Happy new year

Happy new year... a year ago I was sailing to Antarctica for the first time... I am today in my little paradise islands and will celebrate this new year to come with my family and friends from Moorea. I wish you the best and may our dreams become our reality...

Love

Poema

Home sweet home...

14 hours train ride and not the most exciting landscape.... but I survived and made it to Central Sydney where I took the City Train to the airport. My plane was planed for 9am the next morning. I fell asleep on the floor by other tourists who were waiting for their next day flight as well. It felt like we were all one, watching for each other without words said... "passport please"... a police woman yelled at us, sounded like she felt pleasure waking us up in the middle of the night to check our identity. I woke up three hours before departure, register and wander around the airport, then enter the airplane for Auckland... couple hours later, watching some movies and having a good lunch, we were landing in Auckland. My last world trip plane ride... a dream achieved.... I sat by a young guy from Marquesas and felt the warm heart of my country in his soul, his voice, his gesture, his attitude... I was closer to home than ever... we shared our year memories, we laugh and talked like we knew each other for ever...
The planed landed in the night, I was thinking about my parents, the surprise I was eager to make them... I came out of the gates, passport checked and backpack on... some familiar faces here and there, welcoming me... sitting by a pole I saw my dad's friend, Emmanuel, who couldn't believe to see me here... he had an extra flower ley, meant to be for me as I wished for it... I stayed at his house, on the top of a mountain, I could see Moorea, on the corner, hear the ocean hitting the reef... everything is alive around me, catch all my senses, flowers of all colors... beautiful late dinner, a shower and sleep finally, in a bed...

Emmanuel dropped me at the ferry, I met friends, talked to her the whole way, get on the road to hitch hike home. First car stop and drive me close enough to my house... I enjoyed walking a little bit, feeling the earth under my feet, the ground that hold me since I was born... A friend pick me up and drives me all the way home... happy to help... The dogs seems to recognize me and stay quiet to my demand... I walk slowly in my dad's office and he can't believe his eyes... my mom is happy but apologize for not have changed the curtains.... so thoughful and caring, my parents are incredible and I'm so proud of them, love them so dearly. Sleeping in my bed that night never felt so relieving, to simply be able to sleep somewhere without feeling indebted...

Couple weeks have passed since I arrived... I went back surfing and couldn't believe how warm the water is... I forgot how confortable I could feel in our waters at anytime of the day and night, I missed it so much... Surfed with my friends, happy to be surrounded by friends, having fun on the ocean... fruits to feed my soul and heart, sun burning my skin... delirious fever, trip to Huahine, week end on the turquoise lagoon with Kyber, meeting friends from Huahine, sail back to Moorea with Andrian, orange sunset under the clouds by Raiatea, moon rising over the cloudy horizon, silent dreams under a stary sky, so close to the ocean, surrounded by sparkling wakes....

Wake up with Moorea backlit by the rising sun, she is dramatic, she is beautiful, she is unique, that's where I am from... and that's where I come back everytime my heart will call for home...

Nature is my best friend... she makes me forget/forgive how, us, human, can be hurtful to each other and to her. She remindss me to be humble, to respect and love what surrounds me...

May we live in harmony and symbiosis with our surrounding nature, may we all realize where we live and how lucky we are to be here, now...

Love to you all

Poema and a zillion of mosquitos... in Moorea... :)

Path to home...

Water have ran under the bridge since my departure from Pangea.... I stopped in Florida visiting my friend Elaine and took some time by the ocean and under sun, swimming in the waves.... Paris arrived and we danced together... I met friends, worked with them, visited my uncle and aunty Michel and Marilene, adopted the Dufresne family, learn how to bake french baguette with Thomas ... took the train to Germany to visit my uncle Maxime and Birgit, ran thru autumn colored forest with my cousins and nephew...
Back in Paris... lasts working days, lasts days with friends, big thanks to All of YOU, friends and Family, who helped me in everyway continuing my trip around our planet....

Plane ride to see beautiful London where people mix with each other and the queen has her face filling a postcard... tube rides under ground tunnels... sea food dinner and dreaming time with my cousin Tristan and Nicole, laughs with Sarah... Save my cousin's appartment from fire and save ourself from big trouble... I saw myself in a movie scene like I always dreamed off... hanging in the air of a four floors building, jumping from roof to roof and climbing over the wall to get in thru the window....

Plane ride to Bangkok like a rock star luckily upgraded. I found myself sitting by a very nice young man from England departing for his first world trip...

Bangkok... bus ride with locals who barely spoke english, but managed to let me know where to stop and wich bus to take to get to my destination. Little, concrete room for myself for 5 euros, delicious pad thai, mango shake, meeting with Andy from England, Eslie from Netherland, Ethan from Israel, Jerome from France, Andreas from Germany, Manuel and Martin from Chile... great group and we enjoyed night gathering, visited Chinatown with Ethan, eating what ever was pleasing our eyes or stomach.... Night out on tuk tuk.... hang out with Bangkok pimp... watching the flood getting closer to the center...

Flight out of Thailand.... arrival in Bali... dryness replace flooded scenery... memories from the past, meeting with my friends, days spent under the sun burning my skin.... Death of my dear friend Joel de Bremond... Bali traditional wedding, monkey climbing over me......

Arrival in Sydney, ride with my plane friend Wayne... train ticket for Brisbane... stress out about my bad money exchange... walk thru Sydney Chinatown... 15 hours train ride to Brisbane... 4 hours bus ride to Maryborough... hugs and smiles with my nephew, nieces, Natalie and Philippe, my brother.
Camping trip to Fraser island for two days, gold panning and most irreplacable moments spent with my family...

Thank you

Love to all of you

Poema

Photos update

This is the link to my photos from the end of my stay 2011 in Port Angeles and my trip from Florida to Paris... I couldn't set as usual (I don't know why) so I'm trying this way...

Enjoy

Paris & Florida
https://picasaweb.google.com/109792885146265881762/FLoridaToParis?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Last of PA 2011
https://picasaweb.google.com/109792885146265881762/PA3?authuser=0&feat=directlink

322 days since I started this amazing trip, one of my lifetime experience... I decided to leave my paradisiac islands to see the other side of the world.... experience it and see it with my own eyes, with my own feeling... live the dreams that was growing inside me with me.... A big step, I still remember being at the travel agency buying my ticket, shaking and wondering if I should or shouldn't buy it now... then I thought... It's now or never... So I planned my ittinerary with Vaimiti, my travel agent who became my friend. Tickets bought.... flying away and seeing the world... and here I am in Australia, with my brother and family... and looking back at the three hundred and something days spent on this earth, in the air, on the water, smiled shared, tears, heart beat, breath taking moments, peaceful sceneries, alone, with friends, with the stars, with myself....... Such an amazing adventure.... but it seems to never stops because I'm alive and this trip is a never ending story because it's my story....... I'm here with little money left in my pockets, nothing that I really own.... but all that matters to me is being alive, living my dream, trusting my heart and life....... because that's what life is all about.... my life... that's what all matters to me.... right here, right now....

Autumn...

Autumn arrived with subtle steps... sun rised to her last breath to warm our lost hearts...  wind shook my branches and blew my hair... I became one with the road... clouds are hidding my rays and I try to shine thru the fog... from a ray of sun I became tears of rain.... is autumn that sad...

Germany... part of myself came from this country... churches and castles are my playground... I couldn't find myself here anymore... my german root is burried deep under the earth... holding my tree in a way... but the road is calling... to Paris... to the ocean... to nowhere but here...

Love to my uncle Maxim and Birgit... to my cousins... thanks for every moment shared...

Poema

Paris... city of Love

I biked thru her veins, saw her beauties and felt her shaking under me... sun shining over her golden layers and water flowing thru her body... she is mysterious and slowly undiscovering part of her soul... time flies, a café around a table on a terasse stops Parisians from running... three hundred and sixty eight cheeses, delicately melting their hearts, baguette crackles coming out of the oven, patisseries jewels catch our appetite and artistic sense.... lovers come and go hand in hand, kissing as the Doineau couple... art is love and Paris inspire love, aspire love...

