- USA
- Ireland
- France
- Belgium
- Back in France
- May 30, 2005Mexican Princesses
- May 31, 2005Versaille
- June 1, 2005Last Day in Paris
- June 2, 2005Coast of Marseille
- May 3, 2005Callanques of Marseille
- June 4, 2005Leaving Marseille
- June 5, 2005Busted Ankle
- June 6, 2005Healing in St. Raphael
- June 7, 2005Bongos on the Beach
- June 8, 2005Goodbye, St. Raphael - Hello Cannes
- June 9, 2005Antibes Daytrip
- June 10, 2005Chilling in Cannes
- June 11, 2005To Nice with the Finns
- Monaco
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Austria
- Hungary
- Poland Fun
- June 29, 2005Zakopane
- June 30, 2005Hiking in the Tatry Mountains
- July 1, 2005Trail of Wooden Architecture
- July 2, 2005Krakow Jazz Festival
- July 3, 2005Kazimierz
- July 4, 2005Goral Burger
- July 5, 2005Ciupagi
- July 6, 2005Czestochowa
- July 7, 2005Trainhopping
- July 8, 2005Happy Birthday Mom!!!
- July 9, 2005Happy Birthday Jack
- July 10, 2005Banana Riding
- July 11, 2005First Russian Embassy Visit
- Poland Family
- July 12, 2005Family, at Last
- July 13, 2005Mom's Schoolfriends
- July 14, 2005Muddy Ponds
- July 15, 2005Partying in Poznan
- July 16, 2005A Relaxing Day
- July 17, 2005Sheeshah Bar
- July 18, 2005Five Souvereign Lands
- July 19, 2005The Good News
- July 20, 2005Another Family Function
- July 21, 2005Just Chilling
- July 22, 2005The Best Bike Ever
- July 23, 2005Looking for a Home by the Baltic Sea
- July 24, 2005Copernicus and the Boyscouts
- July 25, 2005Visas are Set to Go
- July 26, 2005Luxury
- July 27, 2005A Day at Work
- Russia
- July 28, 2005Back in St. P Looking for 1UP
- July 29, 2005Peter's Pimpin' Palace and the Neverending Nights
- July 30, 2005Big Bad Moscow
- July 31, 2005Beating Birches
- August 1, 2005Off to Siberia
- August 2, 2005Drinking with the Guards
- August 3, 2005Big, Rolling Trans-Siberian Party
- August 4, 2005Pack up, Only Six Hours Left
- August 5, 2005Irkutsk
- August 6, 2005Swimming in Lake Baikal
- August 7, 2005Drenched
- August 8, 2005Partying with Uzbeks
- August 9, 2005I Love You Omul, I Heart Baikal
- August 10, 2005Pushed out of Russia
- Mongolia
- China
- August 26, 2005Chasing Buses
- August 27, 2005Looking for the Opera
- August 28, 2005Sleeping on a Wall
- August 29, 2005Trying to Find the Opera Once Again
- August 30, 2005Forbidden City and Searching for the Opera
- August 31, 2005The Opera Sucks
- September 1, 2005Hutongs and Strange Food
- September 2, 2005The Peking Ducks Incident
- September 3, 2005Beijing Shopping
- September 4, 2005The Dirt Market and Tiger Penis Vodka
- September 5, 2005Temples, Temples, and More Temples
- September 6, 2005The Amazing Summer Palace
- September 7, 2005Goodbye Asia
- Back in the USA
World Trip
Leaving Marseille
Woke up today not feeling to happy about having to leave Marseille. Then again, I realize that thee longer I stay, the less I will want to leave. There is a lot more traveling to be done.
Kimo left to go catch a boat to Tunisia, so I am traveling solo again. Just sitting around at the hostel now considering where to go next. St. Raphael came recommended from multiple people so I think that is where I am going. Hope to find a nice campsite overlooking the sea.
Laurel left for Nice in the morning, but I refused to say goodbye because I am sure we will run into each other there when I get there in the next few days.
I left the hostel finally to get myself down to the bus or train station. I turn a corner and wouldn't you know it, it's Kimo. He missed the boat by a few minutes and the next one does not leave for five days. We decided to go to St. Raphael together and he may carry on from there for Genoa, Italy, to catch a boat from there, or maybe go back to Marseille.
We are now sitting on a train heading for St. Raphael. Some rail workers are striking so no one is checking tickets, so we could have had a free ride, but we did not know that until know. They apparently only strike on certain days and in certain ways. Today they are not checking tickets, and on another day they may not be running certain trains.
Kimo and I got to St. Raphael without problems, and just like in Marseille, the people showed great kindness and patience with the two lost travelers. We found a bunch of places to go camping at, and our original plan was to hike there, as it was only about 8 kilometers. However, we took the bus to the general area.
The bus passed right past the original campground we were going to stay at, so we got off at the next stop and were going to walk backwards. Instead, we noticed a huge camping area right next to this bus stop. We decided to stay there.
This place is amazing. We chose a camping spot right next to the beach, with a chain link fence separating us from the Mediterranean. Kimo was excited because the campsite was filled with people from Belgium and the Netherlands and he could speak his native language. The beach was rocky, and that proved to be both a good and a bad thing later on. The water was cool and blue, and off a few hundred meters from the beach was an island with a castle-like tower called the L'Il D'or (Isle of Gold). Looking to the left you could see a mountain shooting into the sky with a military radar station atop. Boats, yachts, and catamarans were anchored between our beach and the Isle of Gold and would stay there overnight. This is the essence of the Cote d'Azure.
I touched an octopus for the first time today. There was a little family there and the father had snorkeling gear and was diving, like some many other people there. But he was also catching octopuses for dinner. These animals are really cool and can walk long rocks on land. They can really grab things with their little suckers, and it feels really strange on skin.
By now we were hungry so we got to the store and picked up the cheese and baguettes and I got some pate to get some protein in my diet. Kimo is a vegetarian so meat is not his forte, and I could enjoy it all myself. We planned on eating quickly and then climbing the mountain to watch the sun set from up high, but by the time we set up camp and ate the sun was pretty much down.
Dinner was great and made even better by the nice Belgians camping right behind us who graciously lent us two lawn chairs and gave us some wine. We returned the favor by offering them some Leffe we picked up earlier, in case they missed the beer from home. They were really nice and were very cheery and helpful and allowed me to charge up camera batteries and the laptop in their camping trailer.
Once the sunset we took some wine and headed off to the beach. There were a bunch of French kids there having a bonfire and playing around with other forms of fire. They were doing something similar as you would see at dance clubs a while ago with glow sticks on strings and some fancy swinging, but instead with burning torches on strings. The effect was mesmerizing and I took some great long exposure photos. We hung out with them and drank some beer and wine but communication was tough.
