France

Part Deux of my adventure has begun! Alec and I took the train from Rome day before yesterday, and arrived in Cannes late Wednesday night. We slept for 11 hours! We met up with my sister Lisa and we walked down to the waterfront and the famous waterfront. We passed shops such as Gerramo, Loius Vuitton, Gucci, Dolce et Gabbana, etc. Within minutes of arriving on the promenade Alec was having his picture taken with Chewie and Austin Powers- the cardboard cutouts that is! The beach is stunning. Further out was the huge cruise ships, then there were the glittering yachts, the sailboats, the motorboats, and the tubing and paragliding rides. We settled for an hour on a paddle boat! It had a slide on it, so Lisa and I paddled and Alec went in and out of the water. I had ALL my stuff with me since the robberies in Italy, so here I was, in a paddle boat, slightly off the coast of Cannes, with a bag containing my iPad, my Canon, all our train tickets and passports, and wallet/money! I got a bit nervous when the waves started coming off the motorboats that were pulling the tubers!

We finished that up and went searching for restaurants that didn't cost a small fortune. Cannes really is the playground of the rich and famous! We had a lovely dinner then walked back to the hotel. We are excited about watching the World Cup final in Paris on Sunday!

Meanwhile we are on the train to Avignon. If you ever learned French you may remember the old Childrens nursery rhyme "sur le pont, d'Avignon, on y danse, on y danse". Weeellll....I can't wait to dancing on the old bridge! It's actually HALF a bridge now, haha, but it's still danceable!

The papacy also moved to Avignon in the 1200's, for about 70 years, before St. Catherine brought it back to Italy. The Italians aren't very happy with her for that. I was surprised at how resentful they are of the Vatican. So we may see the Palais du Papes, the Palace of the Popes. This region also attracted many artists, from Cezanne to Chagall and Matisse. There are mountains that go right to the sea, and beautiful cypress trees. For some reason I am inspired to buy a lemon tree for our back deck when I get back. I love the Mediterranean colors.

A bientot my friends, until the next update!

Sara


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Location:On a train in the south......