Deck and departure

When I started to work on the deck, I thought... "humm it's going to take me two weeks and I will have a lot of time to work on other projects..." well it didn't really worked like that.... as always on a boat you have to multiply everything by 3, time, money and fun ;-)


I spent a month and a half in PA and had found a second hometown. All the people I met were welcoming and very nice to me. About 20000 souls live there, landscape is amazing, islands, mountains, water, sea, rivers, beaches, forest... all I needed to be happy with Pangea in USA.


I finished working on the deck at the end of august, with a plane ticket as a time limit. My saving were going very low and I had to go to Europe to work and fly to use my world trip ticket.


Eric (www.modernyachtjoinery.com)  taught me how to prepare the deck for caulking and helped me finish the work. It was great working with him. He is passionate about wood, it inspired me everyday, he became a friend to me. I enjoyed cooking lunch everyday for us. Friends were giving me salmon, shrimp & vegetables. Kurt and Ava, friends I met thru Martin, became good friends, we had a special connection. 


I went sailing with Rob for a full moon bay cruise, full moon kayak adventure with Kurt in Fresh Water bay, cook for Mickael and his crew at his place, went to Neah Bay to see a canoe race with Eric, went to Crescent lake with Paul, Sophie and her family visited me on Pangea, sailed on Pangea with Kurt and Ava for the last night in PA in the bay.... 


I had beautiful days in PA and felt like I could live there for a while. Sun was shinning everyday.


Pangea stays in PA under the good care of my friends. I could leave with a rested mind.


Paul gave me a ride to the airport in Seattle. I kind of adopted him as my american uncle...


At the airport, Stephen, one of my best friend, came to see me. I was so happy. 


I met Joel at the airport, an amazing French man, 64 years old, who's traveling around the world on his bike.  Someday in France, when he was riding his bicycle, someone run him over and he was left on the road, dead. By chance, a fireman found him and saved his life. He spent days in coma and had some injuries and became invalid. He couldn't work on his vineyard anymore, sold everything and decided to bike all the way to the north tip of Norway. This trip inspired him to go for a world trip and he decided to leave for two years with his tricycle. I spend the night at the airport waiting for our airplane with him. He inspired me to the most, touched my heart. He is a hero to me, never gave up on his dreams even though everybody was telling him he shouldn't go. I cried seeing him leaving walking with his cane, thinking I could never give up on my dreams...


On the plane, I met Gina from Los Angeles. She is Mexican and she owns a travel agency in USA. She dreams of sailing... I told her about my sail boat and she said she would love to sail with me.... That would be a really cool experience !!! I invited her to come to PA next year and sail with me to the island... 


I arrived in Miami around 6am on the 31st of august. No seat available for Paris until the 5th of september. All flight were full because of the hurricane. I took a bus ticket to Melbourne and visit Noah's parents. I spend almost a week there, enjoying Elaine company, the beach, warm water, playing in the waves and my visit with Ran, Noah's dad. A great break from Pangea before Paris. Smells and weather reminding me of Moorea, warm sand under my skin, sun and wind putting me to sleep... dancing with the waves, body surfing with millions of fishes, making waves of fish... it was an amazing experience. 


I drove the bus back to Miami on the 5th to catch my plane to Paris... sun left her golden color on my skin and I was re-energized...


I met Madeleine on the plane, she is the director of Lalique shop in Beverly Hills. I told her about my adventure and we became friends. She was really nice and I was happy to sit by her.


I hug her goodbye and run out  of the plane to catch the RER (train to Paris). The movie I worked for last year in French Polynesia, "L'ordre et la Morale"(the Rebellion) was on show avant-premiere at the Lido, the film maker and main actor, Mathieu Kassovitz, invited me. I had to be there in one hour. I arrived an hour late but made it inside even though I had all my bags. The guys at the entrance and the director were nice enough to let me in and watch my bags. The movie was amazing, every memories came back to me, so much work and heart put into it... It is strong and the pictures were striking, I cried it was emotional and deep... I'm proud to have work on it.  I didn't know who I was going to meet there and everybody I saw was a great surprise. 


I took the metro to my uncle and aunty. They live in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Walking back there was once again a weird feeling of flashback. The last time I was here, I was with Noah, caring 120 kg of luggage, surfboards and loads of camera and gear. It was snowy and cold.... 


The next day I met my friends Marco and Sylvie, stayed at their place and felt like being with family. 
I met friends all week long... Traveling by metro started to be heavy on my psycho and I decided to cross town by bike on saturday to visit Thibault, whom I haven't seen since my departure for Mexico. I met his little family, the cute Amaya and the beautiful Marie-Claire...


Being in Paris this time alone is a different experience from the previous visit I did.


I'm working tomorrow with Marco and Sylvie until wednesday....


Hope all is well for all of you and your family...


A bientot


Bisou


Poema

Life in P.A.

Almost a month since I got back from Mexico... I focused my mind on the teak deck when I arrived and stayed alone as I wished... quietness and peace brought me back to my soul and I could find my path again...

Eric and Nolwen's visit gently walk me out of my alone stage and now I'm back on track... I can feel the magic again :)

I went to a roast corn party sunday with some friends. Andrew, the owner of the house invites over at  his place around 400 persons each first sunday of august since 14 years, for a roast corn party. He asks his friends to come with new people each year.

On the road sign, some corns are hanging.. cars are parked all along the drive way... people here and there, a giant BBQ full of corn. I arrive with Mickeal, Mariela, Jim and Linda. I tried to make a fondant au chocolat but it became a browny, so I made a salad with homemade vinaigrette. Jim and Linda brought a carrot cake, Mariela made a tiramitsu and Mickeal a greek salad.

I help myself and as waiting for some BBQ fish, Andrew introduces me a young man, telling "here someone that speaks french !!" I was eating some salad and got kind of surprised by the whole situation.. I could stop giggling as I was thinking that I probably have some salad leave on my teeth...
The young man stared at me with and asked me in french "why are you laughing ??? are you making fun of me ? "NO ! I just enjoy laughing... we started to talk and he tells me... "My biggest dream is to have a sailboat and sail around the world"... "You have to come visit my sailboat" I told him... then I ask... what's your name ? "Camille"... I smiled, couldn't stop smiling... Camille is the name of the boy I met 16 years ago on the beach in Moorea. He sailed with his parents from Vancouver, Canada to French Polynesia. He was special to me and I never forgot him. He promised me he would be back... but never did hahaha... When I bought Pangea with Martin, Martin decided that our first destination would be Vancouver island... While working on Pangea to get her ready to come up the coast, I thought about Camille and tried to look for him on internet since I couldn't find his phone number. It would have been good to see him again and especialy arrive there on my sailboat since he never showed up with his !!! hahaha !!!

I found him on his wedding day, I was so excited to know that he was getting married and to see him again. We met the day after his wedding and I met the woman of his life, the beautiful Elise... she became special to me... I was so happy to see them, see Camille... he didn't change much just got taller (he use to be shorter than me).

Camille, my new friend from France, and I left the party to visit Pangea. I was happy to show him Pangea, my dream that came true... we have shared dreams and meeting him wasn't random. We were meant to :-).

He loved Pangea, of course !!! She is beautiful and such a great boat !!!! The BESSSSTT boat in the world... for me :-)

We drove back to the party and spent the whole day togeteher. He was such a matured thinking kid for being 15. We talked about life, had some corn and delicious home made pizza.

The party was very mellow and relaxing, people of all age, food everywhere and drinks cooling in a iced pool...

I left at sunset... Camille promised me he would do everything to realize his dream and see me again... how funny !!! I keep smiling thinking about it, thinking about life, how it is special when we open our heart, listen, feel and live...

Yesterday I visited Jim and Linda who invited me to their house to pick some lettuce from their garden and go berry picking. I arrived there around noon. They moved in P.A. a little more than a year ago and started a vegetable garden. Lettuce, tomato, chard, berries, fruit trees... and much more. With Jim, we drove to a U pick farm. I always wanted to experience U-pick farms and I was really excited because I could pick and eat !!! that's the whole fun about it ! So we did, so much fun, I had a full belly at the end... and 5 pounds of berries !!! yeah !!! It such a clever idea to have these U-pick farm. People come with family or alone and enjoy the experience to the fullest...  I loved it !

