buenos aires

views from the bus, towards mendoza


a sure sign of boredom


tango at "la ventana" in san telmo


foot move ------ accordeon experts

the main plaza by night ------------------ and day

a strange looking mobile book shop -----------------from our balcony


the market in san telmo ---------------- musicians in the streets. a sunday regular


an antique building in san telmo ---------- seb living it up


la boca area


seb and the boca junior team

thumbs up from maradona (thanks buddy, i hear you)


el caminito area

la recoleta cementary, where evita peron is buried


graves in one of the housetombs


empenadas heaven


nat and her blood sausage -------------- seb and his chunk of beef


puerto madero


some grafitti


the bus trip on the way back to santiago (argentinian pampa)


mendoza wineyards by bus (w andes in the background)-- the argentinian/ chilean border

Cette petite escapade a Buenos Aires valait vraiment le détour. La ville est très étendue et ressemble beaucoup à Paris par certains aspects. Chaque quartier a sa spécificité :

San Telmo avec ses rues pavées, sa vie bohème, ses artistes de rues et ses magasins d'antiquité ressemble a Montmartre.

Palermo avec ses restaurants de parillas (barbecue argentin) excellents et ses bars un peu plus classe, et ses espaces verts

La Boca et son stade mytique jaune et bleu (ou jouent les boca juniors) ainsi que son quartier du caminito (quartier ou les artistes ont repris possession des lieux, les facades sont colorées et du tango est joué partout dans la rue, d'ailleurs le nom du caminito provient d'un célèbre tango!)

Outre les énormes festins essentiellement à base de steaks, on assiste à une représentation de Tango mémorable à la Ventana. Cette danse est vraiment superbe, c'est la grande classe. Les danseurs suivent le rythme des accordéons et les petits pas a grande vitesse, les portés, les envolées sont spectaculaires (cf la petite vidéo)

Enfin, on a pu retrouver nos deux amis belges Nat et Morgan, eux aussi en tour du monde, et qu'on avait rencontré en Bolivie et avec qui on a partagé plusieurs apéros dinatoires dans la ville.

petite démonstration de tango...la grande classe:



et aussi, petit numéro de boules de cire sur fond musical péruvien:




what a wonderful city buenos aires is...and especially after 20 hours of bus...and no wonder!! i think arriving on a sunday was a good idea too (not that we had much of a choice considering the amount of time we had left) as there was the weekly antique street market in the area of san telmo. for me, it was absolutely wonderful although seb, i felt, was dying a slow death so i had to speed up the dwarling process to the maximum.

we explored the surrounding areas which was nice as each was really different. la boca was a favourite, along with san telmo (of course), as even though it was a tad too touristy, there was a vibe. the houses were painted bright colours and the tango was being played and danced in front of almost every restaurant. unfortunately, it was not all hunky dory as on our way back to the centre of town, we were stopped by a three-year old warning us not to walk any further as we would get robbed if we did. not really listening to the kid, we continued walking until the mother, we presume, bellowed from her window for us to turn back. with that said, we walked extremely fast to the closest bus stop. as luck would have it, we could only pay for our tickets by a machine that took only coins and of course, we didn't have any... a long story short, we rode for free -

we also met up with the morgan and nat, with whom we spent a few days on the salt flats in bolivia which was mighty festive. we had apéros on our balcony and dinners in many a meaty restaurant (i was lucky enough to find meatless gnocchi almost everywhere).

on our last evening there, we treated ourselves to a live tango show at la ventana which was worth every dollar (indeed, it was somewhat pricey). whilst we sipped play-play champagne (we all know where the real macoy is produced), we watched the dancers do their stuff.

just as quickly as we'd arrived, we were off again - back to chile but this time, valparaiso. one of the most beautiful cities in chile.

santiago

an arb home in the brazil area ----------- seb at the concho y toro fountain

some street art along the way to the metro



las vacas gordas (the fat cows...which are eaten) restaurant --- an abandoned home


the cerro san cristobal ----------------- and the view

we didn't really know what to expect of santiago, and what we encountered was great. capital cities can sometimes be rather disappointing but this one was positive. we arrived midday-ish on the 1st day of 2009 with hardly a soul in the hectically littered streets. it was pretty clear that quite a party was had in this town!

we opted to stay in the brazil quarter which was recommended in the guide books, and seeing that those are like the bible to us, we followed it's advice. having not too much time to waste, we walked the city flat (taking advantage of it's calmness whilst everyone else was recovering) to the cerro san cristobal, which offers a lovely viewpoint over the entire city and surrounding areas.

the second day we visited the concho y toro wine estate which was magnificant...for the price, one would expect so. it is really quite a business with an introductory video of the estate and the wine making process, followed by a tour to the once-home of the melchor family, nearby vines and to the cellar, where we were told a story behind one of their most famous wines - casillero del diablo. i can't forget the wine tasting which took place in two different locations on site; on a shaded balcony for the chardonnay and in the chilly cellar for the cabernet savignon. ot too kak, at all. in the evenings we apéro-ed and dined on the plaza brasil which was lovely.

just as soon as we arrived, we decided to take a little trip (of 20 hours) to buenos aires. why not, right!

