Well, my back hurts. But kinda in a good way. I’m typing live right now from my hostel bed, and my roommate — a nice girl from Dijon named Beatrice — just went to sleep. Probably an indication that I should as well. Annecy, from what I’ve seen in the dark, is amazingly beautiful, and the hostel itself is high up in the mountains (the Alpes!), overlooking Lac Annecy. The one small issue was — doing the 45 minute incredibly steep hike in pitch black darkness by myself from the train station (don’t tell Mommy. Hi Mom!). Hey, I wasn’t gonna pay 15 euros for a 2 kilometer cab ride. No thank you.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to a day of biking around the lake tomorrow (I’ve been told by my roommate that it’s approximately 38 kilometers or so), and I’ll also visit the cute little old town of Annecy. I’m really looking forward to all this, especially since @evangoldin recommended Annecy so highly.

Last night was funny — I initially got assigned to a hostel room with this 70-year-old French woman who had half of her head shaved (I repeat, half) and who essentially lives at the hostel. She continually locked me out of the room, so luckily an Australian girl and her boyfriend saved me and helped me locate a new bed. Other than that, all went well last night at L’Auberge de Jeunesse de Lille.

This morning could’ve been better, though I had a really fun time with Rachel again. What happened this morning? Well, last night I went to sleep already feeling a little queasy because I had eaten some french fries — my body seems to reject fried foods, literally. Then this morning I combined that with a double espresso to wake me up. Those two items plus ridiculous dehydration (my fault!) led to one and a half hours of vomiting in the Quick fast food chain on Rue Bethune in Lille. But, thank God, I seem to be better now! I now will forever hold a warm place for Quick in my heart (though I have since reading about it in 8th grade French books), even though I presumably cannot eat any of their food.

Alright, well, I am off to sleep for the night, and will try to report back tomorrow. Love you all.

Sharon

P.S. Pretty much every 15 minutes in all French train stations, they make announcements about H1N1 (aka Swine Flu, La Grippe Porcine). You’re not supposed to get on a train if your fever is over 38 degrees Celsius, and washing your hands is highly encouraged.