We came back home and saw some deer. I layed on the grass, I miss is sometimes on Pangea... Jim brought us an appetizer plate, chedaar cheese of all kind and smoked salmon... DELICIOUS !!! sweet cherries from their young tree, sweet and melting in my mouth. Dinner time... We picked the vegetable we needed from the garden and we went finishing for trouts in their pond. It was so much fun !!! I tried to get a picture of our first catch and while posing with the fish in front of the camera, being a dork as I do very well, the fish got off my hands and went back in the water !!! Oups.... We got 3 fishes but it wasn't as easy as I'm sure they have been told that we were fishing ... :)

I prepared the fish in papillote and some fried potatoes from the garden, Linda prepared the chard and desert... Delicious dinner, beautiful friends and an amazing view over the mountains...

 

Life is beautiful and I'm happy to be here, happy to be... simply...

Love

Poema

Pangea part II

Part I was the shared story with Martin and the boys and « Part II » is when I am alone with Pangea.

After my Mexican trip, I came back on her and finally settle down. I started to work on the deck, taking off the seems with a cutter, and deepening all the shallow seems rail, a pretty hard work as you are on your knees, with a gigantic hook  (like Captain’s Hook), trying to carve hard wood… Rob, a friend we met while at dry dock, came by the other day and made my work easier, he custom made a U-shaped tool to take the seems off easier and he used his dad screw driver for it. « My dad would have been happy to see it used like that ! ». I’m almost done with the prep, Eric, a talented wood worker will come this week to finish up with me and we will put new seems on very soon. Everytime my back, hands, knees hurt, I just dream about my so wished perfect teack deck and it gives me energy. Plus with all this, I’m learning how to do it and I will be proud of it because I would have done it.

While in Los Angeles, I was chating with Nolwenn, our french girlfriend who is living with Eric in Ventura Marina, who celebrated the multiple Ventura Pangea departure. She was telling me about her dreamed of owning an aluminium sail boat, and she has a pretty big project that could become true soon…. It’s in the oven. I invited them to come on Pangea when I will be back in Washington and here they are. I was so excited to see them, I cleaned the boat, prepared their room… Pangea is the first « house » I owned and they were my first visitors, so special ☺…
They arrived in Seattle and rented a car to drive up here at around 1.30am in the morning. I was so happy to see them !!! We talked for two hours and went to sleep.
When we woke up, we went for a zodiac cruise in the marina. I wanted to show Nolwenn a massive aluminium boat that just arrived for dry docking. It was huge. The owner custom made it in Australia and sailed across the Pacific with it, but this boat is so big and strong and everything you can imagine (beside good looking) that you would think they’ve been in Antarctica with it or will…
Then they met my friends, Paul, who was trying to start an old motor he fixed, Eric who was waiting on his costumer to come pick up their sailboat he worked on.  With Eric approval to go sail with the open deck, Eric and Nolwen went for grocery shopping and I prepared the boat for our week end trip to the islands.
We decided to go to San Juan Island as Martin told me Griffin bay was a really nice anchorage. We took off around 4.30pm. I was a little nervous as it was my first real cruise without Martin. We got off the slip (in and out off slip manœuvre are probably the trickiest) like a flower and put the sails up in the bay. Pangea flew with the wind on her back and we made up to 8 knts with the genoa and main sails up in butterfly. It took us around 6 hours to get there, we crossed the fog, first time for Nolwenn and I. We arrived in Grifin bay around 9 pm and anchored in front of a beautiful endless beach and pine forest. Pizza and beer for diner !!!
I woke up early the next day, and took the zodiac for a sunrise cruise. The water was like a mirror and Pangea was touching the sun… walk on the beach, random forest trails, diamond line left by spiders all over the trees… I could see Pangea thru the pine threes. This bay was the most beautiful I’ve seen since we arrived in Washington state, I will come back.
I hang out on the beach, and then row back to the boat. Nolwenn and Eric went to land for a forest/beach walk too and I cleaned the boat. When they came back I went to swim and we took the zodiac to visit the little marina at the end on the bay. We saw jelly fishes of all size and color, huge crabs caught by local fisherman and seals jumping out of the water.

In the afternoon, we sail up to Orca island. We tried to anchor at Massacre bay first but the anchorage wasn’t good so we motored to the next bay, Deer Harbor. The cruise was really nice, ferry passengers waving at us « that makes me realized we are doing something special » said Eric.
Nice appero in front of a big cliff and early night for us.
We decided to leave Deer bay around 10 to be able to get to Port Angeles before sunset. We motor up to the straight separating Canada to USA and saw Orcas. We were so excited, I’ve waited so long for them, one of the reason Martin wanted to come here… and here they were… whille sail motoring to get close to them, I smelled burn and ran down thinking that it was the oven but no flamme there… All I could remember was my Basic saftey training teacher telling me that fire is the worst case scenario on a boat !!!! No way !!!! I ran out to turn the motor off, call Eric and Nolwenn, run back down to open all the door of the motor case… Eric arrived with the extinctor… no flamme… what could it be !!!! we look around and I noticed the alternator has a different color, I touched it and it was burning hot. It burned out. We kept on looking around for any fire, Eric opened the hatches while Nolwenn was outside steering the wheel. We calm down and started to think about a solution. We had to sail and I would take the alternator off to find out why it was so hot. I was still shocked by the events but we were sailing, and there was no fire…. I started to read about mechanic and alternator, check if there was water in the motor… The afternoon was pretty frustrating, we spent around 6 hours drifing with currents, no wind, then wind but strong current and San juan Island was still as close as 2 hours later. We tried to tack but we got sent back twice to departure point. Eric then decided to riff the main sail, thing that I never done and we started to move faster. I felt better and focus on getting a solution for the motor for emergency use and entering in the slip. During the sail back to Port Angeles, I learn alot from Eric who is a great sailor. They both kept their zen when I was stressing about not getting them back to Port Angeles. We sail with front wind and tack. It was great. I customized the alternator, unplugging all the electrical line and using it as a pulley to run the water pump. I had enough charge in my battery with the solar pannel and I didn’t need the electrical use of the alternator but the water pump is a must. We ried the engine for a little bit and it worked !!!! YEAH !!! My first mechanical/electrical experience !!! I was so happy, laughing about the drifting situation and relived to no have had a fire on board. We arrived by night in Port Angeles, with 7 hours delay. The wind blew strong enough to fly us at 5 knots to the bay then it died when we enter Port Angeles bay. It was like it just helped us to get where we needed to… I started the motor, we put the sails down and slowly motored to the slip. The water was like a mirror. I jump on the dock and hugged Eric and Nolwenn, I was relieved and felt so good. It was 1,30am, Monday morning, Nolwenn prepared dinner and we went to sleep, exhausted by this big day. It was a real adventure !!! BIG THANKS to Eric and Nolwenn for everything they’ve done and the great week end !!!

A home call Pangea...

Back home…

My little Mexican excapade got me back on my feet but I had to come back to the startintg box of this life cycle to understand what happened this past months, why everything was such a struggle and hurtfull. I’m back on Pangea, where it all started. I got lost but I never gave up on my dream… I needed to be quiet and listen to my heart… submerge myself in nature and take time for myself to find my path again.

My sailing dream is a new cycle of my life. I think we all have several cycles in our life and they are all connected. Realizing our dreams, is never an easy job, but at the end it’s not the goal that really matter, what really matters is the journey that we made to get to it… and my journey to my sailing dream just started… it will take some time for me to get to sail alone but I will get there slowly… always remember that nothing is a failure when you are trying to live your dream, they are challenges we have to face because we need to learn something from it…  there will be tears because we go deep inside us to find what we want, what we are and we will have to overcome our fears…. And trust life…

Going to Mexico, I  met my sister and her family, I saw pure beauty and unconditionnal love in her child.  I met Janice, a friend I could laugh with, José who got me closer to Cuba and gave me strenght, Juan who gave me a ride and showed me that we were all one, Roberto who made me feel special again, Nadia and Ismael who let me in their world, Dina who remind me how special my life is, Martin who take good care of Pangea, Noah, who help me understand myself… and Nature who brought back peace in me, letting the stars shines over my dreams, sun reminds me who I was and where I’m from, water cleaned me… pelican flying gracefully over the water, full moon rising thru the clouds while surfing at sunset, beautiful flower in the desert, islands coming out the water, shark whales and so much more… and you, who are reading me and putting energy into this journey……..

