Sofitel Montpellier Antigone

... all. The gas was turned off and had to be turned back on by the city. Let's just say that my bathing rituals became slightly...unorthodox. First of all, I'd only shower every other day. When I did shower, I did so with my new best friend...the bidet. I've always laughed at those things and sometimes even peed in them as a sign of disrespect towards the silly apparatus. But the bidet is a wonderful invention when you are not too keen on ...

... BUT the info we got for the campsite was wrong and it was closed.. and the one next door too. So a rushed internet trip we found one, way out and got there just in time. France is full of red lights, roundabouts and pedestrian crossings!!!! Im SOOOOO over them all!!!!

Got to the campsite and there were no buses in town,. We were exhausted by then so fell into bed and decided to give up on that part of France and head to Lyon the next day...

... since Susan and Brett last visited, but at €18.00 each, plus wine and wonderful coffee, it is extraordinary value.

Alison sat outside with one of the waiters while I paid the bill, and explained that we were from Nouvelle Zelande. The waiter replied that there had been two people from New Zealand having lunch the day before and several the previous week. So the word must have got around. Next time we might have to reserve.

... last sight we thought we could see for the day was the Jardin de la Fontaine. It is fed by a spring that provides quite a lot of water, but not quite enough for a whole city. There are Roman pools, some temple ruins, gardens and statuary. Since it was a beautiful day the place was busy with lots of French folk enjoying the open space, but because the garden is so large, exists on several levels and has many twists and turns, almost ...

So as you all know, I just came back from my 2 1/2 week road trip throughout Spain. For those of you who don't have Facebook, here's a link you can click on that will allow you to view the photo album without joining Facebook:

http://www.facebook.co m/album.php?aid=2089409&id=3704142& amp;l=a8292393d8

Overall, this trip has been absolutely amazing. I had never traveled alone before but I have to say ...

... Nous étions assis tous sur des bancs que nous avions mis en arc de cercle. Le maître de théâtre était là aussi et il a raconté une histoire. Un seul mot pour la résumer: "géniale". Il faut la connaître pour comprendre.
Ensuite nous avons lancé un jeu qui a eu beaucoup de succès auprès des enfants et des adultes: le zip zap bang. Les enfants sont placés en cercle. Il s'agit de transmettre une balle imaginaire au voisin par trois moyens : le zip, le zap et le bang. Le zip s'utilise ...

... station, taking a few pictures before departing on the train bound for Port Bou and then connecting to Barcelona. Montpellier seemed like a nice town in the proximity of the train station. Prices were reasonable and there were some facilities that were useful for tourists. Then again, after Switzerland, I think we would've felt the same about almost any other country's cities.

... along the sea shore. The fishing boats and sail boats in the harbor were a very neat site. Before leaving we decided to visit a city park dedicated to Albert Dubout a famous cartoonist. The park was designed with a cartoonist in mind and had some very interesting lamp posts; they were all tilted inward towards the sidewalks. Overall, we all enjoyed our visit to Montpellier and are excursion to the French Riviera.

... lot of time in this place. Tomorrow is the Superbowl, I'm going to be proud to be an American tomorrow night, something that I try not to flaunt normally. Then we are going to try and plan our weekend travels. Ideally, I'll be going somewhere almost every weekend. I'm not sure if that is logistically or financially possible, but we shall see. Well, I believe you are all updated now. So abientot mes amis. Bisous, Ash

... lost my cool with was gone, presumably to recover from the trauma my previous visit had brought upon her. She was replaced by a man who spoke even less English than she had, who finally reffered me to the girl next to him who could only speak to me in Spanish. Which, after a month in Spain I speak and understand well enough, but is never chrystal clear. I asked her (in spanish) for the number of the bus station and she replied (in spanish) that they don't give out numbers ...