Everglades:last message

Here we come! This message is maybe the last one on my blog because I'm leaving today for France. "Pour finir en beauté" my stay in Miami, I decided to respire the Cuban air in Miami Beach. Despite my sunscreen, I burnt on the beach but I made an interesting acquaintance with Popeye or if you prefer Mr Muscle. See the picture to get an idea of the man! Thanks to God, "Le ridicule ne tue pas!!". The day after was devoted to my new friends: alligators. I got a boat ride in the swamps and a kinda alligator wrestling. I have been disappointed since alligators are not very active: they spend their time sleeping! I also had a cruise around the Biscayne bay with the stars'mansions. Don't ask me to tell you whose houses they are : I don't remember. I just remember that I have seen Julio Iglesias, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Taylor, Jenifer Lopez 's and so forth...The sunset on Miami harbour was just beautiful and I suited up (yessssss, Barney) for the Tropical café nightclub which is the best nightclub ever! I thought I was in Rio de Janeiro! On Sunday, I came back to Coral Gables which is a city at the south of Miami with a luxurious hotel: the Biltmore Hotel. Well, I missed tea time but I had a nice time walking into the hotel lobby. Well, I think that's it, my friends! I'm gonna take my flight in a few hours. I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. See you, Lud

Final destination: Los Angeles

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Final destination: Los Angeles!!!

After two weeks of hiking and camping, it is high time to come back to Florida.

Nonetheless, I could not leave California without saying hello to my best friends : I mean Hollywood's stars!

Well, what can I tell you??? Yes, I have been to the walk of fame and I have seen Michael Jackson's star. I have also seen Elizabeth Taylor, Carry Grant (oui, mon chéri!!) and others' fingerprints. I have tried to take a glamorous picture of me with the Hollywood sign but I think it is much more a comic picture. Who agrees to say it's a glamorous picture? Who votes for the comic aspect of the picture?? I can't please everyone, sorry!!!

We quickly drove on Rodeo Drive which is teh scenery of Pretty Woman and I met crazy people at Venice Beach. I thought about having tattoos and piercings ...just kidding :)

I took one more day to go to Universal Studios and see the studios lots: especially Alfred Hitchock's Psycho with the Bates Motel. My day was done with the cathedral of Los Angeles where Greggory Peck is buried in the mausoleum.

And that's it!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Stop 6: San Diego

Aïe aïe... the journey is almost over...San Diego is the penultimate stop!! San Diego is close to the Mexican border so the Mlatino touch does exist. The first day in San Diego, I enjoy the pier and the beach but the day after was a busy one indeed: I visited the old town in the very morning, then the Gas Lamp district in downtown San Diego, then went to Coronado Island and finished by la Jolla.

The old town is not just like a Western old town because of the obvious Mexican influence: I liked the place since it was colourful and joyful. That's the shame I could not stay for the Cinco de Mayo: it was the place to be!!! Downtown San Diego is nice, I went to the Contemporary Art museum, and I definitely do not understand anything about contemporary art!!! After my contemporary art dosis, I took the feery to Coronado Island and rent a bike: direction to the Coronado Hotel where the movie "Some like it hot" had been filmed. It is a lavish hotel and it was just so fun to think that Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe had been there.

The day was over with a Thai restaurant and nice cocktails in a pool bar.

Stop 5: Lake Havasu or "je n'ai peur de personne en Harley Davidson"

We stopped for one night in the Sierra Nevada. On the ride to the campground, we saw the original London Bridge and the other Danish girls enjoyed a shave ice cream. It was just ice cubes with a flavoured syrup poured on the top: nothing to do with sorbets or gellati!

Well, that quite unbelievable to think that they moved stone by stone the initial London Bridge to Lake Havasu in the middle of the desert!

They we camp next to the lake, it was a kind of beach. We hiked a mini-trail and we saw very interesting cactus and other plants. Then, we finished the day with a barbecue.

The morning after, while I was packing my tent, I just saw a mini scorpion next to my hand, but thanks to God, I haven't been bitten, OUFFFFFFFF.