Thank you all,

Love

Poema

Mexico burning roads

Thursday, 7th of july

Early morning departure for Mexico, Bahia de Los Angeles. We hit the road at 4am and I fell asleep right away... didn´t see anything of the road until we got to the border. We pass with no problem following the bus of students that are heading down to Bahia de Los Angeles for two weeks of summer class.
The USA side of the border is already mixed. We drive by the biggest line of car in the world. Kilometers of cars waiting on passing the border to go work in USA, hours of waiting... to get closer to the "American dream".
Desertic landscapes, square colourfull houses with concrete roof, giangantic Jesus Christ, fish tacos and dirt everywhere, no shade. We crossed "forest" of cactus. The colors are ocre, and the sunset light soften it all and turn the hot environment into a beauty... We arrived in Bahia de Los Angeles after the sunset... there is still some light and I can see the Sea of Cortez. The island of the bay are amazing, like flooded mountains, the surprise is breathtaking...

My little house by the beach is cute and confortable, I sleep under the stars with the view on the islands.
I wake up with the sun slowly coming out of the horizon behind the island, swim with shark whales, see bottle nose dolphins, almost touch them, snorkle on a white granite sandy beach, turquoise water with a desertic mountain on the background, boat trip to the islands and more shark whales, rays jumping out of the water...

Tuesday 12th of july. I decided to hitch hike south to go surf. A little over 1000 km to get to Cabos from where I start, in the middle of nowhere, in the desert. The morning is fresh and I even feel cold. I set up a confortable place to hitch hike, an use tire where I sit or lay in. I quickly figured out which car will take me and my surfboard... not much. Trucks won't take me and small cars neither. I start to read to no get impatient. The pages goes and goes and still no car... I start to worry but it will be ok, shouldn't be that late... A car finally pull up. A mexican man, going to the next town, 130 km away... well it´s a start. We exchange some word. He used to live in USA and work there but didn´t like it. So he moved back to Mexico, with less work but he could enjoy life better. Time went by since Jose dropped me off at 6am. It is 1pm when Juan drop me off where I can have the most luck. It touch me, and straighten my feeling that we are all one in this world... I gave him two oranges and I took a picture of him...
Realizing how much more I have to hitch hike, I get on my feet and stood for 5 hours before I decide to catch the bus. Hitch hiking is not my thing... I don´t have time to do it, I rather go surf than spend time on the road... The bus ride was just perfect. I enter and sat on the front row, paid 1000 pesos (around 90 USD). I was full of dust and never felt so wrecked before... I fell asleep as I felt better and in security knowing where I was going. Hitch hiking is definitively out of my wish list... It was a great experience though and don´t regret anything, laughing about it. The bus arrive in La Paz around 5am the next day. I had a good sleep and the bus driver helped me around.. I guess I really looked wrecked !! haha.. I bought my ticket to San Jose del cabo and jump in the next bus. Sun rise thru a foggy desert, mango trees here and there, waves hitting the shore... I´m getting closer to my goal.
I try to get off the bus on the first surf beach I see but I have to ride it all the way to the terminal. I get off, find a rental car and drive to the beach. Nice waves but it´s so hot, unbearable... The session was good, I had a lot of fun. I came out after may be 5 hours and new that I was sun burned. I went to the panoramic site to look at the surf from above and just chill. Drove around town to find water, food and internet. I´m planning on sleeping in my car. I meet a mexicain men, Roberto, at the panoramic, he is a handcrafter, painting on shells and selling it to tourists. Even though I´m not interested he comes back to me and we start to talk. He is from mainland and lives between Ensenada and Los Cabos to work. The season haven´t been very good for him but he offers me a painted shell before he leaves and tells me to take care... Right after his departure, a young man ask me about renting board. His girlfriend speaks french to him so I start to speak to her. Nadia and Ismael, they are maroccan but lives between San Francisco and Vancouver since a couple years. We talked about my travels and and we ended up swimming at the beach together under the moon light. They invite me to their hotel so I can take a shower. We swim at the pool, slide ride and jacuzzi. They insist on having me sleepin on their couch and I accept. It was such a nice evening, getting to know their beautiful love story. I felt blessed being with them and meeting them. They made me feel like I was part of their family for the time spent with them... I slept like a rock exhausted from the great day I just had.
I woke up around 8.30 and drove to the airport to figure out a better deal for a renting car. I decide to keep the one I have and come back to the beach. I sat by a wall full of vine, the only shady place I found. I fell asleep there and wake up hours later... It felt very good. A surfer walk by and ask me if the nap was good. I smile.I watch the kids skimmimg and the surfer. I decide to not surf as it was too crowded and drive to town to find a place to stay... may be there is a cheap room for rent. Internet search, I buy my ticket back to Seattle for the 18th and I ended up in a room at a hostel in the center. 250 pesos (around 21 USD) not the cheapest but I can do it. It felt so good to have a room, a shower and I fell asleep right away in peace.

I went to check the waves when I woke up and it was perfect. Cloudy and no wind. I surf a new spot and get out of the water around 3pm... even more sunburned but I can´t do anything about it.

I met the locals surfers and Spencer from Los Angeles. He went to Tahiti and Huahine many times and kept a good memory about his trip. He invite me to stay at his place, in a trailer but I feel like going back to the hostel, just need to be alone, I enjoy quiteness and having somewhere I can call my room... I miss having a place... It has its cost but it's worth it as it makes me happy...

Love

Poema

Here come the sun little darling....

It's funny how better I feel in the sun, never realized until this second world trip... well I guess Ben Harper song was written for me "she's only happy in the sun" ;-)... The week-end with my sister in Tacoma was really nice, beautiful weather. The area is really green and all the island make it even more special, cliffs and long beaches, 5 miles park where you can walk thru the forest and see begging racoon on the side of the road. I spent the first part of the 4th of july there and celebrate Henry's 1st B-day. I never saw as many american flags as seen in their garden. They had more flags than the whole neighborhood all together... hahaha, so funny...
I flew to Burbank and Frank sister, Bernadette pick me up at the airport... I was thinking about sleeping at the airport but didn't know that it was a VERY small airport... Wouldn't have been a good plan to do that there and I was pretty stocked to see Bernadette and have a room at her place. The next day, Janice pick me up. Janice is Frank 's friend and she is going to Baja Mexico for two weeks tomorrow. Frank hooked me up with her and now I'm set for a nice trip.... She is so much fun and her son nicely told me that I look like a tahitian girl... Well I'm glad still I do... :-)

I'm going to have a swim in our pool and grab some orange from the tree for lunch.......

Bisous

Poema

On my way to the sun...

It's been two months and a half since I got embarked on Pangea in Ventura, lots of waters and winds came thru my life. Hard work have been done by the boys to get her up for sailing and of course Martin knowledge made the most of it. I did most of the cooking and little work on the wood... yep I guess I wasn't really ready for such a huge job and so much responsabilities in my world trip scheddule... I should have thought about all this before but I couldn't... I had to experience it to realize it... life is my school... and I have no regret and take it as a challenge. My sailing dream is to come true with a lot of patience and hard work.

I met people that were in my heart and that I haven't seen for over 16 years. I finally got to meet them during my trip here in Washington and Canada. First, Camille, a boy I met when I was about 11 years old, on a beach in Moorea. He sailed to French Polynesia with his parents and made me dream of sailing escapes... I found him the day he got married and met him the next day... it was like seing a brother, I helped his lovely wife Elise to put her dress away and watched Camille favorite you tube videos and their wedding pictures with them. It was a special moment for me.
Then Sophie, my sister. The last time I've seen her was when I was around 13 years old I think. It feels great to spend time with her, Martin, her husband and her beautiful family. She has a gourgeous red hair 7 years old daughter and a one year red hair baby boy. I'm enjoying their company and love. It is an important part of my journey to finaly see her again after so many years of silence...

