Mercure Cavaillon

... parents for a trip to Cassis, Toulon, and for a drive around the Sainte-Victoire mountain. Yes, I was an 'honoury' northerner for the day (Lizzie, je blague, je blague!). Cassis is absolutely beautiful, picture perfect, with a little marina and a beach, with amazing turquoise-coloured water. We had a huge breakfast there which meant I didn't need to eat again until 7, and then headed along the coast to Toulon, where we walked through a market to one of the marinas, which ...

... and get the plane to Singapore. We should be sleeping in a hotel bed this time next week at Bintan Island and while this has been a fantastic trip I will be glad of a bigger bed and some luxuries.

Very warm regards to you all - we are missing the dogs heaps and we pat as many here as possible.

More news soon but not sure where from - it may not be until Bintan.

X X X

Bonjour avec Aix-en-Provence Cherie
Since the last news we have visited the Cote D'Azur spending time at Monte Carlo and Antibes. We stayed near Antibes at a place called Biot and at night you could hear the seals at nearby Marineland - very strange. It was still quite hot and stickey with more mozzies. Monte Carlo was wall to wall money with billions of dollars in boats and cars. Antibes was similar but it had a lovely old town as well.
We arrived ...

... and i haven't been in touch, but i'm here now.....i think i will just need to have jason drive me there before i loose my nerve....

so i was told at dinner that the ******* had plateaued off today as i did not feed him any salad. i think thats a bit of a misnomer, as plateau seems to imply level off to normal levels, but in this case, its like level off at 80% instead of 120%. so basically, i am destined to a life ...

... and visited one of three remaining Roman theaters in the world. It is 2,000 years old and has been to Hell and back, but it's still standing and people perform operas there. A statue of the Emperor looks out at the audience from the top to remind everyone who is in charge. We were told that his head is removable so that they didn't have to create a whole new statue every time power changed hands; just pop off the head and replace it. When ...

... and creamy and very filling. I felt bad leaving some of it to go back to the kitchen, but a girl has to leave room for dessert! Also, the half bottle of Cotes du Rhone we were sharing was going down pretty smoothly.

Lucy's dessert was definitely the more visually compelling. She had three scoops of house-made ice cream: gingerbread, Calisson and banana flambee, which were accented with a little kumquat and a ...

... more attractive and not quite so isolated. You could be punished for engaging in alchemy and a few other infractions, but it looked like a pretty decent lifestyle for the time. Pope Innocent is buried there. Also, they have taken to sponsoring modern art installations on site. The most bizarre and disturbing one was in the Chapel of the Dead where, formerly, dead monks would be laid out before they could be buried. At ...

Believe me you don't want the story but here are a few photos and videos of what was a wonderful adventure for the most part.

The bull running was a random and free event - just next to lovely beach. Camargue horses are breathtakingly beautiful in the wild.

Unfortunately no photos of characterful and cultural city of Arles because only took the camera out one day - the day we went to The Camargue obviously.

... to Gordes,the land of lavender, only to find that buses to Gordes not running for the day. That brought me to the default mode: organizing day around lunch. First a thyme icecream for breakfast-taste like thyme, then wander around town, take in the view, while searching for a good lunch spot. Since traveling solo, I try to always have a good lunch, when all the resteraunts and cafes have their tables outside, and pick a place with good view. So between bites I ...

I can't remember if I did this on my way to Spain, or as a weekend trip from Lyon. I think it was a weekend trip because I vaguely remember talking to a couple of Czech guys who I may have given a lift to about it. Anyway... Les Calanques are basically long inlets like bays on the French Mediterranean. The water is crystal ...