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Un petit séjour par Santiago afin de régler les pbs de carte de séjour de Karis nous permet de découvrir cette ville sympatique malgré sa réputation. La ville a beau etre polluée, les rues sont larges et les belles batisses coloniales lui donnent un certain charme. On a l'occasion d'aller sur le cerro san christobal d'ou le pape a béni la ville alors que la ville était en protestation contre le régime politique. De la haut, on apercoit qu'effectivement, on peut apercevoir la cordillère des andes et ses cimes enneigées.

On visite également le domaine viticole de Concha et Toro, une superbe propriété aux alentours de Santiago et des hectares et des hectares de vignes. C'est ici que se fabrique le fameux casillera del diablo, ce vin chilien qu'on trouve partout dans le monde.

Enfin, on profite de la ville pour retrouver qq bons restaurants (notament pour moi le fameux restaurant "la grosse vache" ou les steaks sont délicieux) et qq apéros dans des cafés sympas.

On se motive aussi pour une dernière folie: une escapade de 3 jours à Buenos Aires (20h de bus) ou l'on va retrouver nos amis belges rencontrés au salar d'uyuni en Bolivie, Morgan et Natarcia...

pichelimu

"home" for five days ----------------- contemplation


the buying of fish and seafood --------------------- the feeding of the pelican


pichelimu beach -------------------------------- and sunset



sundowners with marie and ludo



punta de lobos (great surfing spot)




our christmas eve apero on the balcony ------------ the first fireworks of 2009


what a great spot to land up in after endless days of travelling! it made it all worth while. pichelimu is a quaint fishing village where one is able to buy fresh fish and, or seafood off the boats that perch themselves in the sand. we aren't the only visitors as there were numerous dogs (as per usual in chile), seagulls and pelicans who try to chance their luck.

we witnessed a rather tame peli getting fed by a fisherman which was awesome. almost at the same moment, a dog also tried to get a treat which unfortunately ended the show. good bye peli and salty snack for the dog too.

ludo, marie, seb and i rented a little flat one road from the beach with a kitchen, which was ideal for the five days that we would spend there. marie treated us to a few cakes (good pastries are hard to come by in this hood). unfort. they left on the 31st (and partied into the new year with airfrance) and we stayed on to share the pichelimese festivities.

these were quite...different. plastic clown hats, colourful masks and lumo flashing tubes. oh and i can't forget the bottle of "champagne" (we all know that only the REAL champagne comes from france) in hand. unfortunately, there was no countdown and not having a watch, we decided to celebrate a few times. why not, right?! to make up for it, there was a fireworks display that was pretty impressive. that is when we discovered where all the people had got it - the beach was lit up with each explosion and there were thousands of folk in their plastic hats and champagne bottles (empty mostly).

an unique new years eve, just the two of us. that reminds me of a song...that i won't sing or attach as a video. lucky you!

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Pichelimu est un petit village de surfer sur la cote chilienne; un endroit parfait pour terminer les vacances de Ludo et Marie tranquillement apres ces 3 jours de route. On loue un petit appart en bord de mer et on passe les journées a la plage ou alors a manger les délicieux gateaux préparés par Marie.

Pour le nouvel an, on assiste avec Karis en solo (Ludo et Marie nous ont quitté, préférant passer le nouvel an dans l'avion, leur spécialité) au feu d'artifice sur la plage puis on va se méler à la foule qui célèbre ce nouvel an avec champagne et chapeaux de clown. Un nouvel an spécial donc mais vraiment sympa et différent des autres années.

san pedro / pichelimu road trip

outdoor camping experience #1 ----------------- where we woke up. nice surprise, indeed!


a fishing boat in portofino ---------------------- some washed up beauties



the second "camping sauvage" - not as nice ------------- sunset on the road

On part donc de san pedro de nuit pour rejoindre le sud. La route s'avére longue, trés longue et il nous faut pas moins de 3 jours de route entiers pour rejoindre le petit village de Pichelimu et sa gauche magique (pour nos amis surfeurs).

Une premiere étape nous emmene a Portofino, spot de surf réputé du nord du pays. On y arrive vers les 2h du mat, il fait nuit noir et on décide de planter la tente sur le parking. Heureusement, Ludo et Marie ont opté pour la deux secondes et ils savent la manier (cf le petit film..) On passe ainsi la nuit tous les 4 dans la tente 2 places, plutót serrés mais bien content de dormir au chaud.