I am on the road again for the next two weeks, flying down to Los Angeles for a road trip to Baja Mexico with Frank Murphy's friends... I needed some sun and warm water to fill up in positive energy...

Life is funny and has always some magic moment to cheer me up and help me find my way. I needed some time away from Pangea and everything felt into places, like it used to be when everything was meant to be.
As you must have understood, this journey around the world is not a simple trip to see places and visit whatever should be seen in the world... to me it is a journey thru myself, to find what's burried inside me and understand what my heart tells me... and it hurts sometimes...

Love

Poema

Pangea and her crew...

The story : While on Hanse, an afternoon in Antarctica I was talking about my sailing dreams to Martin and we had a similar one which was to sail across the Pacific. I was kind of planning on doing it at the end of my world trip. We started dreaming together about it, and buying a good size sailboat together with some of Hanse's crew would be nice. The idea already went around during some conversation in the past but never came true. In Ushuaia, Martin found several boats online. He contacted few of the owners and had a long chat with Pangea's owner... Two weeks later, everything fell into places perfectly and it was just our faith to get her sailing. We finally ended up buying it together with Martin as the other crew didn't really felt like following the crazy project.
The crew : Martin, 38, from Germany, lives in South of France, works as a captain on Hanse Explorer. He sailed a lot since he is a kid, help his dad building sailboats and owned several smaller sailboats, loves epoxy and sopalin. Patrick, an editor from Paris, in his 50s, just published a book about and for the Elysée.. loves Clint Eastwood and is always surprised to see the size of the american cars. He is the bosun on Pangea. Thibault, in his early 30s, first time in USA like Patrick. He sailed alot with his dad in the Mediterranée but he has strong sea sickness. He can't beleive how jeans and shoes can be so cheap in USA. He is the deck hand and my shopping assistant. Then myself... never owned a sailboat but always dreamed to....

The route : Pangea was parked for years in Ventura, went out couple of time to the island with her previous owner, Mickeal. The idea came from Martin to sail up to Vancouver island, one of his dream, with Pangea. It would have been  a trip against the wind but we could figured out what needed to be fixed before the big Pacific trip to French Polynesia. To me it would have been the opportunity to learn how to sail and get use to her. Canada sounded like a sweet destination too... and I have a very old friend I'll be happy to see in Vancouver, Camille. I met him when I was 13, on a beach in Moorea. He sailed with his parents in French Polynesia and promised me he would come back... he never did so it would be cool to show up there on my sailboat... My sister lives in Seattle, another good reason for me to go there...

And there we went...

Wednesday 11th of may
After alsmost a month of hard word and uneasy human adaptation living on a boat for me, meeting great people that became our friends, several departure parties, we finally left Ventura around 3pm towards the north. Sails out, waving to our friend Damien, there we went leaded by dolphins... Night watch for Martin and I, Thibault and Patrick didn't handle the PAcific swell.... I loved the feeling and remember my time on Fetia Ura, a 33m schooner I worked on in Moorea, my first job.
On thursday 12th after a quiet morning, the north wind came up and we tried to go against it to head Moro bay but seeing that the crew were feeling too bad, Martin decided to anchor at San Luis Obispo Bay. We stayed here for two nights and tried to fix some leakage and watertight the boat better.

Tonight, 11.20pm, we are leaving San Luis Obispo trying to reach San Francisco in two days with the south wind...

POema

Pangea into my life...

April 17th...

Train ride from Ventura to San Diego... flowery rail racks, bright golden flower carpet everywhere.... waves breaking down the cliff... purple grass... sun is caressing my face... stolen moments in a drawing book... cliché from my memories of train worker came to life... arrived on Pangea on the 13th... she is a beauty... last days in Brazil were amazing, enjoying warm weather, deep ocean colored pool, surf on the Love beach, laughs with my uncle, princess room... trip to Florida to wrap up my last belongings at Noah's mom.. two beautiful days spent with him... plane ride to California, surprise meeting at the airport with the crew, Martin, Patrick and Thibault... night at Micheal and Karry, the ex-owner of Pangea... walk on the Californian beach... guys running to the ocean... laughs smiles dreams... living all together on Pangea... pasta night... pelican dives... fishes playing water music... love her... she's part of me now... a dream came true... I feel like I'm living so many life... feel so blessed and magically spelled... time for myself tonight in San Diego... harbour side, stretch of beach in front of our bungalow... a mega yatch catching everybody's attention... beautiful music in a peaceful place... I'm going back to surfing slowly, the ocean is calling for me... enjoying the ride... Love to you all...

Poema

South America... part 2

Saturday March 5th 2011-03-14

Last day onboard Hanse Explorer… bags all over the corridors, excitement vibes floating in the air, but sadness also… 6 of the crew members were leaving today, I was leaving my « new home » not knowing when I’ll be back, leaving my  new family not knowing when I’ll see them again… adresses exanges, hugs, kisses, tears… laughs… we all left around 1pm… tears ran down my face while looking back at Hanse… it was the end of an incredible adventure… 

 Last hugss to my crewmates, Jens, Yurri, Luis, Ismail, Jérome… last minutes with Martin until we meet again in april… and there he left looking back…

I was on the road again but had a meeting with Noah who was in Rio since two weeks to study Brazilian Jui Jitsu.  Walked out the marina gate,  the sight of a plumeria tree made me smile and I ran to the tree to grab a flower while the driver was loading my luggages in the car… Long white beaches, old buidings on the other side, the Christ watching over us… sugar loaf, tunnels, and carnivalers walking down the streets here and there… the clouds and rain keep the crowd in. Noah was standing in front of the Coppacabana Palace hotel entrance. I was happy to see him after such a long time.  We walked around the city street looking for an internet café but most of the shops were clotsed due to carnival. Four days of holidays for the town… Hotels, backpackers were outragiously expensive and I decided to rent a room where Noah was staying, 30 USD a night, not cheap but it was the best deal I could find. A nice room at the end of a street with green vegetation walls as a view… peaceful… I fell asleep at 4 pm and had my deepest night since Rapa Nui…

Sunday March 6th 2011

I woke up early well rested and went on internet to figure out a plan for my holiday in South America,  where to go, how to get there… I worked on it the whole day, ran out to buy some fruits down the street.  Late afternoon, it was time for me to get out and see the town. It looked so dead, everything closed… people started to come out around 6pm, the party was on… we walked in Copacabana, streets parties, packs here and there… I felt tired and wanted to go to sleep. We walked all the way to the end of the beach, there we talked while waiting for a friend. Didn’t meet the friend and we walked back to the appartment.

Monday March 7th 2011

I had to get out of Rio and start my trip… We took the bus to Rodoviara, we saw the carnival chars, and the other side of Rio, house hanging on mountain like I never seen before, I don’t know how they hold. Red bricks buildings, people dancing in the streets, drinking at the bar, it was like a ride in their everyday life. When we arrive at the bus station a man helped us and guided us to the Terminal. He was so nice and I hug him when he left. I couldn’t beleive how the terminal looked like. What a contrast with outside. A big modern terminal like any other ones in USA or Europe. Clean, organized, new… I was undecided between going to Florianopolis and Bolivia… I walked in circle for an hour or two and finally bought my ticket to Bolivia. I met an Irish couple, they were going to Campo grande. They remind me of Noah and I world trip.

Back in Copacabana at the appartment. I tried to organise my trip to visit my uncle in the north of Brazil, I had to find specifics flight at a specific dates because he lives in a very isolated place and we had to be in the same plane… 3 hours away from any town, no phone… I had another meeting with Djepa, the friend I was suppose to meet the night before but we could get in touch. Noah and I took the bus to see where the street carnival were. We ended up going all the way back to the bus station missing our stop. A man pooped in the bus we entered to go back in Copacabana… a lady that works for the bus company cleaned it. Half way to town we saw the street we were looking for, got out of the bus and walked in the crowd… the show seemed to be over but there were still some groups ready to walk down the avenue and share their rythm. Simply dressed in uniforms, an orchestra and a crying giant speaker. The orchestra start to play samba, it was amazing, I could feel it all the way in my body, my heart, my guts, I couldn’t stop smiling… we walked thru the crowd, watch them… what a great experience… a little girl was dressed like a carnival queen and was dancing on the top of the car, she had the rythm in her skin, loved the music, enjoying the party with her grand da who was playing saxophone…

We left around 10 and went back to the appartment. While going thru my belongings I find out that I accidently throw away my swiss knife, a present I received from a very good friend. It stressed me for a little while and I decide to repack everything to have less bags, a throw away what I didn’t need. It’s really an exercise and my goal is to have just what I need by july… live as simply as I can without being extreme… I got a bag out of my way and I was very happy… but still not enough… it will come and I will get lighter during my trip.

