slidergirl

I’m on the train now from Lyon to Bologna. It’s my relax day since it will take most of the day. I paid for Executive class so I’d have a big comfy seat and 3 meals. Basically the same time and price a flight would have been. I couldn’t smell the lavender until I stopped and got out of the car. Tons of bees, of course. Since I am allergic to the 🐝, I stayed at the start of the rows and didn’t venture in. The drive up to Lyon was a hot one. Stopped at Ponte du Garde for a look (too hot to do much more). Lots of people playing in the water. As I was l leaving, 2 buses of older folks came in, probably from a river boat. Most of them looked like they wouldn’t be able to make the unshaded walk down to the Ponte, especially in 99 degrees. Cynthia - I was so tired when I got to Lyon I didn’t get out to see anything. The restaurant at the hotel had a nice menu so I stayed there. You’d like the hotel Globe et Cecil. My single room was larger than the cabin on the barge! A nice little quirky place .

I don’t collect but I love looking at it. Only 97 today. Spent the afternoon literally wandering through the area around Sault. Heard there were still good lavender fields up there. Google maps took me all different ways, on little roads and through little villages. I have no clue where I was, but it was a nice drive and Google navigated me right back to my parking garage. Didn’t come home same way- no idea how that happened. I found a few nice fields. Cynthia- I saw somewhere that a bunch of that luggage is being brought to Detroit for sorting and hopefully delivery.

Yes, it is freakin hot. It’s 92 right now at noon. Cooler than yesterday. It was 81 last night at 10pm when I was at dinner and it felt cool! Waiting until later to head up into the hills. Today is the antique market. Again, good thing I don’t have any space. Jewelry, silver, crystal, oh my. Wandered some streets behind my apartment and found a small farmer’s market. Picked up some cherries and a fougasse ( a savory pastry with goat cheese).

The ranch didn’t have that touristy feeling. The kids joined us for snacks. Nothing fancy. No more traditional boule fighting at the colosseum, but they do the boule chasing. The ranch lady has one of hers in the meet this weekend.

You also need to buy tickets in advance.

Armando has always been a hard ticket, even back in the mid2000s. It’s small, family-run. Every time I go, it’s a nice mix of locals and tourists. I can’t think of any place near Termini. I’d maybe check Mercato Centrale at the Termini. A food hall with choices. Not like a food court, but good offerings.

Absolutely make a reservation! Both are small and always full.

Hi all! Cruising through a national park on a canal does have some communications issues. The barge trip was fantastic! I will write more later. The Carmague horses and boules were as cool as I hoped. The rancher lady, her daughter and kids from the daughter’s riding school gave us a good Demo of riding, herding the boules and cutting from the herd. The herd would get running so fast! We got to tag the little baby boule and then one of the kids played boulechaser with it. So good to see kids being taught the traditions of the ranches. We all had a picnic with good foods and wine. I’m going to try to catch up when I can. Some food porn will come. I was so hungry that I forgot to take photos of Chef’s food. How he could do delicious food and make the dessert too in that TINY kitchen… I’m in Aix now, baking in the 99 degree heat. Made a trip to Monoprix by my apartment to get water and yogurt. OOTD: my Flaherty striped dress, my white olu kai sneakers and my hat. It is definitely dress time here! IMG_1065.MOV

Yay good news Lois! quick checking as our cell/Wi-Fi gets very spotty in the park. It’s been really fun so far. LOTS of wine. The food on the barge has been outstanding-how they turn out the meals in that tiny galley boggles the mind. Today went to a woman-owned organic vineyard and winery. We started “tasting” at 11am and just continued through dinner. Our purser also does his 12:30 happy hour with a specialty cocktail. We found a cool organic clothing store and we all did some damage. I found the white linen shirt I had been looking for, linen shorts and pants. Just have to find space in my bags for it! 3 showers a day is the norm- hot and humid. ootd: my outdoor voices zip panel pants done capri length, green wool tank (they have been great), my hat and Olu Kai shirt sneakers (comfy and good from the start)

I did get some Tunisian food. Couscous with chicken. Came with a nice broth with lots is big pieces of veggie. Tasty. Added a little harissa and spiced up nicely. staying on the Vieux Port at The Residence du Vieux Port. Nice place. I had a balcony overlooking the port. Sat there last night and drank my beers. Leaving in about 20 minutes to meet up with the others and go to our barge in Arles.

I’ve had a few of my photos post upside down, too. No idea why.

I’m in Marseille right now. Didn’t notice any tshirt shops in le panier district. No T-shirt shops per se in Vieux Port. There is one T-shirt kiosk in the little white huts along the Vieux Port walkway. It had a nice “Vieux Port” T-shirt that you may like. Most things lining the street are restaurants.

Right now I’m in Marseille France, going to Arles tomorrow for my canal barge cruise, so from SLC to MRS. oh, forgot SLC to CAI for my Nile cruise back in the mid 2000s

Watching some white boat in the port playing Below Deck Med 😉. Registered in the Caymans. Looks like a group of 6 - served lunch on the aft deck. 2 stews attending them. Lucky to be rich, I guess. News flash: I wore a dress today!!! Turquoise muscle shirt dress and my hi tops. Dress was cool, but showed every drop of sweat 😓 lessons learned. There is a silk performance across the street. He hangs in the and twists and turns on the silk. He is tethered on a crane, so he goes wasaaay up in the air. Impressive. 2 ships at least in port today - Viking Sky and an MSC ship. Saw herds with name tags being shepherded around by people holding signs. Looked like an older crowd. Dinner is next after I finish off the craft beers I bought from a vendor across the street. Really good beer. An unfiltered mango sour and a hibiscus pale. Yummmy! I might look for a North African place for dinner. Marseille is filled with people from there.

