Back In Switzerland For The Apricots

I couldn't stay away forever but obviously being the ridiculously skint student that I am, I had to get a job in Switzerland to visit again.

The problem with working en suisse is the outrageous language barrier. My french vocabulaire is limited mostly to fruits, stationary, shop names and numbers (everything I learnt in school) this left me pretty stumped last night when I tried to have a conversation about gallerie du rhone with a dude in a bar especially when it turned out he was Italian.

Fortunately in summer Switzerland has a ton of jobs involving menial labour without much french necessary. My friend Bastien who I am staying with called up a few places and asked around to see if anyone needed a skinny english kid to help them pick fruit.

It turns out they were happy to take me, surprisingly most people don't want to spend 10 hours a day in the blistering sun picking fruit from row after row of trees. Personally I couldn't see it being worse than being stuck in a stuffy office filing mounds of meaningless paperwork (my only alternative job offer in England)

Anyway to cut a long boring story short. I got the job, booked a flight, caught a plane to Geneva and hopped a train to Sion (Capital of the Swiss state of Valais, a popular tourist destination with a thriving cafe culture) and thats where I am right now, sunk into a leather sofa drinking coffee and listening to church bells ring out from the 3 churches nearby. Its a hard life riding the wave of my youth pushing my luck to the last minute.

I should have started work on the 8th but apparently the apricots that im going to be picking won't be ripe enough until the 15th so until then im trying to conserve my last 40 francs (difficult when a beer is 5.80 and you can't get a coffee for under 4, necessities you understand.)

Riding The Parisian Metro Is Like Going To The Theatre

so far i've had hip hoppers, accordion players, a ventriloquist and some dude who made some dumb duck noise with his mouth harrassing me whilst riding the metro but I think that just makes it even more awesome, you just cruise over and under the ground passing loads of awesome graffitti and seeing a ton of interesting stuff! I'm trying to be economical though so i've been walking as much as possible, I still need to go out and grab a bite to eat later but my legs don't want to function anymore!

As you might have guessed i made it to paris in once piece and im in my awesome hostel just got back from trekking, going to shower and go hunt down nutrition :)

It was only when I arrived in Paris Charles De Gaulles this morning that it hit me I was actually there, its so surreal but totally liberating. Knowing nothing and nobody is definitely daunting but fourtunately i've already made some friends , Pat Cartwright from liverpool talked to me all the way on the plane, looking forward to her birthday meal in the eifel tower shes probably enjoying some snails right about now and then when I got off the train i met this cool couple from huddersfield Nick & Rachel, in their twentys they were definitely much more in my age group than Pat (she was 50+ im betting lolol) and we chilled then adventure through the airport together , collected our luggage, found the train station (eventually!) and chatted the 45 minute ride to the city centre away in no time before going our seperate ways at the metro link.

TODAY i've done a load of stuff and its been so good, the sun has been shining, theres very little wind and its was warm enough for me to wear just my polo shirt until six!

I would like to type about everything I saw but I already want to go out there adventuring again but after the 4am start this morning I think i need an early night
so instead of typing loads of noodles about what I did today ill post some captioned pictures

chilling at the Arc de Triomphe before heading down Champs-Élysées to look at all the posh shops it really is the most beautiful street ever all the buildings are flawless and all the specialist independent cinemas rock out some cool movies.

Eifel Tower! some mental chinese lady insisted she took 5876786 photos of me standing in front of the tower pulling stupid poses after I took a picture of her and her family, I loved it haha

st martins canal just nearby the hostel, this place is lined with boats with opera singers on that double up as bars, I think i might check them out tonight ha! the weather was so perfect today :)

oh and finally I witnessed an illegal breakdancing contest in front of the eifel tower it was totally rad the burly black guy was the best because he danced like a russian