Randonnée des 25 bosses Massif des Trois Pignons

So many of you may not understand this title, but I thought I would use the actual name of the hike I did yesterday. Basically it just means hiking up 25 hills in a forest named "Les Trois Pignons". If there's one thing I'm learning fast it's that things don't really translate word-for-word  (I have been told this many times in French class, but I'm not sure I really understood it fully until now). If you want to become bilingual in French (or English for people who only speak French) you have to try to think in French or the way you speak won't sound natural (and it won't even be grammatically correct).

So I want to take you on the adventure I went on yesterday through a series of pictures from the day! But first I should give a little background information. When Selena and I were doing the New Zealand portion of our backpacking last summer, we went on a tour called the "Kiwi Experience" because we were lacking in time and wanted to get across both the North and South island. In our first city in New Zealand, Auckland, there was a French guy in our hostel. He ended up coming on our bus for the Kiwi Experience and became a good friend of ours. We spoke in English because we were in New Zealand and because our friend (his name is Foaud, and from this point on I will just call him that) wanted to learn English. We had some pretty funny moments with him because when we spoke fast it was too difficult for him to follow. Often after like 10 minutes of talking between each other with Fouad present we would notice that, despite the fact he was nodding his head, he didn't seem to be following and we would ask if he understood what we were saying. He would always reply "No, but who cares!". It turned into a big joke between us. But anyways, he knew I had arrived in France and invited me to do this hike with him and his friends! This is how my day went!

I started by getting up around 6:15 am because I knew it was going to be quite the journey and I didn't want to be late meeting him and his friends at 9:30 in Melun where Fred lives. I packed a lunch (I just take whatever food I want from my host family), my bag, my Metro plan, my train schedule, my camera of course, and I was off at 7:05 am to walk to the train station!

My journey from Marly-le-roi to Melun in black. The three blue circles show the three modes of transportation I took in this three part journey. The first blue circle is where I started- my new home Marly-le-roi.  I took a train to la defensev(1), le RER A to Paris Gare de Lyon (2), et le RER D to Melun (3)! The red circle shows my ending point at Melun.

Marly-le-roi train station. I had to ask for help in the morning buying my ticket because you buy them at a machine and there are so many options (in French) I couldn't figure out how to get a ticket to Melun.

This is the view I get to see everytime I go into Paris. I can also see Sacre Coeur and l'Arc de Triomphe. It's a nice way to start off my day. But all the locals don't even look, so when I do, I think it may automatically peg me as a tourist. C'est la vie!

 When I arrived in Melun I bought 2L of water and then found Fouad looking for me (I was JUST on time, despite catching the 7:28 train). (Note: in France they use the 24 hour clock). I met all his friends and he introduced them (I believe there were 10 of us, so I definitely did not remember all those names), then we all got in cars and headed to "Les Trois Pignons".

The group waiting in "Les Trois Pignons" for one more person before starting our hike.

We had to do a lot more climbing than I expected.  It was basically all rock when we climbed the hills which made it a lot of fun, but very tiring. We had to climb up rocks like this one, through small passages between rocks and over top of smaller rocks. It was also a very hot day, which made it harder for us because we could have all used more water than we had.

At the top of most of the hills we briefly stopped to take a look at the beautiful scenery. It was like a never-ending forest. Fouad had told me it was a giant forest and he was right. But, we tried not to rest too long and trudge on because there were 25 hills afterall.

We did, however, take a little rest to eat and chat after about 3 hours of hiking.

There were random openings where there were "mini deserts" that I thought were quite beautiful.

Ironically, a few days before I left for France I was telling my little brothers how pine cones can get as big as their heads. Being unsure if I was pulling their legs they asked if I had seen it for myself and when I couldn't remember where, I think they thought I was bluffing. Well, Aaron and Caleb, it exists as you can see!

All the rocks at one point in the walk seemed to look like animals. This was the most prominent. Can you see the poodle?

The group in front of a rock that looked just like a lizard.

Fouad and I! It was extremely nice to see a familiar face in a new place. I am very lucky to have a French friend nearby to show me things I wouldn't find without a guide. It is also nice to have people to hang out with who are around my age and who have some similar interests, otherwise the first few months would be a bit more difficult. I have agreed to do English lessons for him and some of his friends too. They all spoke pretty good English already which was a nice relief to hear even though I will try to speak French the majority of the time. However, it is nice to have them be able to explain things I don't understand in French in English so I can learn what it means for the future.

My legs at the end of the hike. It got a little messy out there.

Some of us went for soft drinks after. I chose an Orange Fanta since they aren't too popular in North America. I quite enjoy a cold Fanta after a very hot and tiring day of hiking, I can tell you that much!

After everyone left, I went and saw Fouad's new loft and met his brother. They were going to take me out for a French dinner, but we didn't have time as I have to pay close attention to when the trains leave La Defense for Marly-le-roi or I will get stuck (and I don't have a cell phone yet so I have to be extra careful). Instead we went to Quick which is a fast food restaurant. Right now they have this promotion where if you sign up for this card called the "Quick Pass" you get a free burger with the purchase of every burger! I was shocked at this and told them that in Canada it would be more likely to be a "buy 10 get one free kind of deal". We also discussed different expressions in French and English (his brother doesn't really speak any English by the way, so pretty much all the conversation was done in French). One cool difference we discussed was the saying "I have other fish to fry". In French the equivalent is "I have other cats to hit", which I found quite strange and called them cat abusers (all jokes). Anyways I arrived home around 1 am very tired from my 18 hour day. But one more thing, for those of you who tried to tell me they drive on the left, I was actually right on this one; they drive on the right here just like us!
Until next time,
Canny/Amanda