Stop 4: Grand Canyon

Definitely, the Grand Canyon has been my favourite place in US! It just reminded me las quebradas de Cafayate in Argentina. It was so colourful and even if it was a desert, it was quite green with grass, trees, flowers.

After setting our campground with the tents, we had a nice campfire. Then, we were fortunate enough to enjoy a freezing night. I was not brave enough to wake up early in the nextmorning to see the sunrise but I went to hike the South kaibab trail and to defy the desert. The way on was easy since it was going down but logically enough, I suffered on the way back. It took me 4 hours but I really fancied the beauty of the Grand Canyon. I went to the Skeleton point, if you go further you are in great danger to die because it is too warm. At the Skeleton point, there was a wonderful view of the Colorado river. After the trail, I took the free shuttle along the canyon. I was closer to the Colorado river and I enjoyed the peace of the canyon. At 7:00 pm, I went to Yakasai point to admire the sunset. I could have stayed there forever!!!

Stop 3: Las Vegas

After such exhausting hiking, it was high time to have some fun in Vegas. We came from one temperature extreme to another one.

Vegas is located in the desert of Nevada. The plan was to start visiting the "Strip" (Las Vegas Boulevard) on one's own and then take a limo and drink champagne. So, during the day and the night, we saw many free shows. The one I preferred was the Bellagio's fountains show. That the casino palace where Ocean's Eleven was filmed. I visited the Bellagio, went to the wedding chapel: it is so luxurious. Some hotels in Vegas are luxurious, others are more much kitsch. In the initial Vegas, there is the scenery of the movie " Darling, I blew up baby" which was one of my favourite movies when I was a child (that's the picture with the cow-boy). On the strip, you can see "New New York" or Paris which are mini reproductions of the cities. But Las Vegas is also the "Sin City" which means gambling, sex and alcohol. On the strip again, there are many guys, giving escort girls leaflets: just disgusting!! I only gamble 1$ in a money machine and guess what??? I lose!!!

Stop 2: Yosemite Park

Whaouhhhhhhh!!!! Yosemite Park!!! I loved it!!!

It was snowing the day we arrived in Yosemite Park, so this time no way to camp!

After a short introduction to the park: El Capitan, a granite wall where expert climbers from all around the world try to defy gravitude, the waterfalls and the Half Dome. There is an Indian legend about the Half Dome: it is said that a husband and his wife had a fight and that now there are facing each other. The day after was the hiking day. I have to confess that I had a lack of training and that I suffered during the trail. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the Vernal and Nevada falls trail. It was quite dangerous because the trail was erased and slippery sometimes, but guys, I made it!!! I'm so proud of myself!!! It was so good to be in the nature, feeling free. At the end of the afternoon, we just relaxed and ate pizzas: I think we all deserved them!

Stop 1: San Francisco

I'm back in Winter Park and I'm literally suffocating because it might be 40°C!!!

I'm also sad since my two week hiking trip is over.

But, let's come back to those last past 2 weeks!

Once upon a time, an adventurous French girl whose name was Ludmilla decided to visit the South West of America. After meeting her other trip mates-4 Danish guys and a Dutch one- in Los Angeles, her first visited city was San Francisco....

I really loved this hyppie city: I first saw the Golden Bridge, went to the hyppie neightbourhood-Haight-, sailed on a Catamaran to see the sunset. I finished the day with a fabumlous cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. The second day, I've been with the other guys to the Alcatraz Island or if you prefer "Al Capone Home" :) Ther are amazing stories about prisoners trying to escape: they had so much imagination!!! It reminded me the "Comte de Monte-Christo" novel by Alexandre Dumas. I also walked around all the morning long, going through Union Square, Chinatown, the Financial district, the Fisherman's wharf, the Hills, the Civic Center. The very funny part was to take the trolley which goes up and down all the time long.

I really loved San Francisco because they have so many beautiful Victorian houses -exactly like in Charmed and there was Mrs Doutfire's movie house as well- and because people are really cool and relax. I went to a bookstore- the city Lights Bookstore- which is a cool and artistic place where you can read poetry. That bookstore used to be the home of the Beat Poetry, a kind of free-speech poetry. I could have stayed there for ages!!!