Tuesday march 8th

Departure day, woke up at 8, got ready and went to Rodoviaria with Noah. He was leaving town at night time to go back to Florida too. I walked down to the bus walk way with tears. I felt so sad that day… The bus was impressively clean and comfi. We were 4 passengers, Elisabeth, her dad Antonio and her mom Marilene. I fell asleep 10 minutes after our departure and woke up in San Paolo. A man sat by me, he smelled like alcohol a  little bit. His name was Mauricio, he studies plastic surgery but can’t afford it in Brazil so he decided to go to Bolivia… Elisabeth and I told ourself that we will definitively not have him as our surgeon… just didn’t feel it J We stopped at different road services and again I was very surprised, large one floor restaurant/grocery store/bakery building, very clean, like new, with toilets and showers, just like in USA if not better… I bought some fruits and relaxed quietly outside.

I slept well even though my neighbour was a little too close sometimes. I ended up giving him my Pareo/sheet as he invited himself to share it with me. He was such a character, the only one we could hear in the whole bus… he stopped talking when he fell asleep.

Wednesday, march 9th

Woke up because of my neighbour and couldn’t fall asleep because he was too loud. I tried to listen to music and invited him to so he could be quiet for a little while…

Outside, flat green spaces, floaded, brown water running thru it, cows on the road, mirror for the sky here and there in the bush…. Peaceful sight… what animals are living in this forest, could I live here, is there any snakes, familiar trees, tropical vegetation… bananas for sale…

1200 house to be built, we were getting closer to the frontier… mountains grew in the horizon, houses and villages with junk wards… an uninviting border town. We cross the frontier without stopping at the immigration and the bus left us on the Bolivian side of the border. We grabbed our bags, I changed some money.  It was hot, very hot and humid, mosquitoes everywhere. I spread myself with some mosquitoes repelent, not wishing to catch malaria or dengue… Elisabeth and her parents wanted to go to the bus station without stamping their passport. I said goodbye and wishing to see them again. I didn’t know how this worked for brazilian but I knew I had to get stamped. I walked to the brazilian border and stand in queue. Around 50 persons were waiting for the immigration officer to come back from their break.  I couldn’t beleive how easy you can get in Bolivia, if you ever need to run away and hide, I’ll come here. It reminds me of my trip to Combodia, crossing the frontier, a river that seperate the two countries.

An hour later I had my passport stamped, people were very nice.  In the small bolivian immigration office, I met a french girl, Roxanne, she was from Normandie and was living in the frontier with her Bolivian boyfriend. She was working in their shop selling basic groceries and beer. She seemed happy about her life here, but missed her family and was planning on going back to France in july.

I was wondering how I would get to the bus station, I don’t like taking taxis alone and I was wishing I could find someone to share it with.

Elisabeth appeared in the bolivian office with her parents, a bit in panic. They had to get stamps too and catch the bus an  hour later. Her dad  told me to wait for them and we would all go together. I was happy to see them again. Her dad was so concerned about me and really wanted me to stay with them. We jumped in the first taxi we saw, it was filled with mosquitoes, I couldn’t beleive it ! 5 minutes away, the bus station, open groceries and fruits stores along the road. The taxi dropped us off in front of one of the door. I went in to get a ticket for the same bus as Elisabeth and her family.

« There is no more seat available but you can be in the bus standing until San Jose where you will be able to have a seat » the girl at the counter said… well I had to go, I wasn’t gonna spend the night in this  malaria/dengue nest… I bought my ticket for 70 bol. There were about 10 buses company going mainly to Santa Cruz… hopefully my bus will be secure enough, it will be the surprise. I bought some water, it was so hot, I was sweating and wishing for a shower… I finally got a seat but had to change number in San jose, everything was good. Most of the brazilian bus passengers were in our bolivian bus. One of them was Denis, a very nice bolivian gentleman, studying sociology. He could speak english and he was the translator whenever Elisabeth couldn’t explain me what she wanted to tell me. He was really helpful and took good care of me. I sat on the window side and 3 young girls sat in front and one by me, Ramona. They were in their 20, really cute.

Dirt roads and concrete block houses here and there, like in Bali, basic shops with four walls, a concrete roof and a window door. We slowly got of the town, green bushy lands, cow poo smells… houses here and there… orange clouds lighten by sunset, far away a grey cloud was lightenning. I missed it. In Antarctica there is no lightenning. Stars shyly started to shine and sparks in the dark bleu orange sky… I wish it wasn’t smelling cow poo so much… I fell asleep.

Childrens voice yelling woke me up… we were in a small town where buses stop for dinner. Kids were running along the bus with bags full of lemon «  Bolivian limon, Bolivian limon », they were yelling, some jumped in the bus when we stopped. They looked like they were happy doing it all together, almost like a game to them,  boys mainly . 5 bolivinas for a bag, what a deal.  I wanted to buy some orange and a girl had some. I didn’t have change. I gave her a 20 bol bill with hesitation, but she asked me with such a honest voice and attitude that I felt like I could trust her. She ran away and I was wondering if she would come back… she did and that made me feel comfortable. Kids are the reflection of a society. A little shy girl was selling her lemon with her grand ma, she was so cute, we exchange smiles. I was the only tourist in the bus and nobody were hassling me like it would happen in other poor countries I visited. I bought a bag of goyava for 1 bol and shared it with my bus neighbour. We became a group and started to talk. I don’t speak spanish, I understand it more but I can communitcate what I want with signs, some words and energy I guess… I gave them a english lesson while driving away of the lemon town, they were so excited. I noticed that sharing language knowledge is one of the best way to bond with people. It happened to me in Morrocco where I started to learn arabic with a grocery seller, it was such a beautiful exchange. Here again, with my three new friends. They offered me some flashing multicolored gadget at the end of the lesson, I couldn’t beleive it,  I felt so happy not because of the present itself but because of the friendship and this special bond we created.

We fell asleep all together and woke up in Santa Cruz. Elisabeth, her parents and Denis were outside waiting for me. Ramona and her cousins made sure I was ok before they left. Hugs, smiles and kisses… I walked in the bus station with Elisabeth and the group. It was the end of their bus trip. Her brother was going to come picked them up. He is married to a Bolivian girl and they live here. Elisabeth and her parents took 10 days of holidays to visit him.

I said goodbye and we exchanged emails, promise we wiil meet again in Rio…

Walking to the one of the bus counter I saw a young backpacker busy doing earrings and selling some of them. He caught my attention, probably because he was the first backpacker I saw since I start my South American trip. I bought my ticket to La Paz , I sat down with him and we started to talk. He looked so much like my cousin, I couldn’t beleive it. His travel companion appeared behind me, Fernanda, an argentinian girl, full of life, beautiful… He is from Peru, in the amazonian forest. We quickly felt comfortable and they invited me to go to Cochabamba with them. Why not ! I had nothing to rush to La Paz. I changed my ticket and we were all set for a departure at 7.30pm. We spent the day together, I took a cold shower in the public shower, clean spaces were I could enjoy this so waited shower.  I checked my emails, and then went for a walk outside. It was hot ,crowded… small shoppes everywhere, pharmacy every 5 meters… I never saw as many pharmacies as in South America, it’s quite impressive…. 

Bus ride to Cocahbamba… we would spend our night in the bus crossing the Andes… the temperature went down, I woke up and saw the scorpio constellation… « happy birthday » wispered Kali … It took me exactly 29 years to arrive here… The bus was moving slowly, the road was a little damaged here and there and the bus seemed to have some height sicknes too…

I starred at the sky, taking me back home for a little while…. I was happy to be here….

