Jen and James picked me up at my hotel, the La Tremoille. Which is a must for the solo Diva who wants to spoil herself rotten! Jen told us about this man Jim, an expat from Louisiana who had been living in Paris for 27 years. For the past few years, he’s been serving a home-cooked meal to Anglo expats and visitors who long for some English conversation in a smoke-free environment. The fee is 25 euros, that included wine. We would be dining with Jim, and tonight’s theme was Thanksgiving.

A few Metro stops later, we showed up at Jim’s place that was packed with friendly, English speaking guest. It was a blast! I met two girls from the same small town I first lived in Australia. The town is called Warnambool and it is out in the middle of nowhere. We chatted about the old haunts and crazy people that live there. 

Jim serves dinner every Sunday night, so if you’re in Paris and want to meet a few fun people (yes there was a number of odd ducks there, but that’s to be expected) give Jim a call on Friday to reserve your dinner on Sunday night.  

Jim HaynesAtelier A-2 – 83 rue de la Tombe Issoire

Paris 75014Tel: 01 4327 1767

Jim_Haynes@wanadoo.com

I’m off to Paris now! My time is Brussels was lovely and I look forward to coming back again. The people here are so friendly!

I’d be lying if I didn’t t tell you that this is a pretty exhausting trip. I’m here, in Europe, to do research for my book and I’m a rigorous schedule. The hardest part for me is unpacking and packing up every few days. I’m the kind of traveler who likes to hang my clothes, put my other clothes neatly folded in drawers, and hide my suitcase until I have to pack it back up. On this trip, I keep it packed and reach down and grab something clean to wear.

At my place in London, I had a washer/dryer in the kitchen, so I was able to wash my clothes. I only brought 4 pairs of pants for 16 days and a various, but small collection of shirts and sweaters. It seems like everyone smokes in Europe, so all my clothes stink. I have to wash them if I don’t want to smell  like a bar (are a café, or restaurants, or any other public place!).

I’ll be taking Eurostar to Paris, it’s a 2 hour train ride. Tonight I’m meeting up with a Diva from Munich – oh you know her, she has contributed to Tango Diva. Her story is: Graz, Austria: I’ll Be Back.

This is what I want Tango Diva to truly be, a website where women can connect and meet up around the world. It’s always nice to have a local tour guide, who’s a woman and a member of Tango Diva. Meeting up with Tango Diva members around the world really makes travel so much nicer. Okay kids, I have a train to catch! See you in Paris.

The train trip from Waterloo station in London to Brussels Midi station was a lovely ride. Just like first class on a plane, they came around and served champagne before we departed the station. That was followed by a very civilized lunch on porcelain plates with real flatware – very impressive!

I got to Brussels at 6 pm and met up with a fabulous Diva who lives in Brussels. She’s working with Travel Talk Radio, the radio program that I was on a few weeks ago (small world!). We went out to dinner and had some famous Brussels mussels. We walked around the old downtown, which looks like something out of a fairytale and ended up at a fun bar that served flavored wines. Brussels is a delightful, manageable city and I’m really excited about exploring all day today. Right now it’s Saturday morning at 8:55 am.

I’m hours away from my first-class train ride on the Eurostar to Brussels. Let me tell ya, it ain’t cheap! For a 3-hour train ride it’s a whopping $170 USD. Now second-class was $20 less and didn’t include the champagne lunch. So I splurged. On my last day in London, I went to the post office to mail myself some brochure from the World Travel Market (exciting stuff!). Then I had a lovely English breakfast of fried eggs, mushrooms, and tomatoes. I finished off my morning with a cardio shopping spree. I am the proud owner of some great sequenced heals and cool suede boots.

Writing a book about traveling alone is not as much fun as just traveling alone. I have to keep track of all the nifty things I do and all the great people I meet.Then I have to turn my mental chaos of events and people into writing that will be helpful, interesting, and worthwhile. So, today, after spending two days at the World Travel Market (the largest travel trade show in the world) I treated myself to tea at Harrods and a ride about town in a double decker bus.