Au matin, c'est une belle surprise de retrouver la mer que nous avions quitté depuis le Belize. Malheureusement, toujours pas de vagues (ludo etait venu au chili principalement pour ses vagues, vagues qu'il cherche encore apres 3 semaines de voyages...) donc on continue le long de la cote.

Baya inglesa nous offre l'occasion de déguster les poissons de roche (déconseillé) en bord de mer. Marie sent la brise se lever et decide de se mettre a l'eau en kitesurf pour nous offrir une belle démonstration.

Le soir, quand il fait un peu moins chaud, on repart sur la route sur fond musical de rolling stone (la version bachetienne de angie vaut le coup d'oreille) et d'edith piaf (apres 3 jours ca casse un peu les oreilles quand meme). On arrive les minuit et cette fois, on décide de se mettre dans un champ que l'on croit pres de la plage et plutot isolé. Erreur, a peine allongé, on entend deux gars de faire un petit karaoke a 100m. Finalement, apres 10 minutes, tout le monde s'endort de fatigue mais les filles ne se sentent pas rassuré. 1h plus tard, une voiture passe a cote de la tente et klaxonne. J'ouvre la tente pour voir ce qui se passe et s'en suit un petit quadrilogue mémorable que je voudrais partager :

Seb : c'est quoi ce bordel (ouverture de tente)
Karis, juste réveillée en panique : ils arrivent, ils viennent nous chercher (on se demande encore si ils référe á la police, aux extra-terrestres ou alors aux monstres chilien du terrain vague)
Marie, qui vient de conduire pendant deux jours non stop et qui a seulement dormi 1 h jusque la:
c'est bon, on se casse. je peux conduire, je suis en forme, faut pas trainer !
Enfin, Ludo, royal et ferme qui sait gérer les situations de panique (peut etre son passe de mns vieu boucalien...) :
Les filles, on se calme, je suis crevé, on se rendort et on se tait.

Ainsi se termine la session panique en pleine nuit et sur ces mots, tout le monde se rendort jusqu'au petit matin. Toujours pas de vague (ludo commence vraiment a etre exaspéré) et on continue vers le sud, cette fois, bien motivé pour mettre un terme a ce voyage sans fin de plus de 2000 kms.

On se pose pour un petit dej a Reñaca avant de rejoindre le spot de surf de viña del mar ou Ludo va mettre d'accord les surfeurs locaux. En fin de journée, on rejoint enfin Pichelimu juste a temps pour une petite session avant la nuit sur la fameuse vague qui ne casse jamais. On se loue un appart pour quatre avec cuisine et salon : une vraie petite maison en bord de mer. Bref, le bonheur apres 3 jours de voiture non stop et 2 nuits a 4 en tente deux secondes.

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what can i tell you ...three days in the car driving almost non-stop is a lot more tiring that one might imagine. it is no wonder chile is known as the thin country as it just goes on and on and on and on...forever!

we did have some good moments, such as camping in the wild (both nights), ludo's singing lesson to "the rolling stones - angie" and the visitors we had on the final evening/ morning. oh, and i can't forget the extracts read out of a certain french guidebook which provided endless giggles.

let me begin with explaining the camping expedition. so ludo and marie bought along their "2 second" tent, meant for 2 maximum 3 people. i don't think the people at quechua ever imagined that 4 grown people might fit and actually manage to sleep in such a small space. well, i can honestly say that we did it. personally, i think it was due to the extent of our exhaustion that granted us this pleasure.
on our final night out in the wild, we were briefly visited by a few local boozers in a 4x4. the tale is thus:

the arrival of the boozers in full force.
seb : what the "bleep" is going on (in french of course)?
me : (in an absolute panic) oh no! they have arrived!!!! quickly, close the tent!! (i don't know who on earth i was thinking of...that's what you get for sleeping out in the wild in a tent too small for too many nights in a row)
marie : oh no! oh no! i'm ok to drive guys. let's go! (i must add that marie had just driven 8 hours straight and had slept not even two hours)
ludo : (hearing absolutely non of it) that's crazy. girls calm down. i'm going to sleep...

looking back at this momentous experience, i have to laugh out loud! the things one does and thinks at 4am. glad to say, i was not the only one - thanks marie ;)

this provided much laughters all the way until breakfast (of fresh raspberries) in renaca, a lovely town on the coast. at last, we were getting closer to our destination hence a little surf stop over in vina del mer then - drum roll - pichelimu.

ludo mastering the art of opening the "two-second" tent in the middle of nowhere at an ungodly hour: