Ibis Toulon La Seyne Sur Mer La Seyne-sur-Mer

Really beautiful train ride along the coast (which in a way it is a shame that the railway is right on the beach) Marseille is a bigger city and not so quaint but the port area is nice. Flew out of Marseille to Lisbon. I know not quite geographically logicall

... enticing, so I join him.

Daniel is a biologist studying stress. He looks to be in his late 50s. He has a neatly trimmed mustache, a clean apartment with a stunning view of the city, and a dog the size of a small bear. He offers me some Calvados which I'm happy to accept. We watch TV, and chat for a bit. I take a shower, and then I'm on my way.

"When do you sleep normally?" I ask as I leave
"I don't know" he shrugs

What a bizarre encounter.

Over the last months of travel, we’ve met and talked with many people about what we’re doing. As you can imagine, we’re greeted with many responses. Most can’t fathom a trip without end or adgenda. Some say they admire what we’re doing. Setting off onour own, turning our back on convention and creating an adventure. Others think we’re fools. Although the woman who said that ...

NO MARSEILLE for us!!! The captain went by when we had 21 foot waves and winds of 50 gusting to 65. It was sunny but not good enough to dock in Marseille, so on to Barcelona we go. In spite of it, we had a great relaxing day and i had a 3 hour nap this afternoon. Naps are totally not my thing but apparently i was exhausted from our whirlwind schedule. Anyway, nothing exciting. We have seen numerous people in arm slings and just ran into a woman in a ...

So we left St Tropez to head towards Avignon. I wanted to drive along the coast and we found a little road to take us there.. Little alright! It was about 11 or 17km of narrow winding steep roads. The worst part was the cars we occasionally ran into coming the other way and the big drop on the other side!
But it was all worth it. We found all these beautiful little beaches. We stopped at one and ...

... within walking distance, so that’s what I do, exploring a new neighborhood as I go. After a few missed turns I finally locate the Bar de la Plaine, a small place on Place Jean Jaures. The band is already playing and the small place is packed- it’s a free mini-show in anticipation of his 10-year anniversary next week- so I stand outside with the smokers and take my place by an open window, no more than ten ...

... even open at that hour. But if I’d known my midnight bus would be late, I’d have chosen differently. In the meantime I make friends with a Spanish-speaking Algerian who’s a jazz fan and asks me questions about Chet Baker that I can’t answer. We pass some time in chit-chat until I finally give up the ghost and try to cop some zzzz’s, bus or not. What really worries me is all the student-age population also lined up for the ...

... men in their flowing robes were milling about and young Arab guys were cruising around in convertibles with the latest in dance music blasting. What was conspicuously absent though were the women.

I know there is absolutely nothing here in Marseille to draw a tourist and I am only here because of 6 Euro plane tickets but it was nevertheless a fascinating stop. Provence and the Cote d'Azur are actually where the action is ...

... wearing matching outfits. There are a lot of them and she would chuckle every time. I guess it's a sure way to make sure you never get lost. Attack of the couple clones. Some of them even have the same haircut. Now that's just going a bit too far if you ask me. The sea is very calm today and its as if we are barely moving. They are giving updates of the state of the hurricanes and people listen closely. Either they are worried the ship will be sailing ...

Départ de St Mandrier Arrêt à Ollioules pour les derniers achats (guide du Maroc, chargeur téléphone et ipod, bouteille d'eau). Départ 12h05 pour Perpignan. On passe par Marseille puis les nationales, pour éviter les embouteillages (journée noire !) Arrêt pour manger à St Gilles - les patates sont pas bonnes et puis y'a pas de haricots, d'oeufs, ni d'olives ...