The best thing about traveling solo is that you never know what amazing, interesting people you’re going to meet. And last night’s turn of events is proof of the power of one. After a lovely dinner alone in Kensington, I was walking back to my marvelous apartment at 51 Kensington Court. If you all saw where I’m staying, you would really hate me. It’s wonderful! I have a two-bedroom apartment with a private patio, full kitchen, and a nice deep bathtub. As I was saying… I pass this incredible apartment every time I walk to High Street, it is in this adorable ally between Kensington Court and High Street. And every time I pass, there’s an elderly man sitting at his table, writing or drinking tea. Last night was no different, I passed by and waved, he then invited me in. Okay, if he wasn’t in his eighties and in an apartment that totally opened onto the ally, I wouldn’t venture in. But I did! And what a wonderland it was! We spent an hour chatting and finding out he’s an author-and close friend of Gore Vidal. He’s from a Iraqi-Jewish family and was born in Shanghai to a very wealthy family. He knew Truman Capote and danced in St Tropez with Brigitte Bardot! His name is George Hayim and his book is “Thou Shalt Not Uncover Thy Mother’s Nakedness. What a crazy night!

At last! After 2 days at the World Travel Market I am free to roam London like a real tourista! The WTM was amazing, I have to admit. The energy was so positive and every continent in the world was represented. 46,000 people from the four corners of the globe desended on London for 4 days.

Now, I’m off to play.

In the past 48 hours, my digital camera broke and my powerbook died. Most people would have thrown in the towel, instead I pulled out my chargecard! Yesterday I got a new digital camera and my powerbook? Well, she’s going to the Mac doctor today for some fixing up. All those damned cliques work so well right now: "When it rains it pours!" "Just when you least expect it!" etc., etc.

Oh, my editor loved the first six chapters! That is great news!! I was so worried that I would have massive rewrites or worse, she would hate my writing. Well, it was all good news, so my somewhat-standard template for all the chapters is set, and now I just got to write them all. 

Bon Voyage! And the next time you’ll here from me, I’ll be in London.

Another spectacular day in this place I love: Red Mountain Spa. We are pulling out of here this beautiful afternoon - but don’t fret, the stories are still coming in. Today we climbed up and down the petrified dunes. But the pace was slower and we all had a chance to converse. Barbara, from San Jose, has traveled extensively. She spoke of Crete and Japan and a wonderful tour group she will share with us later. Susan, a doctor from Chicago, has many hiking adventure destinations to share and recently volunteered for Katrina. She is an easy nomination for the visionary contest. We all enjoyed the hike very much. At the end we hugged Claudia our hike leader and swapped lookin’ for love stories. Claudia is a beautiful women with an amazing spirit and living very young in mind, body and soul. We all wondered where the great guys are. They are out there. Some are hangin out on the internet-very hard to cross paths with. Some are river-rafting thru the Northwest. Some are just killing time shopping at Saks Fith Avenue or Walmart. Maria met Will that way, Suzanne met Rene at his Halloween party. The great guys are out there -we just have to keep stepping into the stream.

So we gathered for our last lunch in the sunshine -took group photos and drank a few toasts. Brooke and Cynthia pulled up stakes and we all headed to the local art gallery scene: Coyote Court at Kayenta for inspration and coffee. Each one of us found a unique and inspired piece of art to give to ourselves. The 7th Annual Art in Kayenta Festival will be held Sat & Sun, February 18th & 19th, 2006. Plan a trip around this time at Red Mountain. It will be wonderful. Let me know and I can help you book an incredible adventure vacation.

So I gotta run - but I have more to share as does Bernice, Alison, Suzanne, Rene, Brooke, Cynthia, Susan, several Barbara’s, Connie, Sherry, Laura, Lynn - and a few more new divas.

Another blissful day here in St. George. Just finished having a wonderful massage - time slot courtesy of Cynthia. I am grateful. We all have been so busy I never had a chance to book a treatment for myself. What a gift - an hour of kneading, just an inch from pure pain and several inches into pure pleasure.

Today was a full day for all. Hikes, cooking classes, two water classes, golfing (Rene), ab class, spirit stretch, lectures - and somehow we squeezed in 3 meals as well. Dinner tonite was very lively! Lots of ribbing over the days toils and spoils. Lots of giggles over three very large water bottles. If only we had a camera of Cynthia squeezing out the very last drop of Chardonnay!

Brooke, Cynthia and new Diva Susan headed over to Zion and climbed all the way to Angels Landing. An incredibly steep and precarious climb. I will let Booke post all the scary details. But we are all very impressed as they proudly display their angel pens at dinner.

Suzanne and I hit Needin 2B Beadin again - and the gals there we happy to see us. Seems we are all going to be making jewelry and sharing recipes and planning future trips.

So much more to share - but it is late and tomorrow is another full day.