March 11th

We arrived early in Cochabamba, jumped out of the bus and caught a taxi for Tiquipaya, breakfast at a house coffee shop, cold shower in a stinky bathroom/toilet ever… I almost ran out… had clean it somehow to survive the smell… felt better after the cold shower… Went back in the street… made a bracelet while my friends were busy creating and selling their creation… young  curious students coming by, talking with us….  Woman selling bread on the corner, another one selling delicious beans and cooked grains on the other corner, kid playing online game on the next corner… full blast music behind us… a car explode, some white smoke coming out of the engine… a hummer going by ?!?!? how could it be possible…  woman elegantly dressed with the local outfit, huge skirt, tight long sleeve top, a roundish hat on her head… two breeds falling along her back ended by black pearls decoration… little shoes keeping their small feet tight…

I felt asleep in the park sunbathing… I woke up with Fernanda voice, it was really hot and I was sunburned… and dehydrated… headache… I didn’t felt well… tree womans selling some freshly pressed orange and grapefruit juices…

Two man stopped by while Kali and I were making an earring… Fernanda was dreaming in the grass… the man invited us to their place and we slowly dragged our luggage to their place… a cosy artsy studio, full of memories, woman photo on the wall… an unused blue oven, a TV in the center… a sip of the local corn alcohol… I wasn’t feeling good and decided to leave… tears and sadness leaving my friends… in the taxi to the bus station I felt unsecured and started to think about jumping out of it… I really don’t like taking the taxis alone… they could take me where ever they want… I finally saw the buse and felt way better… he tried to rip me off and change the dealed price… paid him what was arranged… bought my ticket to La Paz and went for a walk outisde… street full of life, outside market, street mini retaurants selling fried chicken… fruits stands, boxes full of panties, a woman selling watermelon in a wheeled barrel…  A man was selling hand made ponchos and hand crafted souvenirs at the bus station… I stopped and bought myself a beautiful poncho, that I would use as a sheet durng my trip… offered him a mango… he was really happy

Back in the bus…  moving on for new horizons but leaving friends behind….

I didn’t sleep very well that night, tight in my seat… Woke up, it was so cold and dark, I had trouble breathing… I walk out slowly, waiting for everyone to get their bags and belongings… I wasn’t in a hurry… No news from Vaimiti about her family living in La Paz… I dropped my luggages in a shop that guard them, 1USD for 14hours… Walked out of the metallic bus station. It was built by one of the Eiffel brother and that’s why it looked so Europeen styled… paintings of indeginous people on a wall… full deep colors… cold face…  I walked down the street, on the other side of the valley the sun is rising in a fully built hill side, red bricks houses filling every centimeter square of the hill… it’s quite a beautiful view.. clouds hesitating, coming and going… slowly uncovering the red brick hill, blue sky touching the tip of the mountain… I sat down in a half circle and had a delicious soup with locals in the street … warmed me up… I laid down on a bench to wtach this special city waking up with the sun… golden rays… Walked to the central park, the Murillo place surrounded by official buildings and  a cathedral… pigeons filling up the empty plazza… I fell asleep in the sun… a policeman woke me up… I jump off the bench and mumble « I’m not sleeping » with a smile… they laugh at me… the park was filled with people… an old man came to sit by me , he was curious and ask me where I was from… if  I was married, invited me to his place, asked me to call me… no news from Vaimiti… Another old man inviting me to lunch, ask me to call me… did I look that lost ??? Hahaha… I watch people for a while and felt tired… I spent the last 4 days  sleeping in bus and needed to settle somehere for a while… I took a room in a very cosy hotel… 10 USD for a night… couldn’t argue… I got my luggage from the train station took a shower, set up my room, put my map up… night  walk to have something to eat and see the night life… table full of chocolate, panties, hats, books, pens all along the pedestral street, you can find everything you need in the street in La Paz, the city is like a giant supermarket own by thousands of people, much better, fun and human than the western type of  supermarket own by one chain… I felt comfortable and really secured…

Last night in La Paz, I went out with Ralph, my cousin Tristan friend who was in La Paz. German restaurant for diner, the most expensive restaurant I went to on my trip, had some beers… visited several bars and ended up in a cocain hidden bar, the 36. Everybodies knows about it but me. We arrived in a street with no light, the taxi driver was lost asking on the radio where the bar could be, we went up and down the street couple of time… « it’s here where the taxis are parked» I said… we stopped,  a man came out in the street, we had to pay for the entrance, pitch dark corridor… I was safe with 3 guys but wondered where I was… dark stair case, metallic doors, another man guarding, a sign on the wall… we quickly entered… a room softly lighten, sofas all around, groups of people here and there, music playing without dancers.. we sat down in the corner… the waiter came and asked us if we wanted to have some cocain…  no but we would take some drinks… I barely drank my glass, I was tired and fell asleep on the sofas… I woke up when they were ready to leave… it was 5am.. Ralph took me to my place, hugs, not knowing when we will meet again… it’s such a weird feeling sometimes to said goodbye when traveling… Not much to say beside letting our destiny choose if we will meet again… I spent four nights in La Paz…

16th of march.

I woke up at 8, 3 hours sleep but felt like I had enough, I was ready to leave… I packed my luggages and took the bus to Copacabana in the lake Titicaca at 3pm… Long tight bus ride… I couldn’t stay awake, I saw flashes of  the beautiful landscape… I was so tired, road trips always put me to sleep… boat ride to the other side of the lake, the bus floating on lake… back in the bus, it’s beautiful, I was happy to be in the countryside, sun, water, flowers, fresh air… Little town with a huge church in the middle of two bays… crosses planted on the top of the middle mountain,  souveniirs stores, bars and restaurant for tourist all along the mainroad… I found a place for 5 USD. It was cheap but a little dirty… had worst thought so I unpacked and went down the street, had a fish plate, delicious, in the street for 1,5 USD and went to sleep… felt lonely that night…

March 17th

The market street was full of old ladies sitting on the side of the road selling their daily harvest, carrots, flowers, potatoes, fish, cheese, bread… it was so beautiful… I bought some bread and watched the people for a little while… walked up towards the crossed hill… helped a woman to carry her foldable table to the feet of the hill where she would sell souvenirs to tourists… I kept on walking  toward the crosses… step by step… slowly… I was breathless… What a challenge… not easy to hike up a hill at 3800 meter above sea level… decided to take another path… walked behind the hill, the view over the lake was splendid… so peaceful, a mirror lake… flowers everywhere, birds flying and singing around me… I laid down… listening to the nature… It’s good to be alone and quiet… listening to our heart… hours passed by, and the temperature rised under the sun… I needed a shelttered place to sleep… I found a shaded space under a huge cliffy rock, a cave,. I laid my pareo down and fell asleep there… the view was amazing and so peacefull, I could be with myself… I woke up around 5 and started to go up the hill to reach the top… not the easiest way to get there, probably one of the hardest but it was exciting, a challenge… I slowly zigzaged up the hill, broken glass bottles everywhere, burned trashed plastic thrown down from the top of the hill… I climb up until the cime and smiled seeing the other side of the lake… it was rewarding… I enjoyed the silence, trying to stay away from the crowd… walked up to the mountain, I had to see these crosses… I was disappointed, an unwelcome place where I wouldn’t have enjoyed my day as much as I did in the other side of the hill… I took some photos and walked back down, on an uncrowded path… stopped there and climbed a nice big rock hanging  there. I felt good being alone… Then a guy appeared, looked around, took photos … after I came down of my rock , he ask me if there was a way down and I invited him to go down with me. He came and we started to talk… David is from Quebec and is also travelling alone… we spend the evening together, had a fish at my street mini roulotte and shopped. It was great being with him and we kind of set a meeting for the next day.

March 18th.

