Ibis Centr Ales

... that will linger in the memory, well beyond the consumption, and without really knowing what we were ordering. After complimentary salads to start, Alison had sliced duck on skewers (the waiter asked, in the manner of steak, how madame would like it), and I had a pot of seafood (Marmite). Both superb. We followed, in the same manner with desserts that were unknown to us, but proved to be delicious – Alison's was a chocolate tart ...

... found lunch, which was good before we were starving. Part of lunch was a raspberry tart that was so good that I didn't even bother to have gelato today. Unbelievably good. Having admired several churches and the temple, we moved down the street to the Coliseum where we took a lengthy audio tour which described the evolution of gladiator contests from the first century through the 7th. Today the venue is home to bull fighting.

Nîmes, Languedoc-Roussillon, France 3beansabroad

At the Chateau de Malerargues, surrounded by trees everywhere, Sebastian has voice training for the next couple months. The work consists of a mixture of breath, movement, and massage, as well as singing, sounds, and group work. It's hard to describe exactly what goes on, and each day is different. But the isolation, beautiful weather, and delicious fresh foods make for a great place to work, relax, and reflect. So why do so many people have so many nightmares here?

... to crash while focusing on other activities and those that view hostels as a significant part of the destination. There is a huge German group that seems to be mostly hanging out at the hostel with short day trips.

I meet several folks who are travelling solo. A teacher from the UK and an olde3r grad-school student from the US have both been at this hostel for a couple of weeks or so. Just a place to chill. It has camping which is real cheap. Mardi from Carcassonne shows up.

... me to come back and stay longer and I say I will .......I have some time to spare so i wander around the market stalls filled with a huge variety of delicious truffles, wines, asparagus, olives, nuts, meats, veg and olive oils ..I manage a confused mixture of French and Spanish and translate for some Australian tourists.... I fill my bags, return to my car and turn one last look at Uzes and my castle for the night, leaving the ghosts behind me....

Âlloooo Dat het weer hier graag veranderd, werd deze week nog maar eens bevestigd. Hoewel het toch altijd redelijk warm is gebleven, hebben we donderdagavond en vrijdag regen gehad. Net toen we BBQ hadden op het bedrijf! Maar we zaten droog en wa hadden goed gegeten. De dag ervoor hadden we met een collega liggen praten over het Franse vlees. Geloof ons, in België is het veel beter. Hoe dan ook, de bbq schotelde 'pork' en 'saucisses' voor. Het ...

... until they left in 1700 to make their way to America. The house is still standing and in good condition. The house has a plaque with my ancestor's name- Jean Pierre (Peter) Bondurant (I believe 7 great grandfathers back). Anyway, it was very cool to see the house and walk the streets of the village. From there we headed to Florac which is a good size village in the center of the national park. There are an amazing set of enormous sheer cliffs ...

... partly melted and appeared to be at a funny angle, almost holding the van up. So we jacked the van up... and the entire wheel fell off onto the floor. Two hours later after a journey on the back of a flatbed truck, we found ourselves in a garage being told that it couldn't be fixed - a bolt holding the wheel on was completely trashed. The name of the town? Ales - pronounced "Alice ...

... in advance. It would have been good to see, but we were content to have a go at seeing Cézanne all over the world in their respective galleries. At the end of a very decadent two weeks, Maddy and I were to be once again in official backpacker status again after Dad's return to Australia. We were left in the good hands of Delia in Marseille, with the notion of finding work in Marseille or in the area, but with a lot of doubt on the horizon, but a whole new city to discover.

That morning we went to walk around the castle again, and then on the bus to go to a beach. Along the way we stopped a supermarket to buy our lunch. Brian and I went to look for the special Manzana Verde they used to make our new favorite drink. We bought a big bottle of Kas, as well as our lunches. Off again to the beach. On the ...