Today we head for Millau and Roquefort Cheese country. I thought I was being so smart and headed in a direction that I though was correct; of course I was wrong and had us going to Nice instead. So after our brief diversion and loop around Aix, we were headed in the right direction. We are taking mostly Auto Routes today, because it is about a 4 hour drive to Millau, without any stops. Arles Our first and only stop of the day is in the City of Arles. This city is famous because it is where Vincent Van Gough painted over 200 hundred paintings, including Starry Night and Café at Night. The city is quite old and has several Roman ruins. They are in the process of renovating the larger amphitheatre but it is obvious ... read more

May 2, 2012 We over slept a bit and Jerry woke up with a bad cold/allergies. What ever had started the day before had move to his chest. We packed and had breakfast (even though it was past serving time, they still served us our coffee and croissants). We then headed for out next stop Aix-en-Provence (pronounced X). Since it was only a short drive we took the back roads and through Avignon, the capital of Cotes du Rhone. Prior to getting to Avignon, we passed several partial castles, forts and other interesting sites, and of course vineyards. Avignon The old section of Avignon is completely behind the orginal walls of the City. Once you get in the walls the street become very narrow and hard to navigate even in a small car. We took one ... read more

May Day (Labor day in France) Before I continue with my normal rambling, I thought that it would be a good idea to put down some thoughts about travel, cultural difference and the like. May day is a good example, in the US it is pretty much a non-event, yeah at Linfield where I went to college they make a big deal about it, with the coronation of the May King and Queen (I was first runner up for May king by the way, lost by one vote) and they have a big celebration. When we were kids of course we went from door to door with bouquets of flowers and knocked and run but that is the extent of the holiday. Here and elsewhere in the world I am sure, this is a day to ... read more

April 29, 2012 Final Hours in Dijon We slept in until 10 am, still a little jet lagged, but getting better. We ate our croissants we purchased yesterday and just dinked around for a while. Took our time packing, folding the clothes we washed (they did finally dry the old fashion way) and getting ready to go. We were so tired last night we stayed in and just snacked on pate and cheeses we had purchased earlier that day after our lunch. It was all very good as were the three bottles of burgundy (2 red 1 white). In between blogging and eating I feel a sleep regularly. While Jerry finished getting ready I walked to the AMT to get the money to pay for the room. The room was a very good price for the ... read more

April 27, 2012 Strasbourg I slept hard and could have slept much longer than the 10 am that I did. I couldn’t really tell you if the bed was comfortable or not, Jerry said it was, all I know is that as soon as my head hit the pillow I was gone. We woke up to a beautiful sunny day. Warm enough for a pair of shorts, which is what is choose to wear. After showering, etc. we packed up the car and then set out to explore a bit of the city before we headed for Dijon. As I previously reported, Strasbourg like Paris has a main city and the part that is on an Island. In Paris the island is in the middle of the Seine, in Strasbourg it is in the middle of ... read more