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Published: March 1st 2008
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Hello again,
Whew we've experienced so much since our last entry. If this wasn't chronological I wouldn't know where to begin. Because we have so much to tell you we're not going to bring you right up to date, but we'll try and get the next one posted soon. By the way...you're hearing from Amy this entry.
When we left you last time we had just handed back the Fiat (no new scratches thanks to Bram's excellent rally driving) in Alicante. We boarded a train almost immediatly and headed for Barcelona. We were a little weary after our night of car camping but excited. We arrived at the station and found the International Hostel which is usually our first move if we haven't found something ahead of time. It was in a great location but was sterile, massive, and full of a rabid Chilean high school group. There were kids in matching red track suits everywhere, including the laundry room where Bram and I desperatly had to do laundry. We were finally able to part the red sea (of Chilean track suits) and get laundry done but we weren't really feeling the vibe. We did however meet our first
Barcelona Market
Best breakfast in town. Italian. His name was Giuseppe and we were sharing a dorm room with him, his girlfriend, and one other guy. He seemed very friendly at first, he hardly spoke any English but managed to invite us for Pizza. After eight hours of freight train snoring we felt a little differently about him. Luckily Bram was aquipped with ear plugs and a little sleeping potion so we did manage to get some sleep awwww the joys of hostel life.
Suffice it to say, the next morning we were outta there! We found a great low budget hotel that had put up a last minute deal and we pounced. (City Center Hostel) The two men that ran it were absolutely lovely. They spent fifteen minutes when we arrived with a map filling us in on the ins and outs of the city. The next few days we took on a pretty easy pace. Barcelona doesn't have a ton of must see monuments and museums so we were able to do a little more wandering. Barcelona is a facinating city filled with harsh but coherant juxtapositions of modern and traditional architecture. It also has great shopping, not something that we were doing
a lot of but the culturally diverse city has everything from TopShop to outdoor fruit markets. One market in particular we started in every morning. There were rows upon rows of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, nuts etc etc. The fruit stands are smart and sell plates of cut fruit and fresh blended juices and smoothies. For a couple Euros every morning we had a plate of fruit and a juice. We were definitely meeting our vitamin quota those days. One of my favourite moments was a climb up to the highest point in the city for a panoramic view. The stunning views of the harbour and the architectural highlights was worth the climb. Climbing to the highest point in a city is something we've tried to do in every city throughout our trip. Not only does it make sense of the geography and layout but also makes for excellent kodak moments. We stayed in Barcalona one more night than planned and then headed to France.
Southern France was sort of up in the air for us. Unlike Spain we didn't really have definite destination cities. Our first stop was Bezier. Its a small town about an hour by train
from the border. Although not a great destination in itself we chose it because of its proximity to other places in the region like the castle at Carcasonne. The castle was magnificent. Recommended to us by Bram's father who had regretted not visiting it during his 20 something travels a few short decades ago. We took a quick train ride to the town of Carcasonne and meandered our way through the town to the castle. It stands high above the city and is a massive fortress encompassing not just the castle itself but an entire village. The village is not exactly as it would've existed originally. Its full of shops selling touristy goodies and overpriced snacks. I don't think Bram will ever forgive me for talking him out of the medieval sword. The castle itself is a remarkable model of a medieval fort. It faced early attacks as it sat close to the border with Spain. However, when the border was redrawn to what it is today Carcasonne was no longer a strategic defence post so it was left alone for centuries. In the early 19th century it was fully restored by an archeologist/architect who used found drawings and research
A carnivale float
The bat symbolism carried on throughout the parade.... who knows? to keep the restoration authentic. We splurged (4 euros each) on Audio guides and took a very informative multimedia tour of the castle.
Our next stop after Bezier was Avignon. One of the more major centres in provence. The hostel that we had booked online was much more than an easy walk to the city so we found a place within the city walls that was adorable. In fact it was called Hotel Mignon which means cute in French. Avignon is quaint, its a small city but gained its importance as the home of the rival papacy when the church was fractured in the late Medieval period. The Papal palace and cathedral still stand and can be toured. Avignon's narrow cobbled streets and river walks were lovely but we also used it as a jumping point to other spots in the area. Including the town of Arles where Van Gogh spent some of his time. We spent Valentines Day at an Avignon bistro where we filled ourselves with red meat.... on a budget of course. Provence was lovely but I would love to go back when the grape vines and fields of lavender are in full bloom. Next we
A carnivale dancer
She was part of the Canary Islands entry in the parade. headed south to the riviera.
We boarded a TGV (Train GRANDE Vitesse!) in Avignon, destination: Nice. TGV trains are the pride and joy of France. They are modern, efficient and fast. As we waited on the platform for our train to arrive one passed through the staion. In the blink of an eye it had passed. We both looked at each other with a communal wow. It was like a scene in a movie where something like a rocket or racecar zooms by and theres just a tumbleweed or some street trash blowing in the wind.
In Nice we found the hostel of all hostels. It was an old convent on the top of a hill overlooking the city that an excentric Austrian bought and ran with his two 20 something sons. It was an amazing place with every service you could possibly imagine including 1 Euro drinks and 6 Euro dinners. They were unbelievably helpful and had our three day itinerary planned before we'd put our bags down. From Nice we took several day trips around the riviera. We went to Antibes a lovely "park your huge yacht" walled city, felt like a movie star in Cannes,
walked the cobbled alleys of Eze, and dreamed of winning the lottery in Monte Carlo. The day trips were great. It felt great to have a home base, and not have to drag our backpacks around. In Nice we were lucky enough to arrive for Carnivale weekend. We caught a wacky parade that overwhelmed our bland Canadian cultural palattes. Only the pictures can truly tell this story.
We really loved being in France. Being able to speak the language was a huge relief, but it was time to once again get out of our comfort zones. We boarded a train for Italia!
Until next time....
Amy and Bram
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Zoe Dams
non-member comment
France
ian is in the southof france now I hear too. sun is starting toshine a little more here. so nice to travel with you! love mom