on low heat.

And BAM you have it. It's really easy and super delicious. The taste is so comforting and sweet, yet you can really enjoy the flavors of each vegetable, which makes it really healthy tasting- do I make sense here? It is anyway super healthy, and adding the beans make it very rich and nourrishing! In my opinion it would taste amazing with some garlic bread. just saying.