Un euro, un euro, un euro.

Today I started the day by meeting some friends at a market they had talked about in Belleville. When I arrived I could see the market stretched all the way along the main street of the 20th arrondissement for miles and was bustling with shoppers. We joined the throngs and I realised why it was so busy, everything was 1 euro!!! For Paris, that price is insane. It began with clothes piled high on stands and millions of hands avidly rifling through for the bargains. A couple of us found some gems and for 1 euro, you can't really go wrong in buying a rain jacket or shorts.

Next we moved on to the food, my personal favourite. The markets in Paris are unlikely anything I've ever experienced and is definitely something to do while in France. The vendors were constantly yelling out 'un euro, un euro, un euro' and people were pushing and pulling their way to the cheapest stalls.

I ended up getting a little crazy. I bought a huge bunch of bananas for .40c which I have since divided up and given to my flatmates. Bought in the heat of the moment I don't think it was realistic to be able to eat them all before they spoil. I also got three giant punnets of strawberries for 1.50euro. Insane!

Everything was so so cheap, there was every type of fruit and vegetable imaginable, as well as fish, cheese, milk and even beauty products and lollies and chocolate (I couldn't even look at the stalls for fear of buying something. And given the amount of sweet stuff I brought back from Germany it's definitely not needed.)

Such an awesome market that I've vowed to make my regular Tuesday and Friday haunt. It's only a short bike ride down the canal and a quick wee stroll through the ghetto, which I think adds to the experience.

But bang on 2pm the stalls are cleared up and by 2.10pm you wouldn't even know there had been a market (bar the swarms of people all looking sick from too much fruit and vege consumption.) We managed to stay so long that they began to pack up as we were leaving and thus getting rid of all their product. This resulted in even more food! While trying to buy tomatoes, 1kg for 1 euro, instead the man emptied his whole crate into our bag, resulting in about 4kg's of tomatoes for 1 euro! If only I had a friendly, local homeless man to offload some of the surplus to. I'd either make his week or give him the runs.

On the plus side, I'm never doing my fruit and vege shopping at a supermarket again!

Productive day.

And there's plenty more where that came from.

Trip to the Ritter Sport chocolate factory definitely a success.

Not at all embarrassing that it took about 4 trains, a bus, a walk and 3 and a half hours to get there. All in the name of schokolade.

Lebensmittel

Millie and food have a pretty reciprocal relationship.

She eats it, and it refuses to let her go.

They're pretty 'attached'.

Ahahahahaha.

Today.

Started the day with lunch in the cafeteria of Millie's university which was quite an experience. It was like being in the US, lining up army style to get out daily special plate which today consisted of a German dish I've forgotten the name of. It was noodles with lots of cheese and topped with fried onions. So delicious. And massive! Also had tomato soup and cucumber salad. All for 2,60! Definitely not in Paris anymore... Spent the lunch in a jumbled mixture of French, German and English and staring out the gigantic windows lining the cafe at the most spectacular view of the lake.

We followed up out massive meal with a stroll through the forest from the uni to the supermarket where we picked up more special german goodies! I am in heaven in these German supermarkets. Everything is unbelievably cheap and their haribo selection is out of this world. Pretty sure I've found my new drug (the previous one is starting to get hard to get my hands on...)

Tonight we are having English speaking people over to Millie's flat and then going to a big party at the uni! With two dance floors... Can't wait!

The land of haribo (really really cheap haribo)

I have finally arrived in south Germany! After an awesome day in Zurich in which I almost fell asleep standing up countless times and actually lost count of how many times I tripped as stumbled over my own feet due to lacking the energy to lift them all the way off the ground, I finally boarded the train to Millie's newfound home. I lost count of how many times I fell asleep on the train but luckily had got on the right one (always a wee bit of a worry with my lack of patience and preferring to ignore common sense) and before I knew it (really, I thought I had been on the train about 10 minutes) before I was awoken from slumber by the familiar 'Konstanz' amidst a sentence of utter confusion, (and yes, from my dribbling...)

When I got off the train and looked round I couldn't see Millie, until this random girl with a short fringe and dark hair was running up to me with the trademark bop! Ah!

All of a sudden I felt much more awake and typical Millie had brought a little feast along with her, so off we headed to the waters edge despite the overcast, cold weather and tucked into haribo gummy bears, pretzel with Vegemite, chocolate and wine! And of course, got waaaay carried away chatting.

Yesterday we talk a wee stroll along the Rhine and into Switzerland, just casually. It was a Sunday so there were no border or custom patrols. Guess I know what day to smuggle my black market goods through.

The night was spent forcing Germans to speak English so I could understand followed by Millie's neighbour coming over and cooking us crepes and playing Settlers of Catan. I didn't win, obviously.

Today I spent the morning walking through the streets of the old town and doing my best to combat the never ending rain, which was somewhat successful. Except when I walked to the end of the jetty. But I'm preferring to ignore that glitch.

One of the highlights has to be the supermarkets. Food is so cheap it's ridiculous. And dangerous. I have pretty much made Millie's room look like a
5 year olds birthday party preparation. Lollies and chocolate everywhere!

Tonight there are lots of festivities because it's the first week back at uni and lots of new students are arriving. There are a few parties lined up including ending the night at a club called Berrys that plays Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys and people love. Can't wait!

KONSTANZ!!!!!

I have arrived!!!!!!

Of course, food first.

Zurich!

So here I am, sitting on the bank of the Zurich lake watching the lull from the passing boat and listening to the harmonic melody of a charming man playing the flute. What more could I ask for.

