YES i found another pic that fits.......well yesterday as i made my way outside of La Gare (train station for those not in the know :-p.....haha yeh i almost am..... ) so yeh i looked up and the town looks just like that from a distance......there is a upper and lower part of town and the upper is the nicer part and the lower where my hostel is is in more of the commercial section......also i should note i have been spelling ti wrong it is boulogne......much better......so last nigth was looking grim until i saw a fellow backpacker walk in......a little later i asked him his plans for dinner as i was going to buy food to cook in the fine facilities here......he wanted to use the computer for a time but would join me later......so i went to find some dinner and make my first hot meal in some time.....the store was great everything in french i was so lost......good thing food has pictures on it......so i went with one of my classics pasta and broccoli but they had no fresh broccoli.......bummmer had to go with the frozen stuff......so come cooking time there was another group cooking which was rough cause the facilities are small and the other group was quite teritorial......so i was out of my eliment and even in my element i am not that grand so you could imagine how the meal turned out........it really didnt matter i was so hungry and it was warm and not that poor i suppose.....a few spices and life was good......my new frined steve was not expecting sharing the meal and was quite surprised at getting some food........after cleanup we decided to head into town to check out a bar and have a beer.......he bought me a beer in exchange for dinner and we talked about the norms and found we had quite a lot in common......family situations were the same and we had a lot of similar perspectives.......so after the talk we decided to head back for one more beer at the 'bar' in the hostel and call it an early morning.......well little did we know.......so it is quite a limited bar with 2 beers on tap and lots of wine......i ordered up another beer as did my friend and we talked the night away with the hostel staff.....it was nice because all of them spoke at least some english and would pause to catch me up in any conversations in french.....and some limited french would come back to me which was great.......included in the festivities was 2 girls that work there sorta as an exchange program......they get room and board but do not get paid and are both doing it to further their french skills....miriunm and liz were their names.....also the asst manager of the hostel was there, stephan......and liz's dad and brother were visiting from manchester, england.......so those were the players and it was a fun filled evening......liz was inocent enough looking but really really good at pool and beat everyone in the room.....this stqrted with her brother and stephan told him of the rule that when u lose you must crawl under the table 1 time for every ball left on the table......inocent enough......then stephan lost and had to do the crawl which was funny but then he made me play her and i lost miserably....it wouldnt have been so bad if the dogs hadnt been there to follow and make the journey under the table with you........it was all good and then liz beat her brother again and father.....though dad didnt have to make the dreaded crawl......stephan finally beat her and made her and pool was done for the evening.......so the talks continued about everything......stephan was a very knowledgable guy and very proud and happy to be working where he was.....though it paid poorly he got to meet many people and he enjoyed talking......oh did he love to talk.....much more then my stories......he talked of politics shortly and of how he named his dogs after a french play....about some authors he liked and singers....he even graced us with his favorite folk singer who kinda makes fun of everything and how dumb society is sometimes......liz tried to translate for me as fast as possible.....so after the beer stephan stqrted buying the drinks.....i was like ok maybe we are just having one more......but he kept buying.....i milked them so as to keep my bearings and actually it prolly wouldnt have mattered cause it was over such a long time......around 330 we decided it was bed time....after a long night i was going to bed, steve and stephan went for cigaretts and the night was concluded.......stephan was intresting cause he fit the role he is here.....he is french and made fun of the americans and was a proud frenchman but at the same time he would pause to tell me of why and how some of the customs and values worked......really cool.......steve and i were originally gonna go to a war memorial today but a late start, poor weather, and the lack of trains has put a damper on the day........sundays are pretty much secluded to home so the trains and buses and everything operates on a limited schedual.......steve and i both decided to stay another night here at the hostel and go around town a bit......the town is pretty but doesnt have any major tourist attractions......it is a hub of fishing for france though and has a nice aquqrium.....though it is mighty expensive to visit......then tomarrow steve and i will prolly travel together and my thoughts will turn toward visiting the D Day beaches area including Caen and also Arras for the tour de france;....i will take my time doing those and if another day with steve is possible i may do that because he is a canadian 19 y/o who is about to start unniversity.....being a cunuck he speaks french well and plans on studying languages.......so if i can travel with him a bit that will be helpful him knowing french and all and our similarities make it nice.......so after all that i will head to pampalona and use the 1st day on my eurorail to get there....that is on the 11th i believe.......lata ben