Iceland

Whew, so it's gonna take me a little while to catch up here. I was off the map in Corsica these last 6 days and am now back in Paris. But before all that, I spent 16 sleepless hours in Iceland! J'ai bien profité (I really made use of my time), renting a car and seeing as much as possible. After landing at midnight I set out on my own in the twilight. Starving, I found a 24hr convenience store and microwaved some pizza with a couple of EMT pilots from Quebec. Then without much of a map I ventured on to the Golden Circle. My nervousness of getting lost faded as I realized there weren't very many roads and plenty of signs. I was the ONLY one on the road for hours. I found a good radio station and at one point was rocking out to Macklemore thinking 'where am i right now?!'. The landscape felt like another planet with dark black rocks covered in bright green moss and no trees to be seen. I could periodically see the ocean in the distance and birds flying overhead. Around 3am the light slowly rose, but since it was very cloudy and rainy not much changed. 

Around 4am I arrived at Gullfoss, the famous waterfall. The perk of getting there at that hour was that I had it completely to myself. To be in such a famous touristy spot all alone was quite magical. I ran around in the rain setting up my tripod and taking photos of this enormous chute. 

A bit obvious of a sign no?

Next was the Geysir. Surrounded by hot springs and signs warning of extreme temperatures are two huge geysers. One that goes off whenever there's an earthquake and the other every 8-10 minutes. It was very eerie to watch the bubbling water not knowing when it would come shooting out:

Jumping back in the car, I rushed to Reykjavik, stopping to take photos of this amazing landscape. 

I arrived in the city around 8am and it was very quiet. I headed to the large church where people can reach the top for a great view. After depositing my money in the box a woman tells me the church doesn't open until 9am. She snuck me into the elevator anyway and I found myself again in an incredible place all alone. The view of the city below was amazing. Apparently nothing opened until 9 or 10am so I walked the cute streets until a breakfast place could provide me with some much needed coffee.

I wish I could have spent more time in Reykjavik, especially at night for their world renown nightlife, but I had to continue on to see The Blue Lagoon before my flight. Everyone said it was a must. By now it was pouring rain, soaking me before even getting in. What a place. It felt so good to soak my sore muscles after hours of flying and driving. I swam about in the warm milky blue water listening to languages from around the world, the cool rain hitting my face. I agree, a must-see.

So of course 16 hours wasn't enough time in Iceland and I would love to go back, but I saw quite a lot during my layover. Moving around taking photos kept me very awake, but once I was on route back to airport after soaking in the Lagoon, the fatigue set in. I curled up on the plane and dreamt of Paris to come.