Avignon, France
I woke at 07:30 and we ate a breakfast of coffee, tea and pain with marmalade. Today, Lars retold for me the story of Grenuoui, the French word for frog, which is the name of a character in a spectacular book that he had read. It is about a man who can detect and analyze fragrances precisely in the dark ages. Then we toured Chateau de Tarascon all by ourselves in a huge castle where the king would throw towns-people off the roof. We spent some time up there too, and took a timed photo.
We looked for a bike rental. We found none that were still renting, so we took the train to Nimes, and a bus to Pont du Gard, then about 25 km away (22 franks each way per person). We had a smoke up way on top overlooking the aqueduct where you could see everything. It was well worth the trip. There were no loo's visible, so Lars and I made separate trips into the woods and bushes. Lars tried to thumb a ride back for us while I watched for the bus. It was unproductive, and I was leery.
We have just now arrived in Avignon, where the pope's palace is. Avignon was tre belle. We bought two baguette and jambon, cheese, and tomato on our way out, after walking around the town. When we first arrived, we saw a square. We consumed our yogurt in gulps on stone benches in the hot sun there. We winked eyes at hot bright things that winked back from long distances. Then the pope's palace, and the gardens and Notre Dame of Dom that are all in a very beautiful area. The people here are gorgeous. The Cathedral was used as a prison during the French Revolution, so it had much scratch damage near hands reach. It was still very beautiful now. From there we saw the garden and a pond and fountain with many ducks (pictures). We went shopping then. I was walking and almost caused a tall female biker to lose her balance because neither of us could decide which way to swerve to avoid the other.
Back to the station and on the train to Venice eventually. This is a good life. We just made our baguettes on the train, cleaned up our mess (Swiss army knife has come to good use) and had one of them and a half bottle of 9f French wine. Now the night is free for writing, reading and sleeping. Tomorrow, I will be in Venice. I like hostels when I can get more sleep. Unfortunately, last night and the night before, finding the hostel can take hours. Who has that time?
1994
After work I set up 3 computers and a network called GIANTS at the Ballard House, a shared printer, updated everything, added anti-virus, etc, during all of the beautiful hours of the evening. It's dark now, and I'm home with Rachel studying.
2010