Toulon

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I am now in warm and sunny Cannes, France (you know where the film festival happes).

We just arrived from Toulon, which is west of here. We had an absolutely amazing time there. It all started when we missed the bus at the airport. They expect us to be able to deplane, get our bags, and go through customs in 20 minutes. HA! We decided it was a plot by the cab company to tie up all the fares.

While we were looking lost and trying to figure out what to do, we asked the lady who sat next to us on the flight for help. She (Nicole) and two guys from Cambridge (Will & Martin) were going to share a cab and offered to let us ride along too. The cab was going to be about 12.50 euros each but we would have to wait almost as long as it would take the next bus to arrive. We decided to wait for the bus and pay 2 euros. We had an amazing conversation while waiting for the bus. Will & Martin were heading to Corsica for 8 days to camp all over the island and Nicole was returning to Toulon, where she grew up.

After arriving in Toulon we went our separate ways, Nat and I checked into our hotel. The bed was entirely too lumpy, but for 15 euro each what can you expect! We went exploring around Toulon, it has a pretty nice "Old Town" and a beautiful port. During our wanderings, we ran into Nicole on the street.

She joined us for dinner on the port, Nat and I had white fish and vegetables and Nicole had mussels and fries. We got to know Nicole very well. I didn't mention earlier that she was 60 years old! She has been all over the world and was full of life and experience. She acted as our interpreter and got us grounded in France.

After this great dinner and conversation, we see a waiter carrying our waitress screaming out the door and drops her in the port. The next thing we knew, the entire wait-staff was in the water! We learned that it is tradition at this restaurant to jump in the port the 31st of every month!

After a not very pleasant night's sleep, we got up for breakfast on the port. We had coffee, orange juice, a chocolate croissant, and yogurt for 4 euros. We then headed toward the train station to come to Cannes. We are currently waiting for the hostel's reception desk to open again to get a room- then we are hitting the beach!

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Photos

The Room...
we had to walk 3 flights of stairs for the bathroom

Nicole and Me
Nicole is much more pleasant looking in person, I guess she just doesn't take photos well.