Les Portes de l'Aubrac Chaudes-Aigues

Errff -- I can't remember which town I wrote about last time. Guess that's the trouble with doing most of your travel writing once you're actually home from your trip! On the other hand (I'm scrambling for a lure so you'll want to keep reading) by the time you've been back for a while, you have more perspective on your trip -- you know what's really memorable, because you needed some time to see what you remember. If that ...

... in suthern france and visit avignon and Nice using Marseilles as my base camp... I go to the bathroom and the instant I open the bathroom door, it is decided. Back to belgium I go. They had a turkish toilet, but a real one, all you had was a bucket of water and a hole... I ended up riping up pages of my journal.

hey everybody well, some recent changes to the travel plans. so now i'm as nomadic as ever, with less plans than before! am loving france. nicole has a great group of friends and we spend weekends with her mom out of clermont ferrand, tending to the garden and getting things ready for winter. ahh, the simple life... her mom's neighbour is insisting nicole only speak to me in french ...

... everyone arrived at the same time. So from his place we got observe a castle on top of a rocky mountain overviewing the deep vallee down... great! We were slightly exhaust but we spent the evening, chatting, playing music and having a great social moment. Then the food was on the table... several pizzas and some spaghetti plus local wine. It was all so tasty! It went like till somehow late and then we all went away to sleep.

... came up to me and we had a bit of a chat, and he offered for me to go up the tower for free, which Amanda and I had already done. There are way too many stairs to do it again! The thoughtfulness of strangers has really touched me. Nicole is doing her best to keep us busy and I'm doing my best to just have some chill time. I'll keep you posted, and will include photos once I can.

... and the people have been really great. As soon as we arrived the Customs guys were making jokes with us (yes, Customs!) and we have met some great people. The food is a real highlight, just having to eat it all in one sitting really tests me! My high school French is coming in handy, and I am finding it easier than expected to build on it. Alot of the French don't speak English, so it has come in handy when we don't have a translator around.

... day, and as few as 13 km on the fourth day. few but painful walking wounds have surfaced between jeff, tams, and i. tams has been afflicted with some painful blisters on her toes which have been attributed to her toes which like to wiggle and in her boots are not able. for the past few days she has been in her chacos, and life seems to be shining a lot of sun on her now. Jeff, who i'd like to mention is not carrying any of the video ...

... Probably more fun to write. Jules offered us a ride. And dispatched one of his rabbit-toothed dogsbodies to take us down the road. He drove us two minutes, then stumbled through a long and awkward farewell-see-you-soon-youve-been-gr**** ****-what-was-your-name-again-sorry? Freedom! Ride with an English teacher (a French one). Quite creepy. Never become a Language teacher. Serious "autostop ...

Misery. Weīre so WET. Chris didnīt sleep. And I barely did. Found a cheap super market and bouhgt a cheap roast chicken to dry our sorrows. A bad move. This over-preserved chickenīs soul will come back to haunt us. Catch about six rides from village to village til we get to ...

Lyon is a beautiful city. I stayed in Lyon for a few days at my friend Ben's place. On the 21st there was a huge party in every city in France, so Lyon was hopping with bands and people throughout the city. The architecture here is amazing, and I also love the small town feel. It's a pretty small city, but I kind of like that.