 I wasn’t going to give anymore penny to my hotel managers, they were the most unpleasant people I met in Bolivia… that what happens in many touristy place, and Copacabana  is the most touristy place in Bolivia… I found another hotel and left what I didn’t need for the Isla del sol trip. I walked to the dock, bought a ticket and saw David there, he bought a ticket for the same boat as me… nice boat ride… some common faces were cruising with us…  the island looked desertic, agricultural line everywhere, no trees… not what I imagined… first stop, south point… mini hostels here and there over the hill… water fall, clear transparent water… We got off in the north village… walked thru the little village, tourist trap here and there, « this is the only way get to the south part of the island » I heard a local shop owner said… « Sure  » I told myself… a surprising white sandy beach was hiding behind the houses, we sat on the hot sand burried feet in and enjoyed our watermelon… tourist running toward the touristic path, it was like a mini race… we walked the other way… to where we wanted… no questions, no words… just two people walking side by side letting themself guided by their adventurous mind… crossing barriers where some other ones turned around… walked thru potatoes field, golden flowers fields… the land was cultivated everywhere… beautiful view over the lake… groups of people working on their lands… we helped them working the earth… we loved it, it was such an unique experience being amonsgt them, learning  from them, working with their tools, smelling the earth,  hearing them laughing at us, smiling, touching hearts… we were one…  we left filled with energy… following the shore line… met more people… went around the piece of island… lunch in the village… watching people, laugh… walked to the east side of the island, stomach full, too full , we could barely walk,… crossed hills and bays slowly… donkeys, earth houses, rock paved road,  fushia flowers, kids, woman washing their clothes in the river, donkeys, giant beans plantations, eucalyptus forest, desertic hills, natural psychadelic rock patern… sparkling sand… oversized lemon colored flower… heavy backpack… breathless view… unforgetable hike… we arived exhausted at the south village around 5pm, rent a room with  the most beautiful view over the lake lighten by full moon, snowy Andes on the background… unforgettable and best hike of my trip… Quinoa soup and delicious trout for diner… good night…

March 19th

… rainy day… I felt good and warm in my bed… David left to catch the 8 o’clock boat I stayed in bed, no need to rush…  i’ll catch the 11am one. Had a quinoa soup for breakfast to warm me from the wet walk… I have no shoes, wearing sandals…

Jumped on the cheapest boat ride… arrived in Copacabana and met David on my way to the hostel, we were happy to meet again, we had lunch together and said goodbye when he took his bus to La Paz… 

I walked  around the city and hang out wondering where Kali and Fernanda could be… and Ralph ??? Had some cookie… Fernanda was sitting amongst  the line of backpackers artist in the street… I couldn’t beleive it could be her but when she looked at me, we jumped into each others arms… I sat down, we talked, started to make bracelet… I saw Ralph walking down the street… Talked to him and set a meeting for the night… Kali arrived… I was so happy to be with all my travel friends…  I was feeling lonely an hour earlier and now I was surrounded by my friends…  walking up the street to find a shelter from the upcoming rain, I lost Kali and Fernanda… I went to my room, relaxed and walked out after the rain.. shopped and met Ralph in one of the boutique. I had my street fish plate… drinks here and there all over the town, went to a local party, orchestra playing german melody for Ralph, he is so tall and Bolivian are always amazed since they are so short…  and I went back home around 3am… Another night with Ralph… we didn’t say goodbye but wished to meet couple hours later…

March 20th…

Early wake up, packed and took the bus for La Paz, spent the night there to find out about a bus ride to Chile, last walk around the city…

Marc 21st.

5am, taxi ride to the bus station, bus ticket to Arica, in Chile… 9 euros… best bus ride ever, desertic lands with snowy mountains here and there, like snowy volcanoes grew out of the desert, such a contrast… the scenery was mesmerizing, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. I felt like my trip was unacheived and I had to come back…

Border crossing, line of trucks… stamps, photos… stupid videos for the trip… desert road  and mountains, stream becoming canyon, life and death, two extreme world  in front of my eyes… ying and yang… the ocean was steaming from waves breaking on the shore… I didn’t like Arica, bought my ticket out to La Serena where my friend Ximena, whom I met in Singapor , was living… Over night trip… woke up surprised by the waves… broken shores… breaking waves… so many memories came back to my mind… Morroco trip… surfing… desert… I arrived in La serena around 3,… jumped in Ximena’s car, I was happy to see her again, she was with Caro, her best friend.

I spent 5 days with them  and had a great time, visiting the region. It’s papaya town, a honey smell variety that has to be cooked to be eatable, vineyards everywhere fin the Elquy valley for pisco liquor, globe grapes vine on the foot of the dryest desertic mountains I ever saw… white sandy beach with turquoise water, surfers running to waves, hotel owned by tahitians on the beach, fish soup, delicious cheese and seafood empanadas, oursin and fresh seafood degustation at the fish market… last beautiful dinner prepared by Ximena, fish salad and sparkling wine… I was overwhelmed… had a great time with the girls… so cool and naturaly beautiful… Left running to the bus… fell asleep smiling…

March 26th

Early arrival to Santiago, i took the metro and a taxi to Paz apartment. She was sleepy but we chatted for an hour… she went back to sleep… I repacked what I left there and had an extra bag now… The shuttle picked me up , a last goodbye and hope to see her this year again… I really want to come back to South america… this was the end of the first part of my trip there. Plane ride over the Andes… sand over the eternal snow… Flat argentinian lands… Rio airport … long walk to the other side of the airport to find out about my next day flight to Imperatriz… « you have to wait tomorrow, 4 hours before the departure to be able to check your luggage in ». I sat down in some lighten chairs… fell asleep watching a movie, waking up every hour to make sure I still had all my luggages. I felt comfi enough with security guards walking by from time to time…

March 27th

I woke up at 6, went up to the counter… you have to go to the other airport… no panic, I had 3 hours… thankfully !!! caught the bus, check in… fell asleep for an hour in the waiting room, took the plane, slept some more… met my uncle Christian  and 3 friends of his in Brasilia airport… took the plane , felt asleep… arrived in Imperatriz.. it smells familiar, trees everywhere, hot humid mb in the overcrowded luggage room… walked out with Christtiian, met Diego, his brazilian son… Toyota  trucks ride, body guard driving… I felt like I was in a movie… 5 hours drive to the fazenda… dirt road going nowhere, transamazonian road… baby aligators running away… shyly lighten house, cooked earth houses, hammoc as a bed… out of nowhere, a huge perfectly softly lighten screened house… our place… I couldn’t beleived my eyes, I was really in a movie, the house was perfectly decorated, Marcia, Christian’s brazilian wife welcomed us… hotel styled room, I was dreaming and so happy… I felt like a princess in the jungle… delicious fish for dinner… every details were there to make us feel like home… I was in love with the place...

March 28th…

Shower, breakfast brigthly colored parrots… a joy to my eyes… and the forever dreamed horse ride. I’ve been dreaming for horse ride for  a very long time, it was a cherry on the cake… I didn’t want to leave the fazenda anymore… I wanted to stay here for months and ride horses everyday… I quickly got comfi on my chosen horse, Parao… memories from my childhood came to my mind… I used to ride horses every Sunday with my neighbour but always had to share it… my dream was to have one of my own and ride freely with it… living the dream… smiling face, We roode thru forest, grass hills, view over the river, bleu, orange, red butterflies dancing around us… goyava, lemon.. it’s hot and humid but I could careless… every colored animal, flower was a joy to my eyes, like a treasure in a greenfield….

Galoping back home, swim in the river… delicious colourfull and flavorfull meal… life is hard…. Car ride along the 10000 ha proprety… caipirinhia with Christian, Mandfried, Kurt and Hasso… Another beautiful evening,….

March 29th…

I wished I could stopped the days going by…  delicious breakfast and the longest horse ride I ever had with a full party of friend, all cowboys… We slowly crossed forest, rivers, went over hills, cliffy mountains, dense jungle to sandy forest, tired horses, pouring rain, over the forest, it was beautiful… 5 hours horse riding, I arrived to the fazenda galoping, Parao was tired… I took care of him, gave him a shower and let him free… took a shower, chicken curry lunch, mousse au fruits de la passion for desert… relaxed, went for a swim in the river with a butterfly, took some sun… wrote about my beautiful holidays with caipirinhia serve at bed… que veut le monde ! ha ! endless conversation around some wine and feasty dinner…. Life is what we choose it to be…