France and Spain

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On Sunday we arrived in Bandol, France, a small city on the coast of the Mediterranean known mainly for it’s wine. We decided to forgo a formal tour and tour the city on our own. It is a very small town with mostly shopping and restaurants right on the ocean. After looking around a little, we settled into a sea side bistro. We ordered a local wine and a beautiful pot of mussels, and we were really surprised at the quality of the wine. Very soft and flavorful. Had to take a picture of the bottle to see if I can order some back in the states.

Monday we moved into Spain, to Palamos, another small city on the coast. We had previously signed up for a bicycle tour which promised we would cycle by beaches and coves and gently come to the small, medieval town of Pals in Catalonia. Sophie and I looked good in our helmets ready for an easy ride. Well….this turned out to be less than easy. We did see one beach, but after that is was over very rough mountain biking terrain where the road was often filled with large rocks and sand. I have quite a bit of cycling experience, but others did not. It was a very difficult ride in which two from the group fell, had serious lacerations on their arms and legs, and had to be taxied back to the boat. And on top, due to the delay from the injuries, we had very limited time in Pals, only chance to take a few pictures. Fortunately, we had a bus ride back to the boat.

Monday night we had dinner at the signature Thomas Keller restaurant on the ship. Nice chance to recover from the day.

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