Lois - so glad that the staff took special care of you. You deserved it! Got up this morning and walked the perimeter of the Vieux Port before it gets too hot. Stopped off and grabbed a cafe e croissant afterwards. I’m feeling human after all the travel yesterday. That Timeshifter app seems to have helped with the jet lag. off to get more Euros and buy sunscreen

Lucked out at CDG. Got through passport control in under 10 minutes. Business class has its perks. The train to Marseille was brutal. SNCF has a product called OUIGO. Kind of like Spirit Airlines, train version. Overhead racks that would only fit a briefcase, everyone had bags everywhere. I sat in my single seat with my bags in my foot space. And no kind of cooling. A hot muggy 3 hours. But I made it. 91 degrees at 6pm but a nice 79 at almost midnight. The waterfront is still busy- even families are out. I can sit on my balcony and just watch. Tried to use the night mode in my iPhone to take a shot of the cathedral up on the hill…

Had to post. Dropped off at SLC at 11:15, sitting in Sky Club by 11:35. Moose wanted to travel with me, so I now have a partner. Here’s Moose enjoying his pre-flight snack. And it’s the first photo taken with the new phone. Don’t know why it’s upside down.

Thanks all! Despite all my planing and such, I still waited until the very last second to pack! I did get all my clothes in the carryon - I was shocked. My daypack is fill with all the miscellany - electronics, meds, toiletries, snacks to keep blood sugar in check. i think my daypack is heavier than the carryon!! At the hair stylist yesterday, one of the women there just got back from France. She goes there frequently. She said to absoutely wear dresses right now as the weather is atrocious. AND, if it gets too hot, get rid of the undies!!! We all had a good laugh at that one. I'll check in once in awhile. ootd; black comfy pants, black & white striped tank, black hoodie for the plane, my Merrell shoes. When i get on the plane, i'll put on my neon green compression sleeves on my legs - at least they match shoes!

11 hours. 🙀

YIKES!! I get picked up at 11am tomorrow to start my journey!!! Good thing that I get the 'local concierge" discount with our local black car service!! Didn't want to leave my car at the airport for a month. Have an appt with my hair stylist to do a quick 'skunk line' color. i had told her I would be fine skipping a month, but she insisted that I get all gussied up for my trip. Have to make a quick trip to the store after the hair to pick up some sundries. Have to iron a few things before stuffing them in the suitcase. Have to pack up the suitcase - I know what i'm taking, but just leaving it until last (my usual protocol). Fortunately, garbage pickup is today so i won't have a stinky garage when I get home. A little upset with myself from yesterday. i still get "crashes" where i have zero energy and just have to lay down. Happened yesterday, along with being freakin' hot in the house. i didn't get a lot done other than laying on the sofa or bed. I slept off and on from 3;30 until 8;30, made some dinner, then went go bed at 9pm and slept until 7am morning. Sucks to be me. one of the reasons i'm not totally programmed out for the trip - if i need to just stop and do nothing, i can do it. i'll send one more 'i'm off text tomorrow. Then, I'll do texts with photos on the trip. I may take my "travel companion' Moose with me. He had a good time in puerto Rico and the roadtrip last year. he's a photo hound so he's fun to put in the scenery. Yes, I'm one of those people.

lois - i'm glad to hear you can at least put some weight on the foot. Gosh - I wish i could help with finding a cane. I did a quick search of the stores at BCN and AMS - there are a few pharmacies at each one. Don't know if that will help. Do you have any time between debarkation and getting to BCN? Are you going solo to BCN - maybe you can have your driver find a place that sells at least crutches. Or, try to contact your TA to see if she can arrange to have a cane or crutches available for you. i wish i had done that! in the US, i always got crutches at the hospital/doctor's office. in Italy, it apparently part of the deal. i didn't know that until I was leaving the hospital! And, I was leaving during "siesta time" so nothing was open that the driver could find. i was not allowed to put ANY weight on that leg, so i was left to the kindness of the airport staff and their services. overnighted at CDG - my now-ex had his boss (worked for a French company) contact services at CDG and at the Sheraton to be sure I had wheelchairs everywhere. The accessibility teams at all the airports were great - don't hesitate to use them!!

i worked out with T-mo that for my $60/mo, I get the better hotspot coverage since i would be using it quite a bit when i go camping or traveling. i did find out that S. Colorado has quite a few patches of missing coverage on my roadtrip last year... And we have a known dead spot up here on the mountain where I work - i use wifi calling there, with my building's wifi. otherwise, i've been really happy with T-mo.

I am staying at the Globe & Cecil - right behind the Intercontinental. Where did you stay? Sorry 'bout the chaos at AMS. it seems everywhere is having issues.

I bought a Kipling daypack at the airport in Cairo - I wasn't happy with lugging my camera backpack everywhere. The kipling was much lighter!

Oh Lois - I am so sorry. You have to eat! Doesn't matter if it's good for you or pure junk food - just get those calories.