Switzerland, you are beautiful. I may have had a disrupted and confusing 3 hours of sleep but you've pulled me through. Your undeniable friendliness, abundance of stunning, old style architecture, complimented with large green spaces and lets not forget, that beautiful large expanse of water, and you've wooed me. However I must admit I'm a little confused as to what language you're really going for. I hear tiny snippets of accented French, mainly German and am always spoken to in English, except at the supermarket where I encountered upon a very one sided conversation.

Your currency baffles me. I gave you 20 euro and you the equivalent CHF swiss francs you gave me back consisted of 4 measly silver coins that haven't seemed to have gone very far. But I will attest to your chocolate. Those 2 blocks I picked up from the supermarket have topped off my walks, and as I sit here, fingers cold but still moving, and more importantly, still awake, you've won me over.

You're not Paris, Rome or Berlin but you're Zurich and you're not trying to prove otherwise. You're content just as you are. I can't remember the last time a city made me feel this calm...

Here I come!

Currently packing up and putting pretty much everything I own in a suitcase once again. Zurich/ Konstanz I'm coming your way! Have no idea how long or where these travels will take me.

Shame about the 5am start though...

Roaming the city!

Sciences Po

Revisiting my studious days by hitting uni to use the printers. Waited about 20 minutes to get a computer and the printer malfunctioned once again when I was using it. Sciences Po, I do not miss your library.

Found a wee memorial to the Directeur and some kind of rap competition happening though. I have no idea why. That's Sciences Po.

Lazy Saturday's.

Currently cozied up inside my apartment with a bizarre French series playing in the background and Hunger Games freshly downloaded onto my iPad! I am eating mes oeufs chocolat (way too quickly i might add. They are almost gone.... And it's a day early) with the loud rain outside pelting down! What else? Ummmm I just booked a train to Switzerland! Two week school holidays start next week and I'm off to Germany with a minor Suisse detour! So excited!!! Apparently Switzerland is home to the most expensive McDonalds and is an almost unaffordable place. Needless to say I probably won't be there long.

In other news, today was the first day I biked in France! After scoring a free card for the velib bikes from a friend, I feel significantly more Parisian. I am getting closer to learning how to navigate not flipping the bike on the dangerous uneven cobblestones, avoiding wayward pedestrians and not getting hit by the out of control, toot-happy drivers (which with my rash decisions proves harder than thought) and still remembering to tenez la droite!

Phew.

C'est dans la boîte.

So after finally getting more than 6 hours of sleep in a night last night and having been able to not stare at my computer for long hours of the day, I feel vaguely less Zombie-like and more connected with the outside world, rather than walking through it in the wee hours of the morning and starting again, mere hours later. But what more can you ask from an Independent Film Festival?

The long-awaited weekend (for me, 'long awaited' really translates to about a month) took place over the weekend, ending on poisson d'avril, or April Fools, though luckily this beared no evil circumstances on the festival and all prevailed, somewhat smoothly.

My role as 'social media content advisor' actually turned out to mean something and I can now tell you with confidence that Facebook and Twitter really can be stressful. Talk about too many friend requests! But really, the weekend pretty much turned into a game of how many people could tell me all at once that they wanted their articles/photos/videos on social media in the shortest amount of time possible. By the end of the first day I couldn't even see the idyllic backdrop on my laptop, poised to calm and relax me, due to the overflow of photos and videos that took up all the space. As well as this, I managed to overload and crash my computer half way through the second day and discover that when technology goes awry, people are still blamed for it and my laptop's inabilities suddenly fell in my hands.

Luckily we had as many laptops as angry French customers (an abundance, actually) and I was able to grab another and get back to work, just after I thought I'd found a way to escape the madness. But despite the constant time pressures and reliance on electronics that are outside my knowledge, the festival was a lot of fun, something about practically living with all the other interns for three days straight turned out for the best and we all got on really well. While running around madly on little sleep and lack of food, we still managed to talk story, smile and laugh at the crazy atmosphere for which no one was prepared.

I did manage to squeeze into the viewing of one and a half short films which come to think about it, I don't know what they were called and can't really remember, but that says more about my amount of sleep than the talent of the film. It was during the Awards Ceremony when the winning filmmakers went up to collect their prizes that it suddenly all seemed worth it. All the filmmakers were so stoked to be there, for some it was the first time that they'd even see their film on a big screen, or simply outside of their laptop! One Australian filmmaker emotionally stated that winning an award was so gratifying because the film was banned from being screened in Australia and putting all your hard work into something not recognised by your own country was tough to take. It was nice to see the people behind the films and hear their stories and 100 percent made the crazy weekend worth it.

The After Parties each night were also a blast, mainly because adding a little bit of alcohol to a day of hard work, little food and lack of sleep is an interesting mix. The last one on Sunday night on the boat down the Seine was definitely the highlight. After rushing to get out the photos from the Awards Ceremony, we were the last from the cinema and practically ran to the boat, making it there 15 minutes after it was supposed to leave at midnight but managing to scurry on anyway. Everyone was decked out in their finest, having changed at the cinema but my lack of time meant I was still repping the ECU t-shirt and work clothes! I think people thought I really liked black...

We were lucky enough (or had a super organised Captain) who managed to float us by the Eiffel Tower just as it started its hourly sparkle. Despite the pretty cold temperatures, everyone was crowded out on the deck, cheering and whistling at the beauty that never gets old. The rest of the night was spent buying too many over-priced, under-filled drinks and dancing to the awesome bands that we were lucky to get to play for us.

And if I learned one thing this weekend, it was that filmmakers really know how to let their hair down...

Still alive.

Lying in bed with mustard, crackers and a cup of tea. Earlier than I expected! Shame about the 8.30am start tomorrow.

I hope my voice has returned by then.

This is a snapshot of where the night took me.